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Alberta chicken producers threatening to go it alone

Japan opens door wider for Canadian beef DOUBLING SALES 

Allowing beef from animals 30 months and younger could double sales to $150 million annually

QUOTA SHARING 

If provincial production was allocated on population, Alberta chicken farmers would be producing another 16 million kilograms each year

BY ALEX BINKLEY AF / CONTRIBUTOR

J

apan, the No. 4 customer for Canadian beef, has agreed to accept meat from animals 30 months or younger as of Feb. 1.

Shipments had been restricted to meat from cattle 21 months and younger, a safeguard against BSE. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Martin Unrau, president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, told a news conference Jan. 28 that the move, which followed years of lobbying by Canada, could see beef exports double to $150 million a year.

Ritz said the announcement comes on the heels of the return of Canadian beef to Korea, an international ruling against American discrimination on Canadian imports and growing shipments to China.

Unrau said Canada will be able to send beef to Japan on a year-round basis, which meets Japan’s need for a more consistent supply of Canadian beef.

“Japan is an extremely important market and this expanded

BY VICTORIA PATERSON

AF STAFF / CALGARY

A

lberta Chicken Producers is threatening to withdraw from the national supply agency next year if the province doesn’t get a larger slice of national production.

Alberta has more than 11 per cent of the population but just 9.15 per cent of chicken production — the gap is equivalent to 16 million kilograms of chicken a year.

Alberta Chicken Producers has spent seven years trying to negotiate an increase, and still hopes the matter can be resolved, said board chair Erna Ference. Since the last agreement was signed in 2001, Alberta’s share of Canada’s population has grown to over 11 per cent. “That’s the big issue we see,” Ference said. “We’re a net importer of chicken.”

The current gap represents about 16 million kilograms of chicken a year, she said.

Ference emphasized that the disagreement is not over supply management itself. “We believe in the supply management system,” she said. “Our issue is with the current federal provincial agreement… the current agreement just doesn’t address the shift in provincial populations.”

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news » inside this week

inside » Beef breed ups and downs Alberta purebred registrations show trends

FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

livestock

crops

Feeding silage the easy way

Barley that’s not too thirsty

columNists

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High-octane cheese fire closes tunnel

The deep relationship between horse and rider

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Manitoba rancher uses skidsteer and bags

46

Alberta scientists identify efficiency traits

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A

2012 review — wild weather in October

54

CHALLENGING TIMES } Like the overall herd numbers, the number of many purebreds has fallen, but continental and other niche breeds still serve particular markets

I

t’s not been an easy decade for many purebred cattle breeds.

“The drought and then BSE … it took a real toll on cattle people in general,” said Reed Rigney, president of the Alberta Blonde d’Aquitaine Association.

The number of Blondes has stabilized recently, but Rigney estimated there’s around 400 breeding females.

“They’re not what they were 20 years ago,” he said of the numbers.

He noted in the 1980s and early ’90s the bulls were easy to sell as the continental breeds were popular to get more growth and muscle on cattle, but now Angus is more popular.

“It’s been getting more and more difficult to sell the bulls,” he said.

French breeds are doing better in Eastern Canada, but the U.S. is pushing for Angus, he said.

Purebreds continue to flourish in many niche markets, but registration numbers show the Angus breed continues to dominate, said Doug Fee, executive vice-president of the Canadian Beef Breeds Council.

“In general, the total number of registered beef cattle dropped significantly reflecting the overall reduction of the cow herd since 2003,” he said.

He noted some of the smaller breeds occasionally seem to drop because breeders don’t

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On the upswing — the Alberta Texas Longhorn Association reports more members, and more animals being born. PHOTo: Thinkstock choose to register that year, so the actual numbers may not reflect true trends.

Statistical picture

Fee provided stats on a variety of beef cattle breeds, comparing their 2003 numbers to 2011.

They show breeds like Braunveih has stayed in a stable range, as has Gelbvieh, Shorthorns, Lowlines, and Speckle Park. However, while some of those like Gelbvieh show numbers over 1,000 animals, Speckle Park is stable between 60 to 100 animals registered a year.

Fee said numbers for other breeds, such as Hays Convertor, have dropped from over 100 to less than 20. Highland cattle breeders didn’t report last year, but since 2003 haven’t reported more than 45 registrations a year, though Fee noted he’s seen Highland cattle at shows. Pinzgauer

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truckload of burning cheese closed a road tunnel in Arctic Norway for several days after an accident Jan. 17.

Some 27 tonnes of flaming brown cheese (brunost), a Norwegian delicacy, blocked off a three-km tunnel near the northern coastal town of Narvik when it caught fire. The fire was finally put out four days later.

“This high concentration of fat and sugar is almost like petrol if it gets hot enough,” said Viggo Berg, a policeman.

Brown cheese is made from whey, contains up to 30 per cent fat and has a caramel taste.

“I didn’t know that brown cheese burns so well,” said Kjell Bjoern Vinje at the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.

He added that in his 15 years in the administration, this was the first time cheese had caught fire on Norwegian roads. Berg said that no one was injured in the fire, only one other vehicle was in the area at the time and that the accident had luckily happened close to Salford_SFM01_09-10.25x3_AFE.qxd one of the tunnel’s exits.

35

All cattle are not all black yet af staff / calgary

Reuters

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Daniel Bezte

by victoria paterson

Brunost, a Norwegian delicacy, contains a high concentration of fat and sugar. PHOto: thinkstock

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breeders only reported 11 registrations in 2011, while Luing cattle, a breed Fee had thought disappeared, reported some registrations in 2010 and 2011. Breeds such as Charolais, Limousin and Simmental each reported several thousand registered, while Maine Anjou have dropped from 340 registrations in 2003 to 274 in 2011.

“I do not see any breeds that have totally disappeared although several are in danger of losing the critical mass necessary to sustain viability,” Fee said.

Ted Jansen, the representative for the Canadian Lowlines Association to the Canadian Beef Breeds Council, said that breed is seeing more sales and numbers in Alberta are rising.

“More people are buying them, but it hasn’t been a big market here like it has been in the States,” he said.

Welsh blacks are attracting new breeders every year, but people have been retiring at the same time, according to Randy Scott, president of the Canadian Welsh Black Cattle Society. The result is they are holding their own, he said, estimating there’s probably about 500 to 600 head of purebred females. He said the population used to be higher, though there weren’t necessarily more breeders active than there are currently.

Mark Stewart, president of the Alberta Texas Longhorn Association, said there are thousands of longhorn cows.

“The roping market or the typical longhorn market has been tough,” he said.

The last few years has seen the association gaining more members and more animals being born, he said.

The Alberta Galloway Association has seen its membership jump in recent years.

President Steve Schweer said they’ve gone from seven members in 2011 to about two dozen in 2012.

“It’s starting to gain a little more popularity here in the last year or so,” he said.

He estimated there’s about 500 purebred papered Galloways in Alberta — only a third of what there were 15 years ago. Some attribute the decline in popularity of the Galloways to the influx of continental and larger-frame cattle, but some recent bull sales have pulled good numbers, he said.

“Looks like we’ve got some momentum,” Schweer said.

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ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • FEBRUARY 4, 2013

Beef industry players encouraged by Beef Food Industry Summit discussions CO-OPERATION  Next meeting in attempt to build a nationwide strategy could be in March

BY VICTORIA PATERSON AF STAFF / CALGARY

R

epresentatives at a meeting on the state of the Canadian beef industry last November produced agreement that the status quo is not acceptable, but that more work is needed to bring the industry together.

“The hard part is coming up next,” said Gordon Cove, CEO and president of the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency.

ALMA organized the Canadian Beef Industry Summit in Calgary after a Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI) report said the nation’s beef industry was falling behind and missing opportunities because of a lack of a comprehensive strategy.

“ALMA thought there was at least a need to respond,” Cove said.

He said the meeting went well, pulling many members of senior management from various parts of the industry, including representatives from Loblaws, Cargill, Overwaitea and McDonald’s, as well as other organizations.

Cove said everybody agreed the status quo wasn’t good enough.

“Canada needs to do better in the beef industry. Everybody was committed to the beef industry,” he said. “The hard part is coming up with what’s next.”

He said the result of the meeting is that a group has been detailed to go out and conduct discussions. That group will bring a “straw man” of ideas back to a future meeting as a starting place to come up with that comprehensive strategy.

Cove said involvement will

need to be expanded past the 50-odd people at the November summit. He emphasized ALMA’s role will now be to help industry run with the idea.

“ALMA’s not the lead on this.

ALMA works with the industry and this has to be an industry-led process,” he said. He said there’s a good chance a followup meeting will be held in March.

Industry co-operation, trust needed

Ted Bilyea, the chair of CAPI’s board of directors told the summit that the trade deficit highlighted in the report has continued to grow.

“The purpose of the report really was to take a systems view of the beef industry,” Bilyea said.

He said the meeting helped trigger discussions and made the industry players more aware of the deficit. “We know there are significant issues around the way we go to market, the way we do things,” he said. “We’ve got to find better ways of working together.”

Bilyea said it seemed to him it was a “constructive listening session” and people were in favour of trying to find out how to be a better industry. “We all have to rethink our position and essentially work towards a more trusting relationship because that’s what it takes to work towards something significant,” he said.

Coherent strategy lacking

The McDonald’s Canada representative to the meeting thought the summit was “an important first step in this critical dialogue.”

Geoff Giles, director of strategic supply, said in an email that the

summit was an opportunity for industry leaders to start the strategy-building process to improve the performance of the Canadian beef sector.

“As it stands now, there is a lack of coherent, customer-focused Canadian beef-selling proposition or strategy that all links in the supply chain buy into,” he said.

Giles said any strategy that is developed needs to be consumer-centric and include food safety, traceability and sustainability.

McDonald’s Canada is the largest purchaser of ground beef in Canada, Giles said, and applauds the efforts to bring stakeholders together to discuss industry challenges.

“I was actually quite encouraged at the meeting,” said Phil Rowland, president of the Western Stock Growers’ Association and one of the summit’s attendees.

“There was recognition that we can’t keep doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results,” he said. Part of the meeting was discussing targeting markets for Canadian beef instead of being “an infill supplier to the United States.”

He noted Asia, in particular China’s growing middle class, is an attractive market for beef.

“The fact… that we’re going to have a more comprehensive look at this is encouraging all by itself,” Rowland said. “We’re finally talking about this stuff out loud and not ignoring some of the obvious things.” He said more co-operation will be welcome.

“We need a way forward and this may be how we’re going to find it.”

ALMA CEO Gordon Cove says the review process must be industry led.

FAO urges cash-strapped governments to keep up guard against bird flu VITAL  Scientists fear the virus could cause a

catastrophe if it is allowed to mutate so it can spread between humans ROME / REUTERS

G

overnments must not allow financial constraints caused by the current global economic crisis to stop them from keeping their guard up against avian flu, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said Jan. 29.

The agency, one of three international bodies that lead the global response to bird flu, warned of a repeat of the 2006 outbreaks, when the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus killed 79 people around the world and sparked fears of a pandemic.

Investment was vital to prevent a repeat of such a crisis, the FAO said.

“I am worried because in the current climate governments are unable to keep up their guard,” FAO Chief Veterinary Officer Juan Lubroth said in a statement. “I see inaction in the face of very real threats to the health of animals and people.”

Scientists fear avian flu, which is carried by water fowl and poultry and can be transmitted

between birds, and from birds to people, could cause a catastrophe if it mutates to be able to spread between humans.

The virus has infected more than 600 people since it was first detected in Hong Kong in 1997 and is usually fatal. Bird deaths from the disease or culling cost economies $20 billion between 2003 and 2011, FAO said.

The UN agency, whose task is to co-ordinate the global response to outbreaks of avian flu in animals, said that while progress had been made in fighting the virus, outbreaks continue to occur in Asia and the Middle East.

The FAO also warned against a growing threat from Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR), a highly contagious disease that can decimate flocks of sheep and goats, which is expanding in sub-Saharan Africa.

A vaccine against the disease is available but tight finances, a lack of political will and poor planning mean PPR continues to spread, the agency warned.

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4

FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

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

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

Checkoff extension is at an impasse, but there is hope

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

PRODUCTION director Shawna Gibson Email: shawna@fbcpublishing.com

Deadline } Minister needs to make a

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

decision soon on the long-simmering issue

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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B

y press time there was still no indication as to the fate of the mandatory $1 national cattle checkoff.

Time is running out as there is a deadline to meet for government regulations to be put into place to renew the mandatory checkoff. The stumbling block is the memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the Alberta Beef Producers (ABP) and the Alberta Cattle Feeders Association (ACFA), which governs the political aspects of the $1 national checkoff. The problem is those two groups tend to have different perspectives on industry issues and this is no exception.

For the innocent who are unaware of this endless checkoff drama, the MOA was hobbled together three years ago by the two cattle producer organizations and the ag minister of the day. The MOA was to address a major government administrative blunder that imperiled the overall national cattle checkoff including the impending checkoff on beef and cattle imports, all of which are mandatory. To deal with that mistake, the first MOA made the $1 checkoff mandatory for three years. Upon the MOA running out a new agreement would have to be signed for the mandatory aspect of the checkoff to continue.

It was a tenuous compromise at best, and all but guaranteed another round of drawn-out negotiations between the two groups, which is just what has happened.

Discussions between the two groups have been going on secretly for over six months and there has been agreement

on some points. The proposed MOA has also been expanded in a number of directions including holding quarterly discussions between the two groups on industry issues. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the negotiations stalled on agreeing to a new MOA timeline.

The ABP proposed a five-year agreement and the ACFA wanted a one-year time limit. A five-year time frame would provide some longer-term stability to

Discussions between the two groups have been going on secretly for over six months and there has been agreement on some points.

national funding, and better yet get the topic off the table for a reasonable length of time. A one-year term may have some strategic benefit for the ACFA and may placate their members that want to terminate the mandatory provision.

But the big downside is that a one-year term will guarantee that these tedious negotiations will go on forever. Considering the major issues facing the cattle industry, the last thing cattle producers need is more checkoff discussions. I believe I am expressing the exasperation

of many, that being that 30 years of wrangling on this topic is more than enough — give us all a break.

Sources have indicated that both groups may have gone to Minister Olson to plead their side of the time frame issue. The legal reality is that the minister can make an arbitrary decision on the checkoff and does not need the MOA between the two groups to act. The MOA is an entirely political exercise and was instigated by a previous minister to force some unanimity on the industry.

What gets lost in all this is that the government created this political mess in the first place. One can only hope that common sense might prevail with the minister and he makes the mandatory aspect permanent. That might just force the various factions in the cattle industry to start working on other more important issues and stop beating the checkoff issue to death.

One suspects the minister in examining both sides might just renew the regulations under a new three-year time frame — the same as before. It’s a political compromise of course, but at least it will keep Alberta on side with the other provinces as to a mandatory national cattle checkoff. It will also prevent the derailing of a mandatory checkoff on beef and cattle imports. That new regulation would see $700,000-plus of new checkoff money raised for cattle and beef research and marketing purposes. That process for imports took over 10 years of slogging and lobbying by provincial cattle organizations and the CCA to achieve. It would be an outrage to see all that effort and funding lost because of any political indecision by the Alberta government.

1-204-944-5568 For more information on The Alberta Farmer Express and subscriptions to other Farm Business Communications products, or visit our web site at:

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Political misstep may backfire

By Will Verboven

A

recent press release from the National Farmers Union (NFU) came as something of a surprise. It declared that the NFU was “…proud to declare its solidarity with Idle No More…”

Many readers of that proclamation probably wondered what a farm organization had in common with a protest group whose goals are obscure at best. But I guess the NFU could not resist supporting any cause that heaped abuse on its perceived political foe, the ruling Conservative federal government.

I can only surmise that the NFU was being politically expedient in expressing its solidarity with the Idle No More (INM) movement, being their connection seems somewhat contrived. The NFU tries to tie in their position on the demise of the Canadian Wheat Board, seed grower rights and changes to the Canadian Grain Commission to the hazy philosophy of the INM movement. I would doubt seriously if even a single INM participant would have the slightest clue what the NFU was talking about.

It gets sillier. The NFU then tries to tie in recent trade negotiations as an affront to democracy, as First Nations and Canadians were excluded from the process. Demanding democracy is always the standard position of any protest group when their views are ignored. The NFU did manage to get the support of one of the founding mothers of INM, who stated that the NFU was part of an essential alliance of those who want healthy land, food and water.

Be that as it may, I suspect the goals of the INM movement would differ considerably from those of the commercial agriculture industry. In fact history would indicate quite the opposite, being agricultural development played a massive role in destroying the nomadic lifestyle of the First Nations culture.

Perhaps the NFU braintrust has overthought this as to political gain. I suggest that most agriculture folks would see the NFU support in a much more negative light. That won’t do the NFU much good as it struggles with a stagnant membership. I expect that most farmers and ranchers share the general taxpayer view that the INM approach will cost them more tax money for some pretty obscure goals. That negative perception may end up sticking to the NFU, it’s not something that will help scare up new members.

But I expect the NFU will soldier on despite any negative consequences, they have always held their principles important. They continue to have some support from the agricultural community. NDP and Liberal politicians usually give them some homage, although when in power those same politicians tend to treat the NFU with a sort of benign neglect.

Having said all that, there is a place for the NFU in the diverse world of ag politics, but perhaps this flirtation with the Idle No More movement would indicate that they are in need of better political advice. There would seem to be nothing to be gained for them from stepping into this issue except perhaps disdain and irrelevancy — both of which can be deadly for any organization.

5

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • FEBRUARY 4, 2013

Rural American needs to pick the battles worth fighting margins } A beef producer says industry solutions don’t help if producers aren’t part of the industry Remarks by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack at 2012 Farm Journal Forum in Washington, D.C., Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012

N

ow, we’ve had this discussion about the Farm Bill. Why is it that we don’t have a Farm Bill? It isn’t just the differences of policy. It’s the fact that the rural America with a shrinking population is becoming less and less relevant to the politics of this country, and we had better recognize that, and we better begin to reverse it.

That means a couple of things.

It means, first of all, a new attitude in rural America, not just trying to preserve what we’ve got — and there’s a lot of that thought process, “I’m just going to hang on to what I have” — replacing that preservation mindset with a growth mindset. Where are the opportunities?

We need a proactive message, not a reactive message. How are you going to encourage young people to want to be involved in rural America or farming if you don’t have a proactive mes-

sage? Because you’re competing against the world now and opportunities everywhere. When I was growing up a kid in Pittsburgh, you know, maybe I’d end up in Iowa, but it never occurred to me that I could end up in one of the foreign countries in all of the continents of the world, never even occurred to me. Young people today have all of these opportunities, and we expect them and want them to live and work and raise their families and keep the farm or start a business in rural America, but we have a reactive

message; we don’t have a proactive message.

We have to be strategic about the fights that we pick, because the fights we often pick are misinterpreted in some corners. Sixteen per cent of America’s population lives in rural America. That means, in essence, 16 per cent of the elected Representatives represent rural America; 84 per cent don’t.

So for example — and I know I’m going to get heck for this — the egg producers decide they want to sit down and talk to the enemy, the

Humane Society. They’re tired of having to fight referendum after referendum. They don’t want 50 sets of rules. They want one set of rules. They want one rule, and they want to make peace. They get castigated by folks in agriculture, “You’re going to destroy the system.” Actually not. We’re going to grow it, because we’re not going to be fighting 50 different battles every two years. We are going to grow our industry. We’re going to be proactive. We’re going to fight a good fight, a strategic fight, one that’s worth fighting.

A penny a plant — back to the future in weed control?

Alternatives } Researchers call for greater crop rotational diversity and more focus on integrated pest management

By Laura Rance

Editor, Manitoba Co-operator

B

ack in the days when being a farm kid spelled work and a penny was still worth five Mojos at the local store, Grandpa had us all out there one hot, July afternoon hand roguing his seed oats for a penny a plant.

If some agronomists are correct, it’s looking like farm kids of the future won’t be deprived of that developmental/family bonding/ entrepreneurial experience.

Hand weeding — as well as every other means of offing herbicideresistant weeds before they go to seed — is now being promoted as a measure farmers should consider

if they want to avoid the aggressive invasion overtaking fields south of the border.

Just a couple of years ago, we brought you stories of Arkansas cotton farmers whose farm trucks, once loaded with herbicide containers, are now filled with hoes.

Well last fall, provincial agronomists in Manitoba visited fields just across the line that are infested with weeds resistant to at least one, if not multiple herbicides.

Some weed scientists are openly questioning the agronomy industry’s single focus on herbicides, particularly the introduction of stacked traits — varieties that are tolerant to multiple active ingredients.

“Why are so many weed scientists and extension personnel

recommending more herbicides to mitigate herbicide-resistance problems?” asks an editorial by six leading Canadian weed researchers, Neil Harker, John O’Donovan, Robert Blackshaw, Hugh Beckie, C. Mallory Smith and Bruce Maxwell published last year in the journal Weed Science.

These researchers argue promoting “herbicide diversity” and stacked-trait technology as the solution to herbicide-resistant weeds is short sighted at best.

“Multiple resistance to herbicides with different sites of actions has occurred in the past and will increasingly occur in the future,” they say.

They call for greater crop rotational diversity, more focus on inte-

grated pest management and fewer in-crop applications of glyphosate.

“Are we a discipline so committed to maintaining the profits for the agrochemical industry that we cannot offer up realistic longterm solutions to this pressing problem?”

In a 2011 essay, Robert Zimdahl, a retired weed scientist from Colorado State University, eloquently describes the root of the problem.

“Most biologists accede to the view that their research is contributing to an expanding view of nature that will never be complete.

However, in some sectors of biology, and I think especially in weed control, scientists may not operate from this broader biological perspective. We know weed con-

trol is evolving, but its evolution has been constrained because 20 years ago the science focused almost exclusively on a single solution to the problem. The desirable goal of weed control was too frequently hitched to the technological achievement of herbicides.”

Farmers can’t control the weather. They can’t control the markets. But on this one, they are in the driver’s seat. They are the ones deciding what to grow.

Maybe the idea of hand weeding your fields has appeal. For the record, those memories are fond ones.

The problem is, pennies are being phased out, the fields are bigger and there aren’t that many farm kids around anymore.

World organizations are turning their attention to animal welfare Part two of two Competitors } South America and emerging European economies are stepping up their game on animal welfare Meristem Information Resources

I

n part two of this look at key global developments, University of British Columbia animal welfare expert Dr. David Fraser highlights an innovative effort gaining steam in Canada, along with European and South American progress.

On the home front, a key bigpicture development that also promises to hold substantial profile on the global radar is the activity of Canada’s own National Farmed Animal Health and Welfare Council.

This group, a mix of government and industry representatives and experts, was formed as an advisory council to the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Regulatory Assistant Deputy Ministers

of Agriculture Committee. It has focused on co-ordinating the development of a national strategy on all aspects of farm animal health and welfare.

The original national strategy document, released in 2009, focused heavily on animal health.

The new document proposes a new strategy specifically for farmed animal welfare. It was released in December 2012 at the forum hosted by the council in Ottawa.

The council is a major connection point between industry and government on the health and welfare of production animals.

“The idea behind the formation of the council was to have a high-level steering group to advise governments and industry on the implementation of national strategies for farm animal health and welfare,” says Fraser, who is a member of the

council. “The welfare document represents two years of discussion and consultations.

How that is received will have a strong bearing on how Canada will approach national co-ordination on this issue.”

FAW interest expanding

Less specific but equally important to these developments is a noticeable trend of increasing participation in livestock welfare initiatives and progress by parts of the world not typically considered hot spots of farm animal care innovation.

A couple of quick examples include the rise in participation by eastern European countries in programs such as the AWARE initiative, and by South American countries in similar education and awareness initiatives.

AWARE stands for Animal Welfare Research in an Enlarged

Europe, a program designed to promote integration and increase the impact of European research on farm animal welfare.

It accomplishes this through networks of scientists, lecturers and students who champion farm animal welfare knowledge transfer and implementation.

While attention to animal welfare is well established among the western European Union countries, AWARE has targeted and established specific participation by the new EU member states that have joined in the past decade, comprising primarily eastern European states, such as Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and others.

South America is another example of non-traditional livestock players stepping up their game. Demand for educational resources and programs on live-

stock welfare on the continent has skyrocketed in recent years.

Both examples indicate a fastincreasing world expansion of progressive-thinking states on livestock welfare.

“The ramping up of interest and expertise in both the eastern European countries and the South American countries is remarkable,” says Fraser.

“And these examples are not isolated — the more you look around the world, the more you find.

“If you go to most regions of the world that are agriculturally important, we’re seeing strong interest and activity that wasn’t there even five years ago.”

From the NewStream farm animal care newsletter by Meristem Information Resources. To subscribe email newstream@ meristem.com.

6

OFF THE FRONT

CHICKEN

 from page 1

Other supply-managed sectors, including dairy, have mechanisms that adjust provincial allocation to population growth over time, she said. Her board would like to see Alberta’s quota increased to match its share of the national population, but are willing to negotiate, she added.

“There are ongoing meetings trying to address this issue, trying to come to a suitable conclusion,” said Ference.

Alberta Chicken Producers issued its notice to the Chicken Farmers of Canada in November, and has until Feb. 22 to withdraw it. If that deadline passes, the province will be out of the national system at the end of the year and would need the approval of all provinces to get back in. Everyone hopes it doesn’t get that far, but allocation is a complex question, said Mike Dungate, executive director of the Chicken Farmers of Canada.

“There are numerous provinces that disagree that chicken production should be allocated on the basis of provincial population,” he said.

He noted that Western Canada — as a whole — has more than its share.

“Right now there’s more production than population in Western Canada,” Dungate said.

More meetings are scheduled and several proposals are on the table, and Dungate said he’s optimistic something can be worked out.

“It’s serious — we need to address the issues to everyone’s satisfaction,” he said. “We would love to have it done by Feb. 22 and we will work towards that day, but if for any reason that day passes, we’re not throwing up our arms in defeat and walking away.”

Alberta considered withdrawing in 2001 but the matter was resolved, he added.

“It’s not an Alberta issue or a supply management issue, this is strictly an internal to Chicken Farmers of Canada about how we allocate our own quota,” said Dungate.

But Ference said it’s time to settle the issue once and for all.

“We feel that a populationbased method for allocating chicken production will allow the whole Canadian chicken industry to focus on other things, like SEC-STETT12-T_AFE.qxd 10/14/11 growing the domestic chicken market,” she said.

FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

JAPAN BEEF

 from page 1

access will breathe new life into the Canadian beef cattle sector.”

Like many other countries, Japan banned Canadian beef after the discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in 2003. Canada had gained access for the under-21-month cattle in 2005 and had been expecting the broader access for months.

Ray Price, chairman of the Canadian Meat Council, said the announcement was welcome after “a long and arduous undertaking that must be negotiated on a government-to-government basis.”

Japan’s refusal to fully open its market is more restrictive than recommended by the International Animal Health Organization, but “they do represent a landmark step along the road to

“Although the Japanese have high expectations for quality, they reward exporters who meet these expectations.”

JIM LAWS MEAT COUNCIL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Canadian beef sellers hope more of these labels will soon be on Canadian product. the restoration of normal trade,” Price added.

“Although the Japanese have high expectations for quality, they reward exporters who meet these expectations,” said Meat Council executive director Jim Laws. “We look forward to rapid progress on the Canada-Japan Economic Partnership negotiations that were announced

by the Canadian and Japanese governments earlier this year.”

Unrau said the under-21months rule had “presented a significant challenge to Canada’s ability to supply beef to Japan on a year-round basis. As the majority of Canadian calves are born in the late winter and early spring, the U21 cut-off typically means few cattle qual-

FILE PHOTO

ify for Japan between December and April.”

There never was any scientific rationale for the Japanese ban, Unrau said. “We are confident that all Canadian beef is safe due to our BSE surveillance and strong control measures and it is gratifying to have the Japanese scientific community and health officials agree.”

BRIEFS World’s farmers up crop insurance to a record $24B LONDON / REUTERS Farmers have spent 20 per cent more on agricultural insurance in recent years to protect against crop losses from increasingly frequent bad weather events, according to reinsurer Swiss Re. The rise in extreme weather disasters, such as last year’s widespread U.S. drought, has reduced food output at a time when the world’s population is expected to grow by a third by 2050, the 1:35 PM Page 1 world’s second-biggest reinsurer said in a

report. Global agricultural insurers took in $23.5 billion in annual premiums in 2011, up by a fifth from 2005, Swiss Re said.

China and India accounted for nearly two-thirds of the $5 billion in premiums paid in emerging countries. Swiss Re said the agriculture insurance market could still grow fourfold in emerging markets.

U.S. drought prompts record crop insurance payout WASHINGTON / REUTERS Crop insurers have paid a record $11.6 billion to U.S.

growers in compensation for losses due largely to widespread drought in 2012.

Some analysts expect indemnities to reach $20 billion this year, nearly double the old record set in 2011. That would mean steep losses as insurers collected just over $11 billion in premiums.

Washington not only pays 62 per cent of premiums but is on the hook for about three-quarters of underwriting losses.

Crop insurance is the largest U.S. farm support.

Some 85 per cent of eligible farmland, 281 million acres, was covered by $116 billion worth of policies in 2012.

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8

FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Wild Rose Agricultural Producers passes child labour resolution at meeting RULES AND REGULATIONS } MLA, Farmworkers Union president agree it’s an important step

By Victoria Paterson

“I think the exciting part of this is that the leadership of the largest agricultural organization in Alberta has been very clear and very public about its commitment to child labour standards.”

af staff / calgary

O

ne of the largest agricultural groups in Alberta is calling for legislated child labour standards for all paid farm workers.

Wild Rose Agricultural Producers (WRAP) delegates unanimously gave their approval to the resolution at their recent annual meeting in Banff. WRAP president Lynn Jacobson said the resolution was initially brought forward by one of their southern regions.

“It’s becoming an issue more and more,” he said of the lack of regulations around children and adolescents hired by farming operations. “So we’re saying, ‘That’s not right, there should be rules and regulations around when you hire children.’”

There wasn’t any opposition presented at the meeting to the resolution, Jacobson said. “There was some discussion at the table around it. People wanted information.”

He said the intent is not to stop child labour or target family farms, but there should be regulations governing hired help.

WRAP will seek a meeting with the government shortly on this and other topics, Jacobson said. And while the Alberta Liberals initially raised the issue on the political scene, he said this isn’t about parties. “It’s a social issue, it’s not a political issue. It’s about our kids and other people’s kids and how we treat them.”

David Swann

Liberal critic pleased

Lynn Jacobson, president of the Wild Rose Agricultural Producers, says the next step is to meet with the government.

Alberta Liberal Human Services critic David Swann spoke at the WRAP meeting. Swann brought child labour and agriculture national attention in 2012 when he wrote a letter to Frito-Lay asking it to boycott Alberta potatoes due to child labour.

“I think the exciting part of this is that the leadership of the largest agricultural organization in Alberta has been very clear and very public about its commitment to child labour standards — legislated child labour standards,” Swann said.

He said he’s been campaigning for farm child labour regulations and health and safety standards in general to be put into place in the agriculture industry. “This is a big deal for me after seven years to see this kind of leadership, the possibility of change and the undeniability now that the agriculture industry wants to move forward,” he said. The government will have

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Today’s top ag stories: www.albertafarmexpress.ca

to address the issue now instead of dodging it, Swann said.

A clear affirmation

Eric Musekamp, president of the Farmworkers Union of Alberta, said the resolution will help gain traction for the issue with the agriculture and employment ministers.

“They’re not going to be able to keep arguing that it’s a non-issue,” Musekamp said, adding other “naysayers” will be quelled by Wild Rose Agricultural Producers bringing the resolution forward to the government. Musekamp called the resolution a “breakthrough.”

“It’s going to cause a sea of change on the agricultural labour front,” he said. “Condoning child labour is bad for our (Alberta’s) reputation.”

WRAP delegates also passed a resolution that the group approach the Worker’s Compensation Board to discuss the inclusion of agricultural workers under its umbrella.

NEWS Big Apple holds off on fines, but proceeds with ban on big-gulp drinks new york / reuters

N

ew York City will give restaurants and food outlets a three-month grace period before imposing fines for serving the large, sugary drinks that will be banned.

The ban, the first of its kind in the nation, was imposed after excessive soda drinking was fingered as a significant cause of obesity and other health problems.

Under the new rules, most restaurants and food outlets will not be allowed to serve non-alcoholic, sugar-sweetened drinks in cups larger than 16 oz., the equivalent of a “small” drink at McDonald’s restaurants.

Although the ban takes effect in March, violators will be notified but not fined for the first three months.

From June onward, violators will be subject to a $200 fine.

The American Beverage Association is fighting the ban in court, arguing it robs consumers of their right to choose.

9

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • FEBRUARY 4, 2013

Expert says climate change will warm the Prairies — and that’s bad news HOTTER  University of Winnipeg geography professor predicts weeks of plus 30 C summer days

BY LORRAINE STEVENSON STAFF / BRANDON, MAN.

H

urricane Sandy and the devastating Midwest drought have convinced many Americans that climate change is real, and Prairie residents may soon have reason to feel likewise, says a University of Winnipeg geography professor.

“We are in climate change central in this part of North America,” Danny Blair said in a recent presentation to Ag Days, Manitoba’s largest annual ag event.

Blair, who is the university associate dean of science, pointed to predictions that average Prairie temperatures could rise by 2 C, on top of the 2 C to 4 C increase that’s occurred in the last 40 years.

“If you move the mean temperature of the summer warmer by a couple of degrees, that doesn’t just mean everything is going to be 2 C warmer,” he said.

“It changes the statistical distribution of extreme events... and the probability of having really extreme temperatures goes up.”

Projections are that Winnipeg could have as many as 70 days with average temperatures of 30 C by century’s end, he said.

“Right now we have 13 days,” said Blair. “It is, shall I say it, Nebraska-type weather, or even Texas kind of weather from those extremes.”

Conservative approach

Echoing David Chilton, the financial guru who brought a ‘don’t

consume what you can’t afford’ message to Ag Days, Blair said people need to think about what their consumption is doing to the planet, too.

“What we’ve done to the atmosphere, by changing the composition of the atmosphere, is essentially hang a Christmas tree bulb to burn over every square metre of the earth’s surface continually.”

DANNY BLAIR

“We need to think about consumption from an environmental point of view, too,” he said.

Blair said he understands why many are skeptical of climate change, and cited an older farmer he had talked to that morning.

“He’d said to me, ‘Haven’t we always had climate change?’”

Blair’s response was that this is different.

“Yes, climate has always changed and there are natural processes that have changed the climate,” he said. “But we are convinced within the scientific

community that the warming we’re seeing now and that we’re going to see for decades to come is caused by us.”

In the 1700s, before the Industrial Revolution began, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere were 280 parts per million. Today, it’s 394. Gesturing to a teen in the front row, he said, “By the time this young man is an old man, it may be 500, 600, 700 parts per million. That’s where we’re going — unless we clean up our act.”

That’s going to be tough as a third of CO2 in the air will still be there a century from now, and nearly a fifth of it will linger for 1,000 years.

Carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuel, has increased “radiative forcing,” the difference the amount of heat the planet receives versus what is radiated into space. Scientists estimate the increase in greenhouse gases is generating the heat equivalent of a 1.6-watt light bulb per square metre.

“What we’ve done to the atmosphere, by changing the composition of the atmosphere, is essentially hang a Christmas tree bulb to burn over every square metre of the earth’s surface continually,” he said.

“Does it seem like very much?

No it doesn’t. But it’s there. And it’s significant enough to change the planet.”

Powerpoint slides of Blair’s Ag Days presentation are online at: http://dannyblair.uwinnipeg.ca/ presentations/blair-mbagdays15jan2013.pdf.

Danny Blair, associate dean of science at University of Winnipeg, says to expect more extreme weather. PHOTO: LORRAINE STEVENSON

WHAT’S UP Send agriculture-related meeting and event announcements to: will.verboven@fbcpublishing.com February 5: AFIN 2013 AGM, Calnash Ag Event Centre, Ponoka. Call: AFIN 403-556-4248 February 5: Water Works, GPRC: Fairview Campus 5:30 pm, Fairview.

Call: Karlah 780-523-4033 February 5: Open Wheat and Barley Markets, Centennial Hall 9:00 am, Spirit River. Call: Rick 780-4274466 February 5/6: Greenhouse Planning Workshop, Airdrie Ag Centre, Airdrie. Call: Rob 780-310-3276 February 6: Water Works, Canadian Legion Hall 5:30 pm, Manning. Call: Nora 780-836-3354 February 7: Explore Horticulture, Highwood Memorial Centre 9:00 am, High River. Call: Rob 403-7427901 February 7: Livestock Producers Workshop, Derwent Hall 9:45 am, Derwent. Call: County 780-6573358 February 7: Open Wheat and Barley Markets, Community Centre 9:00 am, Westlock. Call: Rick 780-4274466 February 7: Ranching Opportunities, Olds College Alumni Centre, Olds.

Call: Amber 403-335-3311 February 7: Water Works, Cultural Society Hall 5:30 pm, Demmit. Call: Jill 780-567-5585

February 8: Peace Country Beef & Forage AGM, Dunvegan Motor Inn 4:00 pm, Fairview. Call: Morgan 780-835-6799 February 9: Alternative Agriculture, Community Hall 9:00 am, Wildwood.

Call: County 800-814-3935 February 12: AgChoices 2013, Camrose Exhibition Grounds 8:00 am, Camrose. Call: Leona 780-8538103 February 12: Working Well Workshop, Community Hall 6:00 pm, Blue Ridge. Call: County 866584-3866 February 13: Open Wheat and Barley Markets, Senior Citizens Club 9:00 am, Viking. Call: Rick 780-427-4466 February 13: Train the New Generation, Exhibition Grounds 8:00 am, Medicine Hat. Call: Shelley 403-488-7015 February 13: Surface Lease & Energy Agreements, Community Hall 7:00 pm, Tees. Call: Larry 403-784-3437 February 13/15: Western Barley Growers AGM, Deerfoot Inn, Calgary. Call: Dianne 403-912-3998 February 14: Open Wheat And Barley Markets, Memorial Centre 9:00 am, Lacombe. Call: Rick 780-427-4466 February 14: Current & Connected Conference, Black Knight Inn, Red Deer. Call: Liz 877-474-2871 February 20/21: Growing the North Conference, Evergreen Park, Grande Prairie. Call: Karen 780538-5629

February 25 & 26, 2013 The Fairmont Winnipeg

Grainworld, the annual Canadian ag outlook conference, is returning to Winnipeg • Base you spring planting decisions on good information on the markets for the crops we grow on the prairies.

• Outlooks for each of our various crops are given by traders in that commodity.

• The right planting mix will benefit you as well as the entire industry.

For the agenda, and to register online: www.wildoatsgrainworld.com or call 1-204-942-1459

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Wednesday, February 13th 2013 Fire impacts and stewardship in the watershed The Oldman Watershed Council’s Rural Team is delighted to invite you to the 7th Annual Holding the Reins Landowners Summit, scheduled for Wednesday, February 13th, at the Fort MacLeod & District Community Hall.

Holding the Reins is a much anticipated annual event that provides basin residents an opportunity to hear about rural issues and initiatives in the Oldman watershed. Presentations are given on a wide range of rural topics and landowner stewardship groups share their expertise, experiences and stories of their efforts to protect their local watershed.

This year’s theme, Fire Impacts and Stewardship in the Watershed, promises an inspiring and engaging summit with presentations on the Granum, Milk River and Lost Creek wildfires,”Digital Stories” and local watershed and landowner stewardship group updates. The Rural Team is honored to have AB Beef Producers’ 2008 Environmental Stewardship Award recipients and Stavely-area ranchers, Glen and Kelly Hall, as Keynote Speakers.

For more information and to register please visit www.oldmanbasin.org or call 403-381-5801. Please register by February 8th.

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Grain commission considering expanding security program to feed mills discussions } The question is where do you draw the line, says commissioner Murdoch MacKay

By Allan Dawson staff / winnipeg

T

he Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) is considering whether it can expand its proposed new insurance-based payment security program to nonlicensed buyers such as feed mills.

“We at the commission have had some discussions about it and we’re looking at it,” CGC commissioner Murdoch MacKay told reporters after speaking at the Keystone Agricultural Producers’ (KAP) annual meeting in Winnipeg Jan. 23.

“It’s not falling on deaf ears. We’ve heard and we’re listening and we’re looking at it.”

But MacKay said it’s difficult to know how far to extend producer security.

KAP has been pushing for the CGC to expand its security program to include feed mills in wake of Puratone, a major hog producer and feed mill company entering creditor protection last fall owing grain farmers about $1 million.

MacKay said the CGC wants to drop its current security program, which requires licensed grain companies to post enough security to cover what’s owed to farmers for the grain they delivered and replace it with an insurance scheme.

“That means we’re looking at a process where companies would pool their risk through an insurance program and they would cover the payment obligations that are required for producers,” MacKay said.

Participating in the insurance program would be a condition of licensing.

The current program requires companies to report their grain stocks and financial status to the CGC monthly. Sometimes when companies fail there isn’t enough security to cover what farmers are owed.

The CGC is considering expanding its grain security program when it switches from the current “bonding” system to an insurance scheme, commissioner Murdoch MacKay told farmers at KAP’s annual meeting Jan. 23. photo: allan dawson The new system should be cheaper for companies and the CGC to administer and guarantee all farmers 100 per cent of what they are owed, he said.

The CGC is asking insurance companies for more information, and then it will make the details public and consult with the grain sector, MacKay said.

The goal is to have the new system operating by Aug. 1.

“Right now we’re feeling quite comfortable about it and we will continue to move forward on all of these processes,” he told reporters, but added that time frame might be ambitious if the security program is expanded to include unlicensed buyers such as feed mills.

“There are a lot of different feed mills,” MacKay said. “You’ve got big ones, you’ve got mid-size ones and then you’ve got the small ones and then you’ve got one farmer selling to another farmer. Where do you draw the line? We’re looking at it to see if it’s at all possible... No matter what happens it will be an added cost to them.”

If the CGC does expand coverage, it’s likely to initially stick with the 21 grains and oilseeds already covered under the Canada Grain Act, he said.

Deaths in farm workplace decline Hazardous profession } In the past two decades, nearly 2,000 people have died in farm ‘accidents’ — although experts say virtually all are preventable by lorraine stevenson staff

T

he number of fatalities is falling on Canadian farms, but the statistics are far from good.

The average number of deaths on farms has fallen to 89 annually since 2000, compared to 118 annually throughout the 1990s, according to the latest Canadian Agricultural Injury Report.

No deaths is the only acceptable number, but the decline is encouraging, and is a sign that more farmers are making their workplace safer, said Marcel Hacault, executive director of the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association.

“We’re definitely seeing evidence of a greater commitment to managing safety risks on farms,” Hacault said in a news release.

Farmers are showing increased interest in safety training courses for their employees and beginning to build safety plans into their business operations, he said.

But the operative word is ‘beginning.’ Only about 15 per cent of Canadian farmers have a safety plan, according to a 2011 Farm

Credit Canada survey. Improvements to farm equipment is also playing a role.

“The farm equipment they’re using allows them to farm more safely, ” Hacault said. “A lot of the hazards that were there in the past are no longer there.”

The overall fatality rate from 1990 to 2008 was 13 deaths per 100,000 farmers, although that jumped to 80 deaths per 100,000 for those age 80 and over. During that period, the number of children killed on the farm decreased from 16 deaths per year from 10. Many of those deaths occurred when the child fell while riding in a tractor or was struck when someone was backing up a piece of equipment.

In all, there were 1,975 deaths on farms or agricultural operations between 1990 and 2009. The top causes are rollovers, run-overs, and entanglement in machinery.

These are predictable and preventable events, not random or isolated “accidents,” said Hacault.

“If more producers made sure all their tractors had Roll Over Protection Systems (ROPS) and wore seatbelts, it would go a long way toward making farm work safer,” he said.

11

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • FEBRUARY 4, 2013

Satellite Internet program to benefit central Albertans GET CONNECTED  Government partners with Xplornet to waive distance installation fees to encourage more people to go online

BY VICTORIA PATERSON AF STAFF / CALGARY

W

ith the announcement of another potential 4,600 homes that will be able to connect to high-speed Internet, the Alberta government is getting closer to its target of having 98 per cent of homes in the province able to access broadband services.

The qualified residences, located in rural central Alberta, are eligible to have the standard installation distance charge of about $150 waived. The government is partnering with Xplornet Communications Inc., which will provide 4G satellite Internet connections to those residents who sign up for the service.

“What this is really about is breaking down some of the barriers to adoption in rural and remote Alberta,” said Bill Macdonald, vice-president of business development for Xplornet.

Affordability has been one of those barriers with the distance

BRIEFS U.S. drought prompts record crop insurance payout WASHINGTON / REUTERS Crop insurers have paid a record $11.6 billion to U.S. growers in compensation for losses due largely to widespread drought in 2012. Some analysts expect indemnities to reach $20 billion this year, nearly double the old record set in 2011.

That would mean steep losses as insurers collected just over $11 billion in premiums.

Washington not only pays 62 per cent of premiums but is on the hook for about three-quarters of underwriting losses. Crop insurance is the largest U.S. farm support. Some 85 per cent of eligible farmland, 281 million acres, was covered by $116 billion worth of policies in 2012.

installation fees, but the partnership with the provincial government means the company can offer a basic installation and activation fee.

“It costs the same if you are less than 25 kilometres from a dealer or if you’re 150 kilometres,” Macdonald said. “The max it will be for activation will be $200.”

A changing area

Service Alberta Minister Manmeet Bhullar said with advancing technology and growing communities the strategy now is to pinpoint remote areas that need connectivity. “This program is geared towards families living in low-density, remote areas of Alberta,” he said. This program is the second phase of the Final Mile Rural Connectivity Initiative. Last year, Bhullar and then-agriculture minister Evan Berger announced the up to $5-million Final Mile Rural Community Program, which invited communities and other local governments to submit

their plans to increase highspeed Internet access in their municipalities to be considered for funding.

Bhullar said decisions on that community project will be announced in the spring.

Between that program and the second phase for central Alberta, they’ll consider what areas are left and what future phases of the project will look like. He said the second phase of waiving the distance fee will cost up to $900,000.

Pinpointing places for coverage

The overall rural Internet access initiative has been part of government policy and election promises for a number of years.

Recent predecessors to the Final Mile Rural Connectivity Initiative included the Rural Connections: Community Broadband Infrastructure Pilot Program and the Rural Community Adaptation Grant Program, both of which wrapped up funding applications in 2010.

Bhullar said there’s been a shift from programs with “broad strokes” to efforts like the Final Mile that are striving to “pinpoint” areas that need help to get access. “I think previous programs, they were looking to connect a higher volume of people because at that time there were more communities, larger communities that didn’t have access,” he said.

The assessment that will follow the central Alberta effort includes looking at a north and south Alberta satellite solution, terrestrial-based solutions and infill. “Those are all areas we’re currently studying,” Bhullar said.

He’s hoping with the addition of up to 4,600 homes to the roster of those who can connect to highspeed Internet, Alberta’s rate of access will get closer to the set target. “I’m hoping it will get us close to that 97 to 98 per cent,” he said.

Central Alberta homeowners can check their eligibility for the program online at www. servicealberta.ca or by calling 1-888-777-4010.

This map indicates the areas in central Alberta where homeowners can qualify to have their distance installation fees to put in highspeed Internet waived under a new phase of a government program.

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01/13-19769-02

SAO PAULO / REUTERS Brazil’s chicken meat exports should increase by about three per cent this year after falling in 2012 due to high feed costs, says the country’s poultry association. The association expects better demand from countries in Asia and Africa and a greater emphasis on processed foods to raise the value of sales and to compensate for high grain prices in the past year in the world’s top chicken meat exporter.

“This year, we want to improve the quality of chicken meat and add value to exports,” said Francisco Turra, president of the Brazilian Poultry Union (Ubabef). Brazil accounts for nearly 40 per cent of the world’s chicken exports.

19769-02E FCC_Stockbrugger_Nat_8.125x10_rev.indd 1

1/18/13 12:41 PM

12

NEWS » Markets

FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Ukraine sees winter grain yield rising

Russian wheat prices hit new highs

Winter weather is favourable for Ukrainian grain crop, which could see its yield rise by 20 to 30 per cent in 2013, a senior Ukrainian weather forecaster said on Jan. 28. “We went through most of the winter without major problems and crops are mostly in good or satisfactory condition,” Mykola Kulbida, the head of Ukraine’s state weather centre, told reporters. According to Farm Ministry data, about 92 per cent, or 7.1 million hectares, of sprouted grains were in good or satisfactory condition as of Jan. 17. — Reuters

Russian wheat prices hit new highs last week, after a rise of 75 per cent last year, due to tight supply and rising imports, a trader and analysts said Jan. 28. The Russian wheat export market is dormant as prices are far above competitive international levels, forcing some traders to switch to importing. In mid-January, the average domestic price in the European part of the country for third-grade milling wheat rose 175 rubles to reach 11,625 rubles ($390) per tonne, while fourthgrade milling wheat was up 125 rubles at 11,575 rubles, SovEcon said. — Reuters

ICE’s canola futures climb higher on lower loonie StatsCan } Some traders expect the agency to boost

canola stocks in the report to be issued Feb. 5

PHOTo: thinkstock

By Dwayne Klassen

T

he unexpected drop in the value of the Canadian dollar helped canola futures on the ICE Futures Canada trading platform push upward during the week ended Jan. 25. The weak Canadian unit had the benefit of sparking some aggressive buying from both the domestic and export sectors.

As if by cue, there were unconfirmed reports of fresh Canadian canola export sales put on the books during the reporting period. The sales, while unconfirmed, were said to have included both canola seed as well as canola oil.

Adding to the strength displayed by canola were nervous short-position holders, who ended up buying back those previously sold contracts on concerns about the dryness issues which have been hovering over much of Argentina’s soybean-growing regions.

The ability of the March canola futures to hold above key technical resistance at $600 per tonne, also stimulated some additional chartbased demand from fund accounts.

Concerns about tightening canola supplies in Canada, due to the strong usage, only added to the supportive tone experienced by values.

The upside in canola was restricted by bouts of profit-taking and from elevator company hedge selling, particularly in view of Prairie farmers taking advantage of $14 or better cash

bids being offered by these companies and domestic crushers.

Activity in the milling wheat, durum and barley market on the ICE Futures Canada platform remained uneventful as interest in trading these commodities remains absent. Some arbitraging of value for barley by the exchange was the only action seen.

Soybean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) managed to push upward during the reporting period, with the trek to higher ground occurring at a reluctant pace. There was a lot of “give and go” on the South American soybean production front, with movement in values dependent on the everchanging weather outlook, particularly for Argentina.

One day dryness was hurting the crop; the next day the forecast included beneficial rain, which created a lot of confusion. However, while some doubt has been cast over production, most market participants are still of the belief that soybean output from that region of the globe will be record high.

Steady demand from the export and domestic sector helped to keep a firm floor under CBOT soybean values.

Corn futures on the CBOT experienced small declines during the reporting period, with the continued absence of demand from the export sector and the continued diminished usage of the commodity in the domestic market, generating the downward price slide.

The jump in the value of the U.S. dollar also did not do corn futures any favours.

The price trend in wheat futures on the CBOT, MGEX and KCBT was to the downside during the week. The arrival of beneficial rains in the U.S. Midwest and southern wheat-growing areas of the U.S. accounted for some of the price weakness. Export demand for U.S.-based wheat also continued on the thin side, which further contributed to the bearish price sentiment.

The lack of demand for U.S. wheat continues to surprise individuals, especially with wheat output in the other parts of the globe suspect at best.

Most participants feel that U.S. wheat continues to be highly priced and have been seeking alternatives instead.

Canola on its own

While the South American weather forecast will continue to have an impact on the direction of the North American oilseed sector, canola has shown signs of wanting to break out on its own.

There is no doubt that if South America starts to harvest a record-size crop, canola will feel some of the downward price pressure associated with that bearish news.

However, the extremely tight canola ending stocks picture may provide an opportunity for the commodity to enjoy trading at a bit of a premium to soybeans.

Visible stocks of canola in Canada as of Jan. 20 were pegged by the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) at only

891,900 tonnes. At the same time a year ago, stocks of canola were sitting at 1.382 million tonnes.

This in turn has resulted in some concern about just how much canola is actually out there, given the strong usage pace.

Farmer deliveries of canola, despite strong cash bids, also continue to be slightly behind the year-ago level. CGC figures for the period ended Jan. 20 in the 2012-13 crop year reveal 7.433 million tonnes of canola have been delivered into the commercial elevator system, down from the 7.881 million tonnes at the same time a year ago.

The domestic disappearance of canola also was ahead of the year-ago pace.

An estimated 3.243 million tonnes of canola have been used in the domestic sector so far, based on the CGC stats.

Last year at the same time, the figure was sitting at 3.183 million tonnes.

Some market participants feel that Canada’s canola ending stocks at the end of the 2012-13 season will be extremely tight. There are ideas that this could be a correct assessment.

However, on the flip side of the coin, there are already ideas that the Statistics Canada stocks in all positions report, to be released Feb. 5, will come up with a larger-than-anticipated canola number, as the government agency bumps up production totals.

Dwayne Klassen writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.

13

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • FEBRUARY 4, 2013

FNA will act as sourcing agent for new CWB

BriefS Feb. 15 deadline to apply for 4-H youth summit Young adults between the ages of 18-25 have the chance to be one of the 40 Canadians to attend the Global 4-H Youth AgSummit in Calgary this Aug. 19-25. Twenty of these participants will be 4-H members and/or 4-H alumni.

To be eligible, they can submit an application by writing an essay (max.

2,000 words) or filming a video (max. seven minutes) about the challenges of feeding a hungry planet. It should address the challenge of feeding two billion more people in the next 40 years.

Deadline for applications is Feb. 15, 2013.

With sponsorship from Bayer CropScience, the Canadians will be among 120 youth selected from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Tanzania, United Kingdom and the U.S. For more details and to apply online visit www.

YouthAgSummit.com.

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marketing, said the group will offer “a number of incentives” to growers signing with the former Canadian Wheat Board through FNA.

taff with Farmers of North America (FNA) will soon be able to act as the middleman for farmers interested in contracting grain to CWB. Saskatoon-based FNA, a farm“Agreement marks a key ers’ buying group negotiating deals on low-cost inputs and advance for farmers in other farm supplies and services, ensuring a competitive announced Jan. 24 its staff will act as “a key sourcing agent for CWB environment in the contracts” as of Jan. 29.

As per the group’s agreement grain-marketing sector.” with CWB, FNA staff will “communicate CWB pool and program information to farmers and sign up their contracts.”

Bill Martin, FNA’s vice-presSEC-WHEAB13_AF.qxd 1/10/13 ident for grain handling and 4:32 PM Page 1

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winnipeg / reuters Canada and the U.S. have agreed to maintain livestock and meat trade during animal disease outbreaks using a new system that targets trade bans more precisely by region.

The new system, which won’t take effect until after consultation with industry groups and details are worked out, would prevent a full border ban that happened during the BSE outbreak. Instead, each country would only restrict trade within designated disease-control zones where the animal disease breaks out.

If it had been in place in 2003, the U.S. would likely only have restricted imports of beef from Western Canada, not the entire country, said Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz.

“This is a sensible approach,” he said, adding the “choke point” between the two zones would be at the inspection station at West Hawk Lake, Man.

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Rewards } The CWB will offer signing incentives to FNA members Specific incentives would be announced later, he said, but noted the group has negotiated a rate on CWB’s fees that will allow FNA members to get cash back on CWB contracts through the group’s MPower rewards program.

Farmers would contact FNA’s office in Saskatoon to connect to its staff representative nearest them. Once signed up with a CWB contract, a farmer will then be able to deliver grain on the contract to any Prairie elevator or producer car-loading site.

Martin said in the group’s Jan. 24 release that the agreement marks a “key advance for farmers in ensuring a competitive environment in the grain-marketing sector.”

FNA’s basic philosophy is to maintain competition in the marketplace in all product lines and segments in which it deals, “to have the maximum choice available,” he said in an interview.

The goal of the agreement is to ensure CWB “remains a competitive player and a valuable option for farmers,” he said.

CWB CEO Ian White noted the former board’s programs “are similar to FNA’s other services in that they help put more money in farmers’ pockets.”

White noted farmers who market through CWB “receive all the profits earned from selling their grain through the pooling period, less a fixed management fee.”

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14

FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

CWB wants to privatize sooner rather than later TALKS  Talks have begun

with potential investors

BY ALLAN DAWSON STAFF / BRANDON, MAN.

T

he CWB is talking to potential partners about taking the government-owned grain company private sooner than later.

“We’ve been talking to people already in the grain industry, and people who are not and want to invest in it,” Gord Flaten, the CWB’s vice-president for grain procurement, told reporters Jan. 16.

“That involves either positioning ourselves as an independent company, sell it to some other investors, or to look at other options including some level of farmer involvement.”

Flaten declined to identify the companies and individuals.

Legislation ending the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly requires the CWB to become a private company by 2017 and submit the plan for doing so to the agriculture minister by 2016, or the government will wind down the CWB.

“Producer cars, I would say, are working better than we expected in the open market...”

GORD FLATEN

“There are a lot of companies that either want to expand their (grain)-origination capacity or don’t have origination capacity at all in Western Canada and that is one of the things that we bring into that environment,” Flaten said. “We’ve got that relationship with farmers and with the companies and a fair amount of knowledge of how the system works and where the opportunities are and so that makes us an attractive partner to quite a few potential investors. There’s also a lot of demand to invest in the grain industry so the timing for that might work out well.”

The CWB is looking at corporate models. Options include private ownership, a publicly traded shareholder-owned firm and a co-operative.

“We are not restricting it to any one kind of model,” he said. “I think it is clear there is a role for farmers somehow. How that happens I think will be up to farmers and the potential investors, some of whom may be farmers and we’re going to facilitate that discussion.”

Owning facilities

During his formal address, Flaten said the CWB is looking to build its own grain-handling facilities.

Currently it has handling agreements with most grain companies.

The CWB will also earn money leasing out its two lake vessels that expected to be sailing in 2014.

It also owns 3,400 rail cars leased to the railways, and its office building in downtown Winnipeg, which has recently been advertised for sale.

Flaten said the CWB is getting $150 million to $200 million from the old wheat board’s contingency fund. The money was earned from futures hedging and cash trading and was meant to offset losses that sometimes occur in those areas.

Many farmers argued that money belongs to them because it was earned when farmers marketing through the board covered all the board’s operating costs.

The CWB, which cut staff to 100 from 400 after losing its singledesk marketing authority, has a clean balance sheet thanks to $350 million from Ottawa to cover transition costs, Flaten said.

Operations of the former Canadian Wheat Board now take up just one floor’s worth of space in a near-empty, eight-storey downtown Winnipeg office building that’s officially up for either sale or lease. An advertisement by an agent says the building offers “highly efficient open-area workstation environments, (a) beautiful executive floor/boardroom, employee cafeteria and fitness facility, large training centres and numerous meeting rooms, and an onsite day-care facility.”

Producer cars

“Producer cars, I would say, are working better than we expected in the open market...” Flaten said. “That is something we expect to be a pretty big portion of our program.”

This crop year 4,460 producer cars have been authorized, down 25 per cent from the same period last year, a Canadian Grain Commission official said later.

Of the record 14,951 producer cars shipped in 2011-12, all but 919 were loaded with wheat board grains.

Most observers predicted producer car use would decline without the CWB monopoly because grain companies with terminals usually have little economic incentive to accept cars from other shippers.

“Because we’ve been able to negotiate terminal access and we’ve got some good logistical relationships working between us and those terminals we’ve been able to facilitate producer cars,” Flaten said.

A few hundred farmers this crop year have taken advantage of the CWB’s “Act of God” clause to get out of sales contracts after hail or other disaster wiped out or downgraded their crops, Flaten said.

Several thousand farmers have also been able to make grade changes to their contracts without penalty.

“The feedback we’ve been getting is they really appreciate the flexibility,” he said. “They don’t have that on every other contract.”

The key is for farmers to inform the CWB early about grade changes, Flaten added. Because the CWB is selling large volumes throughout the year it can usually accommodate it.

“We’re not going to charge a cost (to farmers) for something that doesn’t cost the pool any money,” Flaten said.

In addition to its pools, the CWB is buying and selling cash grain.

Sometimes the CWB buys grain from other companies at port and resells it, Flaten said.

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ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • FEBRUARY 4, 2013

Celebration of Alberta agriculture strikes a chord LOOKING GOOD  Video features images of cattle ranchers, beekeepers, bison and the beauty of the Alberta

landscape set to a country song entitled ‘Long love this land’

BY ALEXIS KIENLEN

“We wanted to do something that was different, that people would want to watch and share and relate to, rather than just ATB Agriculture talking about itself.”

AF STAFF / EDMONTON

A

YouTube video celebrating the people, power, and passion of agriculture in Alberta has touched a chord with Albertans and people around the world, says a marketing official with ATB Financial.

“We wanted to do something that was different, that people would want to watch and share and relate to, rather than just ATB Agriculture talking about itself,” said Terry Andryo, senior marketing manager for agriculture with ATB Financial in Calgary.

“Our idea was to capture the heart, and let the mind follow.”

The video features images of cattle ranchers, beekeepers, bison and the beauty of the Alberta landscape set to a country song entitled “Long love this land,” written by Calgary-based composer Mike Shields and sung by Curtis Glas, a young Calgarian with agricultural roots.

Since its release in October, the five-minute video has been watched 19,000 times and ATB has

TERRY ANDRYO

A still shot from the “Long love this land” video campaign. been asked to provide a translation so it can be used in international trade missions to Japan and China.

The video was inspired by a Chrysler Superbowl ad that showcased the city and people of

SUPPLIED PHOTO

Detroit, their hard work, and their pride.

“Long love this land” was designed to showcase positive Alberta agricultural stories, enhanced by what Andryo calls

“ah-ha moments” — interesting, little-known facts about agriculture in Alberta. The entire project took about 2-1/2 months from start to finish. The video was designed to appeal to consumers, as well as to a younger generation of farmers.

Producers who appear in the video were recommended by ATB’s network of rural branches and were hand picked based on geographic location, demographics and

commodity. Locations shown in the video include Spruce Grove, Falher, Alix, Pincher Creek, Bow Island, Drumheller, Lethbridge, and Taber.

“We didn’t want to be centrally focused — we wanted to explore all parts of the province as best as we could,” said Andryo. “We wanted to make sure that anyone who was watching it could say, ‘That’s Alberta.’”

The video was first shown at the ATB booth at Agritrade in 2012.

Over 1,500 free copies of the video were requested and distributed to people who attended Agritrade and Farmfair. Andryo said he’s received many emails from all over the world, especially from former Albertans. The song from the video has also gotten a lot of attention and is available for download.

ATB Financial will match funds from every purchase of the song and donate them to 4-H, STARS and the Ronald McDonald House until March 31.

The video can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=oMeZhaH0p9U and the song can be downloaded at iTunes, cdbaby.com and Amazon.

Pink slips issued as Canadian Grain Commission prepares for end of subsidies CUTBACKS  The commission is cutting its budget by $30 million and that will affect about 300 positions

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he Canadian Grain Commission is cutting jobs — although the exact number has yet to be determined.

About 300 of the agency’s 700 workers are in “impacted positions” and some have already received letters declaring their positions “surplus,” said spokesman Remi Gosselin.

“Of the 300 impacted positions, I would say about 230 perform inspection and weighing functions, which you find (mainly) in port locations,” he said. “The remainder of the positions that are impacted are in Winnipeg — around 70 positions — but it doesn’t necessarily mean those 70 positions will (all) be eliminated. We’re not really sure how many positions will be eliminated outright and how many employees will be declared surplus.”

Retirements are expected to lower the layoff numbers. Those who lose their jobs have three options — remain employed with the federal government for one year and then be placed on a priority list to fill vacant government jobs, take a severance package, or a combination of severance and funds for up to two years of education.

Ottawa, which currently covers half of the grain commission’s costs, will no longer subsidize the agency. That sparked fears

its fees would triple, but commissioner Murdoch MacKay says the average fee to farmers will be $1.82 per tonne — a 47 per cent increase.

Eliminating mandatory inward weighing and inspection of grain at port elevators will save the commission $20 million, with other changes bringing in $10 million in savings.

What the grain industry gets for its $1.82 a tonne are grain quality experts who work with customers around the world promoting and standing behind Canadian grain, MacKay said.

The commission also arbitrates grade disputes between farmers and grain buyers, administers producer cars, establishes grades, and conducts research on milling and baking quality.

The federal government wants to make more changes, including establishing a voluntary, non-binding dispute settlement process. Now if a grain company disagrees with a grain commission ruling its only option is to fight it in court, which MacKay said is expensive for both sides.

The agency also wants to clarify the role of its grain research laboratory regarding monitoring grain safety, extend “subject to inspectors’ grade and dockage” provisions to process elevators, license companies that load containers with grain for export, and bring in penalties for those who misrepresent the class of grain they are delivering.

16

FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Japan to boost animal feed grain reserves by 44 per cent DIVERSIFICATION } The Farm Ministry says

the move will support supply diversification by risa maeda tokyo / reuters

J

apan plans to boost its animal feed reserves by 44 per cent in the fiscal year starting in April, the Farm Ministry said Jan. 29, as the world’s top corn buyer seeks to smooth supply shocks while it diversifies purchases away from the United States.

The move could support prices by further tightening global supplies of corn, following the latest U.S. government forecast showing stockpiles in the world’s top producer will hit a 17-year low by summer’s end.

Record U.S. corn prices last year forced Japanese animal feed makers to increasingly switch to importing the country’s main feed grain from nations such as Brazil, Argentina and Ukraine. But infra-

structure problems held up some deliveries, resulting in higherthan-expected import costs.

It is to avoid similar supply problems that Japan, which imports more than $3 billion of corn annually, is beefing up its reserves for feed makers to tap in case of an emergency.

A compound feed of grains, soymeal and other ingredients is fed to cattle, chickens and pigs for local meat production.

Japan produces almost no corn or sorghum at home, and thus the government gives financial support to enable imports of the two main ingredients of animal feed to build up national reserves. On top of that, feed makers are required to store certain amounts of feed at their own cost.

For the year that will start in April, the government has set aside a budget to cover costs and

financial support for maintaining reserves of 600,000 tonnes of corn and sorghum, Farm Ministry officials told reporters.

That volume is up from 350,000 tonnes currently, or 320,000 tonnes of corn and 30,000 tonnes of sorghum, marking the first rise in national reserves in three years.

Feed makers will be required to lift their own reserves to 550,000 tonnes in 2013-14 from 450,000 tonnes currently.

“There’s consistent need for more diversification of suppliers from the dominant one, the United States, to Brazil and other developing countries,” Takehiro Osugi, a director at the Farm Ministry’s agricultural production bureau, told Reuters.

“Last year, cargo delays from Brazil for about two months resulted in a temporary shortage of some 500,000 tonnes. Given such

Japan, the world’s top corn buyer, is seeking to smooth supply shocks by diversifying its feed purchases away from the U.S. PHOTo: reuters a case, we’ve decided to add half of that amount, or 250,000 tonnes, to the national reserves,” he said.

For the first 11 months of 2012, Japan imported 8.8 million tonnes of corn for feed use, down 6.7 per cent from a year earlier, customscleared trade data showed.

U.S. corn accounted for 70.8 per

cent during the 11-month period in 2012, down from 87.9 per cent a year earlier. Brazil took an 11.0 per cent share during the same period, followed by 9.2 per cent by Ukraine and 5.5 per cent by Argentina.

A fall in corn imports has been largely filled up with imports of feed wheat.

European authorities say pesticides pose honeybee threat HARMFUL } Residues in the pollen and nectar

of plants are identified

brussels / reuters

T

hree widely used pesticides made by Syngenta and Bayer pose an acute risk to honeybees, according to the European Union’s food safety watchdog.

While it stopped short of linking them to bee colony collapse, the watchdog said harmful pesticide residues in the pollen and nectar of plants treated with neonicotinoid insecticides meant that they should only be used on crops not attractive to honeybees, such as

sugar beet. That would exclude their use on maize, rapeseed and sunflower crops.

The three pesticides are clothianidin and imidacloprid, both primarily produced by Bayer CropScience, and Syngenta’s thiamethoxam, the active ingredient in Cruiser OSR. Bees also face an acute risk from exposure to drifting pesticide dust following sowing of cereal seeds treated with the chemicals, including wheat and barley, authorities said.

Bayer CropScience said the new findings contradict previous ones.

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17

Albertafarmexpress.ca • february 4, 2013

Separate path for farm labour in U.S. Senate immigration plan CITIZENSHIP } There will be a chance for citizenship under a new farm worker program

By Charles Abbott WASHINGTON / Reuters

A

gricultural labourers would be on a separate path to U.S. citizenship than other undocumented workers in the immigration reforms proposed by eight senators Jan. 28 that cited the importance of feeding America.

Many of the 1.5 million farm workers employed in the United States annually — perhaps 500,000 to 900,000 in all — are believed to be in the country illegally.

Farmers, ranchers and nursery operators say the immigrant workforce is vital because it is difficult to recruit Americans for the low-paying, often backbreaking labour such as fruit picking, vegetable harvesting and daily care of livestock.

In a four-page outline, the senators say “agricultural workers who commit to the long-term stability of our nation’s agricultural industries will be treated differently than the rest of the undocumented population because of the role they play in ensuring that Americans have safe

and secure agricultural products to sell and consume.”

“These individuals will earn a path to citizenship through a different process under our new agricultural worker program,” said the bipartisan group, which includes two of the top-ranking Democrats in the Senate and Arizona Republican John McCain.

Right direction

The phrasing was similar to a proposal from a dozen agricultural and nursery groups, working as the Agricultural Workforce Coalition, for a new farm labour program to replace the guest worker program now in place.

Coalition members regard sens.

Dianne Feinstein, California Democrat, and Marco Rubio, Florida Republican, as key legislators in the drive.

“We view this as a step in the right direction,” said Kristi Boswell of the American Farm Bureau Federation, a coalition member. Ken Barbic of Western Growers Association, another coalition member, said his group was “largely encouraged” by the senators’

proposal and that it mentioned agriculture twice.

Craig Regelbrugge of the American Landscape and Nursery Association said “it is essential that experienced farm workers are incentivized to continue working in the sector.”

Besides the separate path for agriculture labour, the framework said reform would include “a workable program to meet the needs of America’s agricultural industry, including dairy, to find agricultural workers when American workers are not available.”

Ag coalition wants new worker program

Under the farm coalition proposal, undocumented workers who agree to work in agricultural jobs for several more years would obtain permanent legal status and the right to work wherever they choose. The coalition would replace the H2-A guest worker program with a system of seasonal and full-year visas.

The bipartisan group said it aims to convert its guidelines into legislation by March and to send it to the House later this year.

“These individuals will earn a path to citizenship through a different process under our new agricultural worker program.”

“We believe this is the year Congress finally gets it done,” said Sen. Charles Schumer, New York Democrat.

The last major attempt at U.S. immigration reform was in 2007. Estimates say there are 11 million illegal immigrants in the country.

Earlier this month the six-millionmember Farm Bureau, the largest U.S. farm group, urged a new immigration law. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has also urged the farm sector to speak up for comprehensive reform.

Soya protein can be replaced by rapeseed protein in human diets SOURCE } A new study shows there is no difference in the bioavailability of the two sources jena university release jena, germany

T

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oday, more than 500 million people are suffering from a lack of adequate protein in their diet. Each year, the number of human beings increases by 80 million, a figure which is equivalent to the present population of Germany.

Thus, providing enough food, particularly sufficient protein for the increasing populace is a challenging task for societies all over the world.

On a prospective basis, a progressively smaller proportion of human protein requirement can be provided by animal proteins such as meat, eggs, and milk.

“However, by feeding valuable plant protein to animals, almost two-thirds of it is wasted as it is transformed into animal protein,” Professor Dr Gerhard Jahreis, nutritionist at Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany), says.

Rapeseed oil with its high nutritional value due to significant amounts of omega-3 fatty acids has gained a strong place in the human diet in recent years. Professor Jahreis said.

“Annually, 60 million tons of rapeseed are harvested worldwide, corresponding to about 15 million tons of rapeseed protein which is fed only to animals. We are taking a keen interest in making this important protein source available for human consumption.”

The research team at Jena University has now conducted the first human study worldwide on

the use of rapeseed protein for human nutrition. Results from the study have recently been published in the internationally renowned journal Clinical Nutrition.

For the study, cold-pressed rapeseed oil was firstly produced under mild conditions. In cooperation with a Canadian company, a protein isolate extracted from the residue was used in a study involving 28 volunteers.

The study participants consumed either rapeseed protein isolate or soya protein isolate.

After ingesting the protein meals, eight blood samples were drawn from each participant and the postprandial amino acid response in blood was analyzed. “Our findings have shown that there is no difference in the bioavailability between these two protein sources. Thus, soya, mostly cultivated in South and North America, and diversely used in the production of foods, can be fully replaced by rapeseed protein harvested in Europe,” he said.

Currently, legislation in Europe prevents the use of rapeseed protein for human nutrition. It requires registration as a “novel food” by the European Union. Ireland has already agreed to its use. In Germany, producers capable of isolating rapeseed protein are already waiting in the wings.

The findings of the present study from the research group at the University of Jena represent a big step towards authorizing approval of rapeseed protein for use in human nutrition.

18

FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Agrium fires back at Jana’s plan to split company Jana } U.S. hedge fund wants to separate production and retail parts of the company

By Rod Nickel Reuters

C

anadian fertilizer company Agrium Inc. will not split its wholesale and retail divisions as its biggest shareholder, Jana Partners, wants because doing so would “destroy value” for shareholders, chief executive Mike Wilson said Jan. 28.

Wilson was speaking in New York to Agrium’s sell-side analysts in an attempt to blunt Jana’s move to replace some of Agrium’s board and effect changes that Jana says would increase returns to investors. He ruled out a breakup of the company, and released a sharply higher earnings forecast for the fast-growing retail division, which sells seed, fertilizer and chemicals to farmers.

Wilson said Jana preferred to talk to Agrium’s shareholders and analysts rather than to the company itself, although Agrium and Jana had reached an understanding last spring that they would keep their talks on improving the company private.

“They’ll say one thing and do the opposite... They’re good at breaking up companies,” Wilson

said. “They’re very good at saying, ‘Why not just engage some ideas?’ The answer is, if we do, we’ll destroy value for our company, and we’re not about to do that.”

The company forecast that EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) for the retail business would climb to $1.3 billion by 2015, up from its previous target of $1 billion and a jump of over two-thirds from 2011. The growth will come mainly from its pending purchase of Viterra’s retail chain, smaller buys and organic growth, Agrium said.

The revised forecast comes after the company boosted its fourth-quarter profit outlook.

Wilson said a share buyback last year and increases in the company’s dividend have had nothing to do with the pressure put on Agrium, the largest U.S. farm retailer, by Jana.

Jana, a New York-based hedge fund that owns six per cent of Agrium, said the presentation marks Agrium’s first detailed response to its questions since it started raising them about eight months ago.

But it said Agrium failed to address the key problem of a lack

“They’ll say one thing and do the opposite...

They’re good at breaking up companies.”

Mike Wilson Agrium

of relevant experience and shareholder input on the board, and chided the company for being dismissive and thin skinned.

“Nowhere has Agrium made a case that shareholders would not benefit from the experience and shareholder perspective that our candidates bring, nor have they explained why shareholders should have blind faith in a board which repeatedly failed to address basic issues like capital allocation and disclosure until we pressed them to do so,” Jana said in a statement.

Along with splitting the wholesale and retail divisions, Jana wants the company to make better use of capital, control retail and corporate costs and improve disclosure.

Agrium contends its strategy of integrating its wholesale and retail arms helps provide steady earnings.

Wilson said keeping Agrium’s wholesale side — which produces nitrogen and mines potash and phosphate — combined with its chain of farm retail stores, helps the company understand supply-anddemand fundamentals, giving it an advantage in a highly competitive sector.

Jana has raised concerns about the geographic overlap among Agrium’s more than 900 farm retail stores in North America.

But vice-president of distribution Tom Warner said Agrium has closed 20 per cent of its U.S. farm stores in the past seven years, and needs to remain in some areas to win farmers’ business.

Supreme Court of Canada won’t hear CWB appeal Class action } The Friends of the CWB will

continue to pursue a lawsuit for $17 billion

By Allan Dawson staff

W

ith their appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada rejected, the Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board (FCWB) are vowing to continue with a class-action lawsuit, their last remaining legal avenue for challenging the federal government’s decision to end the board’s monopoly last year.

The Supreme Court has refused to hear appeals of the eight former directors and the FCWB. The decision released Jan. 17 ends the effort to reinstate a lower court ruling that Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz broke the law when he introduced the Marketing Freedom Act for Grain Farmers to Parliament.

That ruling was later overturned on appeal.

Calling the Supreme Court decision not to consider their appeal a disappointment, Saskatchewan farmer and former elected director Stewart Wells said their fight will continue in civil court.

The FCWB, with the support of the former directors, has started a class-action lawsuit arguing the government should either restore the wheat board’s single-desk marketing powers for western Canadian wheat and barley destined for export or domestic human consumption, or pay an estimated 70,000 farmers $17 billion in compensation.

The suit also argues farmers paid for wheat board operations and therefore own the board’s assets, including 3,400 hopper cars, an office building in downtown Winnipeg, which is now for sale, two lakers to be launched next year and the $150 million to $200 million in contingency funds.

Wells acknowledged a favourable Supreme Court ruling would have bolstered the FCWB’s suit.

“It’s not helpful not winning at the Supreme Court but it’s not fatal,” he said, noting the Supreme Court case was about the process used to end the board’s single desk, while the class-action suit focuses on financial losses to farmers.

The single desk provides western grain farmers with between $630 million and $850 million in additional revenue annually, according to Wells.

Ritz and farm groups that had pushed for the change were pleased by the Supreme Court’s decision.

“We are pleased with today’s decision that upheld the right of western Canadian grain farmers to make their own business decisions,” Ritz said in a statement last week. “The overwhelming majority of Prairie grain farmers are already taking advantage of the benefits of an open market.”

Asked if he felt vindicated, Ritz said it was never about vindication but about giving farmers the right to market their own grain.

“All the plague and pestilence and the sky falling that was predicted certainly did not happen,” he said.

Wells still argues Ottawa broke the law. In 1998 the then Liberal government was clear future changes to the wheat board should be up to farmers, he said.

The Conservative party promised to end the monopoly and has done so, Ritz said. “Looking back I don’t think we would’ve done anything differently. I think we had the right and the responsibility as parliamentarians and a government to move forward.”

“Democracy is about having your say not necessarily having your way,” he added.

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Albertafarmexpress.ca • february 4, 2013

LOADS OF WORK TO DO

While Darren Colpoys finishes emptying a load of fertilizer into a bin east of Namaka, Alberta his son Cash and girlfriend’s son Jaxon Plante (r) invent their own work to help pass the time. photo: kevin link

French farmers protest rules limiting nitrate pollution Targets } The new rules are linked to

water quality standards by gus trompiz paris / reuters

F

rench farmers are protesting what they see as burdensome environmental regulations linked to European Union targets on water quality.

Environmental rules have become a major grievance in recent years for French farmers, who blame such measures for eroding their competitiveness.

Last week’s protests, including a pre-dawn street blockade near the Farm Ministry in Paris, were triggered by new steps taken by the government to resolve a long-running dispute with the EU’s executive over France’s failure to meet water quality tar-

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gets under a directive on nitrates dating back to 1991.

The regulations will “lead to the ruin of livestock and grain farmers,” said Christophe Derycke, head of a farm union in Seine-et-Marne area east of Paris.

Farmers from the Paris region, who are known for their eyecatching actions in the capital, blocked an avenue close to the Agriculture Ministry and other government buildings for over an hour, scattering straw and calling for the Agriculture Minister to resign. The government said it is obliged to comply with the EU’s requirements in order to avoid financial penalties for non-compliance with the nitrates directive.

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A demonstrator wearing overalls with the message, “Let us work,” walks next to farmers in their tractors which block the road to protest against European regulations at the entrance of Arras, northern France Jan. 15. photo: REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol

20

FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Private-sector investment needed in wheat research PRIVATE  An agricultural economist says farmers must accept higher

cereal seed prices if wheat research is to attract private investment

BY ALEX BINKLEY

AF CONTRIBUTOR / OTTAWA

W

heat research in Canada needs a game-changing development or the crop will become a poor cousin to corn and canola, says Murray Fulton of the University of Saskatchewan.

“We need a drastic change in wheat research,” Fulton, chairman at the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School, told a conference organized by the Canadian Agriculture Economic Society.

Wheat yields have fallen well behind those of the other two crops and is at risk of becoming a marginal crop because government research funding has declined and life science companies have invested in corn and canola, he said. New ways must be found to spur private support for wheat research because of the time and expense required to bring new varieties to the market.

Fulton said farmers must accept higher seed prices to encourage breeders to invest in expanded wheat research. While governments need to partner with life science companies to encourage additional research, “what

we really need are bold policy moves to educate producers. They could gain many new varieties.”

Fulton was one of three speakers on the topic of the grain economy in an open market environment. Earl Geddes, executive director of the Canadian International Grain Institute, said western farmers are seeing a shift in varietal demand from buyers.

“We won’t know for a couple of years whether farmers will make more money without the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly, but they can certainly diversify their crops to respond to market demand,” he added.

The growing world population will bring more attention to the need for food security, he said. Canada can play a role in that if it produces innovative products that meet the food requirements of countries like China and India.

Jean-Marc Ruest, vice-president of corporate affairs and commercial litigation with Richardson International Ltd., said that in addition to the end of the CWB monopoly, Prairie agriculture is adjusting to the overhaul of the Canadian Grain Commission and proposed railway service legislation.

One issue up for debate is whether Canada should continue to focus on providing high-quality wheat or focus

on lower-quality varieties that could be more attractive to emerging economies where the growth in demand is greatest, he said. At the same time, Canada needs to work on building its reputation “as a most reliable supplier that people can count on for what they want on a dependable and timely fashion.”

One positive development for grain companies in the changes is that they can ship wheat, canola and other crops as co-loads on a vessel rather than filling a ship with just one crop, he noted.

“This makes much more efficient management of the elevator system and other resources. It opens up the possibility of much different sales opportunities than existed before.”

The CGC reforms could still leave farmers and grain buyers paying for more services than they need, in part because there is no requirement for the commission to offer services in competition with private providers, he added.

“Buyers don’t want to pay for all these services.”

Although it doesn’t go far enough, the rail legislation is important because “currently there are no consequences to the railways for service failures,” he added. Shippers are still questioning “how they can take advantage of the possibilities the legislation provides.”

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21

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • FEBRUARY 4, 2013

B.C. extends funds for Peace-region farmers’ advocate LONG TERM 

Talks about longterm funding are underway

Salmonella linked to ground beef sickens 16 in U.S. RAW  Restaurant customers became ill after eating a Middle Eastern

dish containing raw ground beef

BY ERIC M. JOHNSON REUTERS

STAFF

A publicly funded advocacy office for farmers in oiland gas-rich northeastern British Columbia’s Peace region will get another year of support while longterm funding is discussed.

The province’s Energy, Mines and Natural Gas Ministry said Jan. 29 it will put up $100,000 to support the Farmers Advocacy Office (FAO) in the region for another year, to be matched by the Peace River Regional District (PRRD).

Continuing the FAO funds will allow area landowners to “continue to receive information and support in northeast B.C. for compensation and mitigation discussions related to proposed oil and gas activities on residential land.”

The office, which operates independently from government, serves to collect and disseminate information “pertaining to agriculture and land use related to oil and gas development” and is meant to help resolve “issues that arise between landowners and industry.”

The FAO was first set up at Dawson Creek in January 2010 as an 18-month pilot project between the PRRD and the province’s Energy and Agriculture ministries.

The province had pledged $80,000 in 201213 to keep the FAO running during an operational audit, which it said showed the FAO model “can facilitate community engagement and positive negotiations between landowners and the oil and gas industry.”

Talks between the province and PRRD will go to “define a long-term service model” for the FAO and look at long-term funding past 2013-14.

“As B.C.’s oil and gas sector continues to grow, the (FAO) will play an important part in future negotiations for proposed industry activity on residential land,” Peace River North MLA Pat Pimm said in the province’s release Tuesday.

PRRD chair Karen Goodings, who farms with her husband at Cecil Lake, northeast of Fort St. John, said the district board feels the service provided through the FAO “is key to keeping the respect between the oil and gas industry and landowners.”

S

ixteen people across five states have fallen ill from salmonella poisoning, several from a raw ground beef dish served at a single restaurant, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Jan. 28.

Local, state and federal health and regulatory officials said the likely cause of the Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak was Jouni Meats Inc. and Gab Halal Foods, both of Michigan.

Most the people sickened were in the Midwest — two in Illinois, one in Iowa, three in Wisconsin and nine in Michigan, where the

meat shops are located, the CDC said. One sick person was identified in Arizona.

Seven people reported eating a raw ground beef dish at a restaurant, the CDC said, adding that roughly half of the people were hospitalized, although none died.

“The restaurant served raw beef to customers and had acquired the raw beef from two retailers,” the CDC said in a statement, without naming the restaurant.

Last week Jouni Meats recalled approximately 500 pounds of ground beef and Gab Halal Foods recalled about 550 pounds of ground beef, the CDC said.

Jouni Meats sold the meat, used to make a raw Middle Eastern ground beef dish called kibbeh,

without a label between Dec. 4 and 9 to customers, including a Detroit-area restaurant, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Gab Halal Foods also sold bags of ground beef in clear plastic at around the same time to customers and the same restaurant, located in Macomb County, local and federal officials said.

Khalil Jouni, owner of Jouni Meats, on Monday said he believed the ground beef had been safe when he distributed it and may have become tainted somewhere down the line.

“I produce meat to other restaurants, and my customers, and none of them got sick,” Jouni said. “I make sure everything is very clean.”

Gab Halal Foods, which Jouni said is owned by his brother, could not be reached for a comment. The illness from the foodborne organism usually causes diarrhea, fever and abdominal pain. It can be fatal for the elderly, young children and those with weakened immune systems.

The CDC warned people not to eat raw or undercooked beef and to return or throw out recalled products.

“This is especially important for children under the age of five years, older adults and people with weakened immune systems because these people are at a higher risk for serious illness,” the CDC said.

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22

FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Wheat acres will rise this coming crop year.

FILE PHOTO

Agriculture Canada sees biggest wheat area in 10 years ACREAGE  All-wheat area is seen at 25.3 million acres in 2013-14 WINNIPEG / REUTERS

C

anadian farmers will plant the biggest wheat area in 10 years in 2013 and slightly less canola, the federal Agriculture Department said in its first planting forecast of the year.

Attractive prices and a modest shift away from canola and other crops should entice farmers into planting more wheat, according to the forecast for the 2013-14 cropmarketing year from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Canola plantings are expected to be tapered back due to strong prices for other crops, high input costs for canola, and concerns about disease and insects. Yields of the yellow-flowering oilseed, used mainly for vegetable oil, were disappointing last year, mainly due to unfavourable weather.

Canada is the world’s biggest producer of canola, or rapeseed, and the world’s sixth-largest wheat grower. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada calculates its estimates using analysis, not a farmer survey.

The department’s estimate for

all-wheat plantings is 25.3 million acres, up six per cent from last year. It forecasts production at 28.5 million tonnes. Despite a big harvest last year, robust wheat exports look to whittle down stocks

by July 31, the end of the current 2012-13 marketing year, to 5.3 million tonnes, the lowest level in five years.

Agriculture Canada pegged canola-seeded acreage at 21.3 million acres, down about one per cent from last year.

Canola production could be higher, however, assuming that

yields improve. The department estimated the harvest at 15.5 million tonnes, up sharply from 13.3 million tonnes last year.

A bigger canola harvest will be badly needed to replenish supplies next autumn, with Ag Canada forecasting record-low stocks of 350,000 tonnes by July 31 due to strong global demand.

The department’s forecasts for plantings of wheat and canola are bigger than the average industry estimates found in a Jan. 11 Reuters poll. The survey found traders and analysts expect plant-

ings of 24.7 million wheat acres and 19.7 million acres of canola.

Ag Canada’s estimate for durum plantings is 4.8 million acres, up a tad from 4.7 million acres last year, while it expects farmers to seed barley on 7.8 million acres, up from 7.4 million.

Oat plantings look to be 2.6 million acres, down from 2.9 million acres in 2012, due to an expected drop in price.

The more closely watched Statistics Canada will issue its first planting estimates based on a farmer survey on April 24.

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WASHINGTON / REUTERS Congress would revive disaster-relief programs for farmers and ranchers hurt by drought and other natural catastrophes under a stop-gap bill introduced on Jan. 25 by two key Senate committee leaders.

Producers could get up to $100,000 each for losses in 2012 and this year. In particular, ranchers would benefit because they do not have access to federally subsidized insurance, as farmers do for their crops.

The bundle of disaster programs, covering livestock, tree and fruit and vegetable producers, ran out of money in 2011.

Attempts to restart them last year failed.

23

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • FEBRUARY 4, 2013

Researcher calls for review of how seafood is treated INHUMANE  New research suggests throwing live lobsters into boiling water is cruel QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY BELFAST RELEASE

T

he food and aquaculture industries should reconsider how they treat live crustaceans such as crabs, prawns and lobsters, says a Queen’s University Belfast researcher who has found that crabs are likely to feel pain.

The latest study by Professor Bob Elwood and Barry Magee from Queen’s School of Biological Sciences looked at the reactions of common shore crabs to small electrical shocks, and their behaviour after experiencing those shocks. The research has been published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

Elwood’s previous research showed that prawns and hermit crabs respond in a way consistent with pain. This latest study provides further evidence of this.

“The experiment was carefully designed to distinguish between pain and a reflex phenomenon known as nociception. The function of pain is to aid future avoidance of the pain source, whereas nociception enables a reflex response that provides immediate protection but no awareness or changes to long-term behaviour,” he said in a release.

“While nociception is generally accepted to exist in virtually all animals the same is not true of pain. In particular, whether or not crustaceans experience pain remains widely debated.”

This latest study showed that shore crabs are willing to trade

Contrary to conventional beliefs, crustaceans do feel pain, new research suggests. something of value to them — in this case a dark shelter — to avoid future electric shock.

Crabs prefer dark hideaways beneath rocks where they can shelter from predators. Researchers tested whether crabs would learn to give up that valued hiding place in order to avoid a mild electric shock.

“Ninety crabs were each introduced individually to a tank with

two dark shelters. On selecting their shelter of choice, some of the crabs were exposed to an electric shock. After some rest time, each crab was returned to the tank. Most stuck with what they knew best, returning to the shelter they had chosen first time around, where those that had been shocked on first choice again experienced a shock.

PHOTO: THINKSTOCK

“When introduced to the tank for the third time, however, the vast majority of shocked crabs now went to the alternative safe shelter. Those not shocked continued to use their preferred shelter.

“Having experienced two rounds of shocks, the crabs learned to avoid the shelter where they received the shock. They were willing to give up their hideaway in order to avoid the source of their probable pain.”

Elwood says that his research highlights the need to investigate how crustaceans used in food industries, such as crabs, prawns and lobsters, are treated. “Billions of crustacean are caught or reared in aquaculture for the food industry. In contrast to mammals, crustaceans are given little or no protection as the presumption is that they cannot experience pain.

Our research suggests otherwise.”

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FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

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

display Classified

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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.

While every endeavor will be made to forward box number replies as soon as possible, we accept no liability in respect to loss or damage alleged to a rise through either failure or delay in forwarding such replies, however caused, whether by negligence or otherwise.

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

(2 weeks prior)

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

FAx TO: 403-341-0615

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

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

NAME ___________________________________________________________ ADDRESS ____________________________________________ PROVINCE ___________________________

All classified ads are non-commissionable.

advertising deadline Wednesday noon

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

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

AD ORDER FORM

adveRtising Rates & infoRmation

RegulaR Classified

Miscellaneous Articles Wanted Musical Notices On-Line Services

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

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At Farm Business Communications we have a firm commitment to protecting your privacy and security as our customer. Farm Business Communications will only collect personal information if it is required for the proper functioning of our business. As part of our commitment to enhance customer service, we may share this personal information with other strategic business partners. For more information regarding our Customer Information Privacy Policy, write to: Information Protection Officer, Farm Business Communications, 1666 Dublin Ave., Winnipeg, MB R3H 0H1.

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If you would prefer not to receive such offers, please contact us at the address in the preceding paragraph, or call (204)-954-1456.

The editors and journalists who write, contribute and provide opinions to Alberta Farmer Express and Farm Business Communications attempt to provide accurate and useful opinions, information and analysis.

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25

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • FEBRUARY 4, 2013

FARM MACHINERY Grain Handling

SEED/FEED MISCELLANEOUS Grain Wanted

CANOLA WANTED

AGRI-VACS

Tired of shovelling out your bins, unhealthy dust and awkward augers?

Walinga manufactures a complete line of grain vacs to suit your every need. With no filters to plug and less damage done to your product than an auger, you’re sure to find the right system to suit you. Call now for a free demonstration or trade in your old vac towards a new WALINGA AGRI-VACS

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

Excellent Market Prices.

Bonded, Insured.

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

1953 FARGO 3TON, ALMOST complete, open to offers. 1947 Chev Mapleleaf, 2Ton, 2.8x42 duals, nearly complete, located in Maple Creek, Sask.

(403)722-2409, 403-845-0414

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

BUSINESS SERVICES

BOW VALLEY TRADING LTD.

WE BUY DAMAGED GRAIN Wheat, Barley, Oats, Peas, etc.

Green or Heated Canola/Flax

1-877-641-2798

BUYING:

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

1-877-250-5252

Stretch your advertising dollars! Place an ad in the classifieds. Our friendly staff is waiting for your call.

1-888-413-3325.

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.

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

ANTIQUES

SEED/FEED MISCELLANEOUS Grain Wanted

BUYING SPRING THRASHED CANOLA & GRAIN “On Farm Pickup” Westcan Feed & Grain 1-877-250-5252

FARM MACHINERY

FARM MACHINERY Combine – Various

ANTIQUES Antique Equipment

BUSINESS SERVICES Crop Consulting

FARM CHEMICAL SEED COMPLAINTS We also specialize in: Crop Insurance appeals; Chemical drift; Residual herbicide; Custom operator issues; Equipment malfunction; Yield comparisons, Plus Private Investigations of any nature. With our assistance the majority of our clients have received compensation previously denied. Back-Track Investigations investigates, documents your loss and assists in settling your claim.

Licensed Agrologist on Staff.

For more information Please call 1-866-882-4779

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.

440 Quad track w/PTO 535 Quad track w/PTO 18’ Degelman 6 Way Blade, As new, fits Quad track.

8100 Wilmar Sprayer JD 4710, 4720, 4730, 4830, 4920, 4930 SP sprayers JD 9770 & 9870 w/CM & duals CIH 3185, 3230, 3330, 4430, 4420 sprayers

GOOD SELECTION OF CASE QUAD TRACKS 500-550 & 600’’S

Many Other 4WD’s Available!

“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

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

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

Combine ACCessories

Spraying EquipmEnt

FARM MACHINERY Combine – Accessories

FARM MACHINERY Sprayers

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.

QF2002 BRANDT SPRAYER, 90ft. w/wind cones, new pump, 1250/gal tank. wash out tank, foam marker, big rubber, auto rate, vg. condition, shedded, $13,500 OBO (780)967-2789, Onoway, Ab.

Tillage & Seeding

FARM MACHINERY Parts & Accessories

FARM MACHINERY Tillage & Seeding – Air Drills

Stretch your ADVERTISING DOLLAR!

FLEXICOIL 2001 5000 AIRDRILL, w/2340 TBT tank, 39ft, 9in. spacing, c/w liquid nitro/alpine kit, Atom Jet openers, 3in. rubber packers, (306)228-3665, Unity, SK.

1-888-413-3325

AUCTION SALES Auctions Various

SHIELDS

FARM MACHINERY Sprayers

ASSORTED DEUTZ AND OTHER diesel engines.

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

Combines

Fergus, ON: (519) 787-8227 Carman, MB: (204) 745-2951 Davidson, SK: (306) 567-3031

FARM MACHINERY Sprayers

ENGINES

Looking for a hand around the farm? Place a help wanted ad in the classifieds. Call 1-888-413-3325.

AUCTION SALES Auctions Various

AUCTION SERVICE LTD. General Auction Services since 1960

FARM, RANCH, REAL ESTATE & COMMERCIAL

Email: john@shieldsauctionservices.com • Phone: 403-464-0202

FARMING

IS ENOUGH OF A GAMBLE...

NEW WOBBLE BOXES for Macdon JD, NH, IH, 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 BURNT 6195 WHITE, 920 Jiffy shredder, front fire damage, 135 Ezee on loader, w/grapple fork, fire damage (403)845-0414 Hit our readers where it counts… in the classifieds.

Place your ad in the Alberta Farmer Express classifed section. 1-888-413-3325.

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

Farming is enough of a gamble, advertise in the Alberta Farmer Express classified section. It’s a sure thing.

1-888-413-3325.

Watch your profits grow!

1-888-413-3325

Advertise with AFe Classifieds Place your ad today by calling Maureen at

1-888-413-3325

ADVERTISE

with Classifieds and

reach 42,000 Alberta farmers.

Looking to buy or sell?

Place your ad today by calling Maureen at

1-888-413-3325 * Ask about our Prairie-wide classified rate.

26

FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

FARM MACHINERY Tillage & Seeding – Tillage

FARM MACHINERY Machinery Miscellaneous

solutions

Adapter available to unroll new barb wire off of wooden spool

204-866-3558

E: ridgemetal@hotmail.com W: RidgelandManufacturing.ca

TracTors FARM MACHINERY Tractors – Case/IH 2006 CIH STX 430, 2187hrs, 16 spd. P/S, Pto, 4hyds, Front & Rear diff lock, 20.8xR42 duals, always shedded, (306)228-3665, Unity, SK.

FARM MACHINERY Tractors – John Deere 1988 4250 JD EXCELLENT condition, always shedded, 5400 original hours, 20.8x38 tires, all tires good, asking $39,000 OBO (780)967-2789, Onoway, Ab. 1989 JD 4755 TWD, 175 hp, 6050hrs, PTO, 15spd. p/s, 3hyds, new 20.8x38 duals, rear wheel weights, exc. con. (306)228-3665, Unity, SK.

FARM MACHINERY Tractors – Various

Big Tractor Parts, Inc. Geared For The Future

STEIGER TRACTOR SPECIALIST

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

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

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

JD 3140, 3pth loader Jd 4020, loader available JD 4440, loader available JD 4560 FWA, 280 loader JD 6410 3pth, FWA, loader available JD 746 loader, new Cat Skidsteer 256C, 1000hrs Mustang 2044 Skidsteer, 1300hrs Kello 10ft model 210 disc Clamp on duals, 20.8x38-18.4x38 158 & 148, 265, 740, 280, JD loaders FINANCE, TRADES WELCOME 780-696-3527, BRETON, AB

FARM MACHINERY Machinery Miscellaneous 1996 ROGATOR 854, 800/GAL, 80ft. 4x4, 2 sets tires, 3790/hrs, GFS boom, Raven auto-rake, Raven cruiser, GPS, spd. hydro. 195hp Cummins, $57,000; 1999 CAT 460 1300 sep. hrs, rake up $92,000; 2006 JD 567 mega-wide, mesh wrap, 5453/bales, $22,500; (403)665-2341, Craigmyle, AB. ACREAGE EQUIPMENT: CULTIVATORS, DISCS, Plows, Blades, Post pounders, Haying Equipment, Etc. (780)892-3092, Wabamun, Ab. RETIRED FROM FARMING, MOST machinery shedded, 1998 Peterbuilt, 460 Cummins, 18spd, w/36ft tandem Doepker grain trailer $75,000; (403)586-0978, Torrington, Ab.

- 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

RON SAUER

MACHINERY LTD. (403) 540-7691 ronsauer@shaw.ca

Flexicoil 6 run seed treater ................................ $2,000 50’, 60’, & 80” Flexicoil harrow packer draw bars....... 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 30’ 8230 CIH PT swather, PU reel, nice shape,.. $10,000 25ft Hesston 1200 PT swather, pu reel, nice shape................................................ $7,500 21’ 4600 Prairie Star PT swather, UII pu reel, nice shape .............................................................$5000 16’ NH 2300 hay header & conditioner from NH 2450 swather, nice cond. ......................... $5,000 1372 MF 13’ swing arm discbine 4yrs, like new$20,000 MATR 10 wheel V-Hayrake, hyd. fold, as new .... $5,250 New Sakundiak 10x1200 (39.97’) 36HP Kohler eng., E-Kay mover, Power steering, electric belt tightener, work lights, slimfit, 12 gal. fuel tank..................... $18,000 New Sakundiak 7x1200 (39.97’) , 22HP Robin-Subaru eng.,w/Winter Kit, battery & fuel tank .......................$7,500 New E-Kay 7”, 8”, 9” Bin Sweeps .........................Call Flexicoil 10”x 50’ Grain auger ......................... $2,500 2002 7000HD Highline bale Processor, c/w twine cutter, always shedded exc. cond ........... $7,000 18.4”x30” tractor grip tires on rims .......................... Call 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 ** Hesston & MF, NuVision, Sakundiak & Farm King Augers, Outback GPS Systems, EK Auger, Movers, Sweeps, & Crop Dividers, Degelman, Headsight Harvesting Solutions**

SALES REP FOR PENTAGON FARM CENTRE

FARM MACHINERY Machinery Wanted WANTED: NH BALE WAGONS & retrievers, any condition. Farm Equipment Finding Service, P.O. Box 1363, Polson, MT 59860. (406)883-2118 Go public with an ad in the Alberta Farmer Express classifieds. Phone 1-888-413-3325.

FARMING IS ENOUGH OF A GAMBLE...

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

1-888-413-3325

FARM MACHINERY Tractors – Various

FARM MACHINERY Tractors – Various

Double LL Industries 780.905.8565 Nisku, Alberta

John Deere 2550

1979 John Deere 2130

HAYBUSTER 1000 TUB GRINDER; Sundance tub grinder; Oswald 400 feed wagon; Morand Calving chute, Calf tipping squeeze, steel frame calf shelters, 3/bale feeder. (780)623-1008

PEDIGREED SEED

TIRES

ORGANIC Organic – Grains

PEDIGREED SEED Specialty – Various

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

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

Barb Wire & Electric High Tensile Wire Spooler

Dugald MB

CAREERS Oil Field

The Icynene Insulation System®

for troublesome gauge wheels

Patent #2719667

CAREERS Oil Field

HEAT & AIR CONDITIONING

1986 Case-Ih 585

2005 Toyota 25 Forklift

www.penta.ca

1-800-587-4711

LIVESTOCK LIVESTOCK Cattle – Hereford 2 HORNED PUREBRED HEREFORD 2/yr olds bulls, low birth weights, papers and testing available. (403)782-2493, (403)302-8599 Lacombe,Ab.

Specialty LIVESTOCK Livestock Equipment 5’X10’ PORTABLE CORRAL PANELS, 6 bar. New improved design. Storage Containers, 20’ & 40’ 1-866-517-8335, (403)540-4164, (403)226-1722

TRAVEL Bioriginal Food & Science Corp., based in Saskatoon, is actively buying Organic Flax from the 2012 crop year.

If interested, please send a 5lbs sample* to the following address: Attn: Sandy Jolicoeur Bioriginal Food & Science Corp.

102 Melville Street Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7J 0R1 *Please state the Variety & Quantity for Sale

For more information, please contact Sandy at:

306-975-9251 306-975-1166 sjolicoeur@bioriginal.com

REAL ESTATE REAL ESTATE Land For Sale GRAZING LEASE FOR SALE, North Eaglesham area, 965AC, Cattle handling equipment, 200 Timothy straw bales. (780)359-2261

PROPERTY FOR SALE

BY OWNERS BY TENDER

7,500

$

66 HP Diesel, 3 Point Hitch

Orchard Special, 52 Pto Hp, 60 Eng HP, 3PTH

8,800 13,500 www.doublellindustries.com $

$

5000 lb Lift

5,800

$

�

� �

Great profit potential based on high yields, high prices and low input costs.

Attractive oil premiums and free on-farm pick-up.

Flexible contracting options available as well.

For more information, please contact Bioriginal at:

306-229-9976 (cell) 306-975-9271 (office) crops@bioriginal.com

SEED/FEED MISCELLANEOUS Hay & Straw HAY FOR SALE: large round 208 first cut Alfalfa/Timothy, 400 orchard/grass mix, $.04/per/pound, 300/bales second cut (both types) at $.05/per/pound, cut early, little or no rain, (780)696-2491, Breton, Ab. ROUND AND SQUARE HAY bales, excellent quality alfalfa timothy brome mix, shedded, good for horses & Cattle (780)967-2593, Calahoo, Ab.

TIRES

Property Description: Approximately 6 acres on Highway 17 West, Granite Lake Area, Ontario, KM 184 DES KR1281 PART 1 PARCEL 27439 Buildings: Three bedroom house, shop, two storage buildings When submitting an offer, please note: 1. Land and buildings are on a “as is” basis and inspection can be arranged (by appointment only) by contacting Mr. Bill Perchuk at 807-7332287.

2. The highest, or any, offer will not necessarily be accepted by the owners.

3. The date of closing will be no later than June 30, 2013.

4. A certified cheque or bank draft in the amount of $5,000.00 payable to BDO Canada LLP must accompany the Offer. Cheques/bank drafts accompanying unsuccessful Offers (as determined by the owners) will be returned by April 30, 2013.

5. No inventory, furniture, equipment, tools or shop equipment are included as part of the sale.

6. Offers are binding upon acceptance and will not be subject to any conditions precedent.

7. The Vendors will be responsible for the taxes on the property up to the date of closing.

8. HST (if any) will be over and above the offered amount.

9. Title to the land will be transferred free and clear of all encumbrances and liens.

Rural & Cultural Tours

Pacific Coastal Cruise ~ May 2013 Ukraine/Romania ~ May 2013 Austria/Switzerland ~ June 2013 Ireland ~ June 2013 Western Canada ~ June 2013 Alaska Land/Cruise ~ August 2013 Available Soon: Australia/New Zealand & South America 2014 *Tours may be tax Deductible

Select Holidays 1-800-661-4326 www.selectholidays.com CAREERS Employment Wanted Agricultural Collateral Inspection and Appraisals Ag background required. Training course available. visit www.amagappraisers.com or Call 800-488-7570

CAREERS Farm / Ranch UNIQUE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY OFFERED to qualified individuals/families. We are a growing, vertically integrated, certified organic, working cattle ranch supplying clean food to highend retail stores. We are leaders in animal welfare standards & in sustainable agriculture at a significant scale. Western Ranching w/ progressive edge. Seeking steady, dependable, multitask, energetic employees in the following categories: ranch managers, cowboy/cowgirl/range riders, general ranch hands, fencing, machinery, haying, irrigation, etc. carpenter, handyman, mechanic. Individuals or working couples w/children welcome. Self-motivated, reliable, honest, hardworking are non-negotiable traits. British Columbia, Canada, semi-remote locations. Interested parties reply in confidence w/CV & references. We offer excellent compensation & benefit packages along w/long term, stable employment. The Blue Goose Cattle Company Ltd.#123-1305 Welch St. North Vancouver, BC V7P 1B3 (604)980-9106 info@ bluegoosecattle.com

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ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • FEBRUARY 4, 2013

Farm group backs U.S. immigration reform ILLEGAL  A significant proportion of seasonal workers on U.S. farms are undocumented

BY CHARLES ABBOTT NASHVILLE / REUTERS

T

he largest U.S. farm group is throwing its weight behind a new immigration law reform that would allow undocumented workers already in the country to gain legal status.

Delegates at the annual meeting of the six-million-member American Farm Bureau Federation issued the call after U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack asked them to speak up for comprehensive immigration reform.

Agriculture has a direct stake in the issue, given its need for a steady and reliable supply of labour to stop certain crops from rotting in the field.

“The reality is we’re only going to solve this through comprehensive immigration reform,” said Bob Stallman, the group’s president.

Immigration reform became a front-burner issue after overwhelming support from Hispanic voters figured in President Barack Obama’s re-election.

The U.S. agricultural industry employs 1.5 million workers annually in temporary or full-time jobs. Many of them, perhaps 500,000 to 900,000 in all, are believed to be undocumented.

Despite the high unemployment rate, farmers and ranchers say it is a perennial struggle to find enough workers to perform the back-breaking labour of fruit and vegetable harvesting, or the daily care of livestock.

Edgar (l-r), Ricardo, Alicia, Lizette and Maria who immigrated from Mexico sit on their sofa as they pose for a portrait at their home in Phoenix, Arizona. Ricardo, a 46-year-old illegal immigrant from Mexico, is among millions of Latino immigrants who, regardless of their immigration status, feel fresh optimism over new found Republican willingness to consider immigration reform to avoid further alienating Hispanic voters who proved key to re-electing President Barack Obama. PHOTO: REUTERS/JOSHUA LOTT

Thailand struggles to find storage space for rice HIGH PRICES  The government pays above market rate in order to help farmers BANGKOK / REUTERS

Thailand, struggling to find storage for a rice-buying scheme that cost the country its crown as the world’s biggest exporter of the grain, will rent private warehouses to store next month’s harvest, government officials say.

February’s harvest will add five million to seven million tonnes to stocks on top of the 20 million tonnes of milled rice the government has bought in an intervention scheme kicked off in October 2011 aimed at helping farmers by paying prices above the market rate.

The government will rent an additional 180 warehouses over the next few weeks to accommodate the grain, a Commerce Ministry official said. There are already 60 warehouses across the country storing the grain it has bought so far.

Despite the costs of the ricebuying policy, the government says the program is needed to help poor farmers, who form the majority of the population.

The government has said it expects losses from the rice intervention scheme to amount to about 80 billion baht, or $2.6 billion, by last September, equivalent to about a fifth of Thailand’s projected budget deficit in the last fiscal year.

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FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Lacombe plant can now export beef to China

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custom slaughter and processing plant based in Lacombe is one of four Canadian beef facilities recently added to the roster of outfits able to export beef to China.

Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and International Trade Minister Ed Fast have announced that Canadian Premium Meats Inc., along with Les Viandes Laroche Inc., Ryding Regency Meat Packers Ltd. and St. Helen’s Meat Packers Ltd., are now approved for export

by China. In 2011, China and Canada reached an agreement to allow Canadian deboned beef from animals under 30 months of age to be imported.

Part owner of Canadian Premium Meats Werner Siegrist, said his company has been getting a lot of reaction from customers and potential new clients about the news. “It seems to excite a lot of people,” he said. Siegrist said the plant is already certified to export their customers’ products to a number of countries, including the European Union, the United States, Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam. He said about 60 per cent of the products leaving their facility are for export.

Now they can add China to the list. “It’s definitely one of the most exciting and most important approvals for us besides the EU,” he said. They applied back in 2011 and Chinese authorities visited their premises in March 2012. “It’s one of those export countries a lot of our customers and potentially new customers were waiting for,” he said.

According to a press release from Agriculture Canada, the Chinese market for Canadian beef is estimated to be worth about $20 million annually, with the expectation of it growing to $110 million once there is full market access.

Siegrist isn’t sure how much the China export approval will impact business at the plant. “Time will tell,” he said. “I’m sure something will come out of it and I’m sure we’re going to ship some product over to China but how much we don’t know yet.”

29

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • FEBRUARY 4, 2013

Food self-sufficiency no longer option for China, farm official says Pressure } Food supplies are facing pressure from growing income levels beijing / reuters

C

hina’s pursuit of self-sufficiency in food output is no longer possible as soaring demand and rapid urbanization stoke appetites, a top government farm official said, in comments that appear to be the most direct yet to rule out achieving this aim.

China’s soaring imports of agricultural products remain a sensitive topic for the ruling Communist Party, which has traditionally put self-sufficiency and food security at the top of its agenda. It also fears a spike in imports could hurt the vast farming population and raise the spectre of rural unrest.

Chen Xiwen, director of the Chinese Communist Party’s top policy-making body for rural affairs, told a forum at the weekend that food supplies would come under increasing pressure as incomes improved, and China needed to boost production, but it could not turn back the clock when it came to imports.

“During the process of urbanization, we must pay attention to modern agricultural development and to farm product supplies, but of course, we certainly cannot pursue self-sufficiency,” he said, noting that last year’s import volume amounted to around 12 per cent of China’s total food demand.

A farmer covers crops during rain-hit harvest at the Suibin state farm, Heilongjiang province. China’s farmers are using higher-yielding seeds and embracing modern technology but a senior government official said food selfsufficiency for the country is no longer possible. photo: REUTERS/David Stanway He said the question of food supply required close attention to ensure that urbanization did not stop or reverse course.

Since China embarked upon its modernization program in 1978, around 260 million farmers have moved to the cities. China’s total rural population fell by 80 million between 1982 and 2010, census data shows.

Import debate

Chen’s comments are part of a debate in the central government about the role imports should play

in feeding China’s increasingly prosperous population, especially as its cities expand and farmland and rural labour dwindle.

China’s plan for development in agriculture over the five years to 2015 retained the aim of self-sufficiency in agriculture production, setting a target of 95 per cent of supplies to be sourced domestically.

But with the country increasingly dependent on the international market, a top government researcher has urged Beijing to ease controls on farm product imports.

“For a country with 1.3 billion people, it is impossible to rely on ourselves to guarantee all farm products supplies,” Han Jun, the head of the rural department of the Development Research Centre, a cabinet think-tank, told a forum last week.

“To ensure grain security and supplies of major farm products does not mean that we should go back to the way of self-sufficiency,” he said.

He said China should loosen controls over corn imports and

rely more on the global market for cotton, sugar and soybeans.

Demand for corn in China, already the world’s second-largest consumer, is set to rise sharply.

Corn is used in livestock breeding, and rising incomes are expected to boost consumption of meat, dairy and eggs.

China’s grain and soybean imports topped 70 million tonnes for the first time last year, with imports of vegetable oil also reaching 8.45 million tonnes. Imports of farm products accounted for 12 per cent of domestic consumption last year, said Chen.

China’s farm trade deficit in 2012 increased 44 per cent on the year to $49.19 billion, the Agriculture Ministry says.

Cereal imports rose 157 per cent on the year to 13.98 million tonnes, with a total value of $4.79 billion, while imports of livestock products reached $14.9 billion, up 11 per cent.

China is expected to remain mostly self-sufficient in rice and wheat. It is the world’s largest consumer and producer of the staples, whose global trading volumes are small.

China’s Farm Ministry said over the weekend that supplies of rice remained sufficient, and that price issues accounted for the rise in imports last year, rather than increasing demand.

30

FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

EU lawmakers vote to limit funds for biggest farms LESS } The Queen is among the wealthiest landowners who will see deep cuts to their farm subsidies by charlie dunmore brussels / reuters

E

urope’s wealthiest landowners, including Britain’s Queen Elizabeth and Spain’s Duchess of Alba, will see deep cuts to their future farm subsidies under proposals from members of the European Parliament Jan. 23.

Annual payments to the top recipients of agricultural subsidies should be capped at 300,000 euros from 2014, the European Parliament’s influential agriculture committee said.

The committee was voting on legislative proposals from the European Commission to overhaul the bloc’s common agricultural policy

ARYSTA LIFESCIENCE 10.000X4.00 000034654r1 4CX

(CAP) from 2014. The policy currently consumes 55 billion euros a year, making it the largest single area of EU spending.

It is not yet clear whether the committee’s position will be followed by the full parliament, but the vote will guide the assembly’s negotiations with EU governments on the CAP reform, which are expected to begin in March.

Queen Elizabeth II received more than eight million euros in EU farm payments between 2000 and 2009 for royal estates including Sandringham in Norfolk and Balmoral in Scotland, transparency campaigners FarmSubsidy. org said.

Under the rules being proposed, the Queen would have received

only three million euros over the same time frame.

The group estimates that more than 1,500 CAP beneficiaries received in excess of a million euros in 2011, the most recent year for which data are available.

The money saved by capping the largest payments would be retained by governments and used to fund rural development projects, while agricultural co-operatives would be exempt from the subsidy limit, a spokesman for the committee said.

Sugar reform delay

Committee members voted to maintain the bloc’s system of strict national sugar production quotas and minimum prices for sugar beet until 2020, rather than scrapping

them from 2015 as proposed by the Commission.

That would delay the lifting of an annual limit on EU sugar exports fixed under a World Trade Organization agreement, currently set at 1.35 million tonnes.

Members also weakened planned new environmental measures that farmers must take in order to qualify for a portion of their direct subsidies.

These included a requirement bitterly opposed by farmers to leave seven per cent of their land fallow. The committee reduced the level to three per cent from 2014, rising to five per cent in 2016. Any move to increase the level beyond that would have to be agreed in new legislation, the committee said.

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The money saved by capping the largest payments would be retained by governments and used to fund rural development projects, while agricultural co-operatives would be exempt from the subsidy limit, a spokesman for the committee said.

Lawmakers watered down plans to share subsidies out more fairly within EU countries according to farm size, by giving governments the option to maintain a certain level of inequality in 2019 — the proposed deadline for redistribution.

But the committee wants to accelerate moves to distribute subsidies more equally between EU countries. Producers in Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands currently receive more than 400 euros in direct subsidies per hectare on average, compared with less than 150 euros per hectare in the EU’s Baltic states.

Airports and golf clubs would no longer be eligible for EU payments under plans to only pay subsidies to “active farmers” only, although governments would be free to redefine which businesses would be excluded.

The committee was voting on more than 8,000 amendments to the draft legislation on CAP reform proposed by the commission in October, the highest number in the parliament’s history.

The current reform is the first time the parliament has a joint say on EU agriculture policy along with EU governments.

The debate on CAP reform is taking place in parallel with talks between EU leaders on the bloc’s budget for 2014-20, which is expected to include a cut of about 10 per cent in agricultural spending compared with the current budget period.

The prospect of less farm spending in future has led governments and the parliament to scale back some of the reforms proposed by the commission in an effort to mollify the powerful EU farm lobby.

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31

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • FEBRUARY 4, 2013

Green Revolution more focused on feeding cars than people PLATEAUED  A new paper shows yields for key

food crops have stayed static or dropped UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA RELEASE MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL

T

he Green Revolution has stagnated for key food crops in many regions of the world, according to a study published in the Dec. 18 issue of Nature Communications by scientists with the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment and McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Led by IonE research fellow Deepak Ray, the study team developed geographically detailed maps of annual cropharvested areas and yields of maize (corn), rice, wheat and soybeans from 1961 to 2008. It found that although virtually all regions showed a yield increase sometime during that period, in 24 to 39 per cent of the harvested areas (depending on the crop) yield plateaued or outright declined in recent years. Among the top crop-producing nations, vast areas of two of the most populous — China and India — are witnessing especially concerning stagnation or decline in yield.

our crop improvement efforts on feeding animals and cars, as we have largely ignored investments in wheat and rice, crops that feed people and are the basis of food security in much of the world,” said study co-author and IonE director Jonathan Foley, professor and McKnight presidential chair in the College of Biological Sciences. “How can we meet the growing needs of feeding people in the future if one-third of our cropland areas, in our most important crops, are not improving in yield anymore?”

The paper suggests two actions based on its findings. First, it recommends working to maintain the positive trajectory for the 61

to 76 per cent of croplands where yield is still climbing. Second, it encourages crop-producing regions around the world to look at their yield trends and those of others to identify what’s working and what might be improved.

“Previous research suggests that many factors work together to limit yield growth, from cultivation practices to pests to a need for improved seeds,” Ray said.

“What this paper does is provide concrete, detailed information policy-makers can use to identify regions where yield growth has stagnated or reversed, figure out what limiting factors are at play, then work to turn that trend around.”

Findings show we have largely ignored investments in wheat and rice, crops that feed people and are the basis of food security in much of the world.

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“This finding is particularly troubling because it suggests that we have preferentially focused our crop improvement efforts on feeding animals and cars, as we have largely ignored investments in wheat and rice, crops that feed people and are the basis of food security in much of the world.”

JONATHAN FOLEY STUDY CO-AUTHOR

“This study clearly delineates areas where yields for important food crops are stagnating, declining, or never improved, as well as areas where yields are still rapidly improving,” Ray says.

“As a result, it both sounds the alert for where we must shift our course if we are to feed a growing population in the decades to come, and points to positive examples to emulate.”

Interestingly, the researchers found that yields of wheat and rice — two crops that are largely used as food crops, and which supply roughly half of the world’s dietary calories — are declining across a higher percentage of cropland than those of corn and soybean, which are used largely to produce meat or biofuels.

“This finding is particularly troubling because it suggests that we have preferentially focused

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FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

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CWB FINAL PAYMENTS MID-MONTH Approval is expected sometime next week to roll out CWB’s final payments for the 2011-12 crop year sometime in midFebruary. The former Canadian Wheat Board said in a recent statement it had sent its proposed 2011-12 final payment rates to the federal government on Dec. 18 for approval. However, members of Parliament didn’t return to the House of Commons until Jan. 28. The federal government, as CWB’s guarantor, must approve the level at which payments are set.

Researchers aim for more ‘crop per drop’ by developing drought-resistant barley THIRST QUENCHERS  Alberta scientists used high-tech equipment to look at how plants lose

water and how to identify ones with superior water efficiency traits

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ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • FEBRUARY 4, 2013

BY ALEXIS KIENLEN AF STAFF / EDMONTON

A

team of Alberta scientists has found a way to help plant breeders create less thirsty varieties of barley.

The goal is to get more ‘crop per drop,’ but researchers are quick to point out there are limits to drought resistance.

“These varieties aren’t helpful in situations when there is no water, just in conditions where water is reduced,” said Scott Chang, a professor in soil sciences at the University of Alberta.

The researchers used carbon isotope compositions of barley plants to better understand how they use water.

“Water-use efficiency by itself is not very easy to measure under field conditions,” said Anthony Anyia, crop scientist at Alberta Innovates Technology Future.

“We wanted to see whether we could use carbon isotope measurements as a way to predict the wateruse efficiency of different genotypes and varieties.”

The first part of the work was to prove that something called ‘carbon isotope discrimination’ could be used to determine water-use efficiency.

“When plants are photosynthesizing, they take in carbon dioxide, mostly through the stomata,” said Chang. “When there is a water deficiency or stress, the stomata tends to be closed.

When the stomata is wide open, the process of photosynthesis is

Scott Chang (l), professor in soil sciences at the University of Alberta, and Anthony Anyia, crop scientist at Alberta Innovates Technology Future. PHOTO: SUPPLIED C12, which is preferred. When plants are stressed or don’t have enough water, they don’t have a choice and have to use all the carbon dioxide in the leaves. This is what we call carbon discrimination.”

The next step was looking for molecular markers to measure water-efficiency traits, and to develop tools plant breeders can use to select for more waterefficient varieties. The final step is refinement and validation of the process, so breeders will be able to take the molecular mark-

ers to start the development of commercial varieties that use less water.

The project is also proof of the benefits of co-operation, the scientists said.

While a great deal of the research was done in Chang’s lab in the Department of Renewable Resources, the team also had access to a larger variety of technical equipment including mass spectrometers for analyzing carbon isotopes, and molecular biology equipment for mapping.

“It has been a very productive

collaboration between the two labs,” said Chang.

The project was funded by the Alberta Barley Commission, the University of Alberta, the Alberta Crop Industry Development Fund, Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions, and the Brewing and Malting Barley Research Institute. The research has been published in a number of peerreviewed journals, so barley breeders will be able to apply these techniques and use them in their breeding programs. Anyia and Chang have previously worked together to investigate water-use efficiency in wheat.

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FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

BRIEF Vilsack says time has come to reform U.S. farm subsidies NASHVILLE / REUTERS Congress should reform U.S. farm subsidies and end a $5-billion-a-year “direct payment” as part of delivering an

overdue overhaul of the farm program this year, says Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Instead, the farm safety net should be built on the federally subsidized crop insurance system, he said.

“We need a five-year Farm Bill and we need it now,” said Vilsack, who has been appointed for President Barack Obama’s second term.

Farm-state lawmakers have

proposed $23 billion to $35 billion in cuts in Agriculture Department programs over 10 years. The administration proposed $31 billion, including an end to the direct payment and scaling back crop insurance subsidies for big farmers.

The Farm Bill would cost roughly $500 billion, with the bulk of the money going to food stamps for the poor.

Iowa weed scientist wades into glyphosate controversy NO BASIS  Claims that glyphosate is

linked to new crop diseases aren’t backed by research

Bob Hartzler, extension weed specialist and professor of agronomy at Iowa State University. PHOTO: DANIEL WINTERS

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s glyphosate the greatest thing since sliced bread or an agronomic catastrophe waiting to happen?

There’s not solid evidence for the latter, but there is some cause for concern, according to a presentation by agronomy expert Bob Hartzler.

“Based on my experience in Iowa, where we have 22 million acres of Roundup Ready corn and soybeans, we have not seen any problems that we can correlate with the widespread use of glyphosate and plant disease and micronutrients,” said the extension weed specialist and professor of agronomy from Iowa State University.

“That doesn’t mean it doesn’t cause problems. We’re at nearcrisis levels in terms of glyphosateresistant weeds.”

Looming over his presentation to Ag Days, Manitoba’s largest annual ag show, were public statements made by “that person” — Don Huber, an emeritus professor of plant pathology from Purdue University, who Hartzler described as the “flag-bearer” for those portraying glyphosate as “a bad thing.”

A case “could be made” for the retired professor’s concerns about glyphosate’s role in new and emergent crop diseases such as fusarium and Goss’s wilt, said Hartzler, who knew Huber briefly during his undergraduate days.

“It’s well documented that plants that are susceptible to glyphosate — when exposed to a sublethal dose — that increases the risk of disease developing in that plant,” said Hartzler.

However, the insertion of a foreign gene into Roundup Ready crops such as corn and soybeans keeps a critical pathway of immunity open for such plants, thus preventing disease, he added.

Hartzler also addressed Huber’s claim that the strong chelating effect of glyphosate immobilizes micronutrients such as manganese in plant tissues leading to more disease outbreaks.

“Again, there has been a lot of research conducted and none of it has shown that glyphosate ties up micronutrients in plants,” he said.

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One area that may have “greater credibility,” noted Hartzler, is the “well-documented” suspicion

that the herbicide’s tendency to be translocated through the plant to the root zone may be influencing pathogen activity in the rhizosphere.

University of Missouri microbiologist Robert Kremer’s research has “clearly documented” that spraying Roundup Ready soybeans with glyphosate causes increased colonization of the roots by fusarium species, he said.

“Glyphosate does increase the number of disease organisms growing on the roots, but what Dr. Kremer has never shown is increased disease incidence,” said Hartzler, adding that outbreaks of disease require “unique conditions.”

He also pointed to long-term plot research that seems to show the real culprit in sudden death syndrome outbreaks may, in fact, be genetic weaknesses in the source hybrids used to create Roundup Ready crop varieties, not the genetic modification itself.

“You could look at this data and say glyphosate is actually protecting us from disease,” he said.

A study of fusarium in barley conducted in Saskatchewan and Quebec found production of fusarium inoculum and mycotoxins in the grain seemed to be more related to the susceptibility of the cultivar grown than the application of glyphosate, he said.

In response to a question about glyphosate’s reported tendency to become resurrected in soil after an application of phosphorus fertilizer, Hartzler said all the studies of this phenomenon were done under lab conditions, not field conditions.

Hartzler, who said he’s considered a “tree-hugger type” by his peers, admitted that as “just a weed scientist” he often gets “really nervous” when discussing plant pathology in the public sphere.

He said he agreed to address the glyphosate controversy after being approached by officials at the University of Iowa who were concerned about the effect Huber’s sensational allegations might have on exports from the Midwest CornSoy Belt.

“They talked to the plant pathologists and they said they didn’t want to touch it with a ten-foot pole,” said Hartzler. “The majority of plant pathologists say there’s nothing there.”

Still, audiences are often hostile to his defence of the technology, he said, adding he’s been asked “what he will tell his children when Huber is eventually proven right.”

35

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • FEBRUARY 4, 2013

Steps to prevent the spread of fusarium in Alberta Infection } The disease has been spreading widely due to extensive planting of highly susceptible varieties Agri-News

T

he cereal disease Fusarium graminearum is a fungal species that is found all around us. Fusarium is a large grouping with many species, and it occurs naturally in the soil. Fusarium graminearum is the fungal infection that causes fusarium head blight in wheat, oats, barley and corn, and it is the most aggressive fusarium species causing head blight.

“Fusarium graminearum is a problem because the causative agent itself damages kernel development, and that affects grade and yield,” says Harry Brook, crop specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development. “Also, it has a significant negative effect on the quality of grain used for feed, malting, milling, biofuel (ethanol) and brewing. More importantly, fusarium-affected grain may contain fungal toxins (mycotoxins), such as deoxynivalenol (DON or vomitoxin), which are highly poisonous to livestock and humans above certain threshold levels.”

This disease has been spreading widely due to extensive planting of highly susceptible varieties, especially in durum wheat. Zero tillage has also contributed to the spread of the disease as infected crop residue from previous crops (especially with short rotations), are the

prime source of head blight infection. Corn in rotation is known to be highly susceptible and can be instrumental in the spread of fusarium to cereal crops.

“Probably the greatest reason for the increased spread in Alberta has been the weather conditions at heading,” says Brook. “Warm, moist conditions at heading in combination with the airborne spores, has led to increased incidence and severity of the disease in Alberta. Once it is established, fusarium easily overwinters on infected crop residues and on infected seed, providing infectious spores for the next year.”

In 1999, Alberta declared Fusarium graminearum to be a pest under the Pest Control Act. This put in place a series of regulations intended to slow or reduce the spread of the disease into central Alberta. Fusarium graminearum is a seed-borne pathogen and, along with infected crop residues, presents the most likely method of spreading the disease to noninfected areas.

Prevention

“The best management practices recommended to control the spread of the disease include testing next year’s seed to determine if it is infected, and if so, don’t use it,” says Brook.

Other management practices:

Fusarium lowers grades and can produce a harmful toxin.

• Use seed treatment with activity on fusarium species on all cereal seed.

• Clean equipment of any crop residue between fields if fusarium has been found in a field.

• Use a crop rotation of at least two years between potentially susceptible cereal crops.

• Increase seeding rates to limit stooling and reduce the time the cereals flower (reducing their susceptibility to infection).

• Use an appropriate fungicide to limit the infection if conditions are favourable to development of the disease (warm, humid

evenings and days) and fusarium is known to be in the area.

• Avoid irrigation during flowering.

• Bury affected cereal crop residue.

• Control volunteer cereals and grasses in the headlands and around fields.

36

FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Changes and benefits of the redeveloped soil information viewer ONLINE TOOL  Mapping software useful for farmers, agrologists and planners AGRI-NEWS

T

he redeveloped Alberta Soil information viewer, based on the Agricultural Region of Alberta Soil Inventory Database (AGRASID), is the next evolution of online tool that Alberta producers have had access to for over 15 years.

The viewer is a joint project of the Science and Technology Branch, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and the Environmental Stewardship Division of Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD). Between 1996 and 1998 a project was undertaken to consolidate and to combine over 75 years’ worth of federal and provincial soil survey information into 1:100,000-scale digital database.

The AGRASID product was originally released as a CD which allowed soil scientists and others, with geographic access to soil information in the agricultural region of Alberta.

“In the early 2000s AGRASID began being migrated to the Internet,” says David Spiess, geographical systems engineer with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development. “The project was broken into two parts for online use: a download mechanism for discovery and delivery of AGRASID’s detailed spatial and tabular data through the Alberta Soil Information Centre, and an Internet map viewer to provide the general public with a means to access soil landscape information for the agricultural region of Alberta.

“It was recognized that in order to introduce more of the public to agricultural soil information in Alberta and client-friendly map viewer delivering an essential but manageable sample of the AGRASID soil information was going to be important. Spatial data Systems Consulting produced a prototype viewer that included client-friendly soil landscape descriptions, landscape images and a variety of base layers, and seamless Geographic Information System (GIS) spatial and tabular data files.”

Viewers used this accessible online tool as: • Land resource reference for farmers, ranchers, agrologists, planners, researchers, consultants, educators and realtors.

•

Reference for pipeline surveys and environmental impact studies.

• An aid to farmers and ranchers engaged in environmental farm planning and assessment.

A reasonably stable production version of the viewer was first deployed on the ARD website in October of 2005 and has accommodated some 3,000 visits per month.

“The ease of use and reliability of the township locator, identify tool and plain-language descriptions produced by the function attached to the “more info” button made the viewer an effective land resource reference,” says Spiess. “These tools, intended to facilitate pipeline surveys, environmental impact assessment

Part of your well-balanced farm business

and environmental farm planning, were not as easy or reliable for producers to use. When it was determined that the hardware and software framework needed to be replaced, the existing tools were re-evaluated and enhanced, and additional functionality was added.”

The soil viewer information has expanded to include: • Global Positioning System (GPS) weigh points and tracks.

• Google map formatted markup language files (kml).

• Esri shape formatted spatial data markup feature drawn within the viewer itself.

The redevelopment project started in the early spring of 2012, and project completion is expected prior to March 31, 2013.

Videos feature urban-rural conversations about farming VISITS  Each of the five consumers got a tour of a Canadian farm — in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario STAFF

B

ASF Canada has launched an online video series called Conversations On Sustainability with highlights of conversations between five farmers and five urbanites.

Each of the five consumers got a tour of a Canadian farm — in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario — to see the field, the machinery and the crops close up. They spoke one on one with growers and asked them questions like how much it costs an acre to run a farm, to how growers apply their herbicides, to how and why growers select particular seed varieties.

“I’m from downtown Toronto.

I have no idea what life is like on a farm,” says Ron Schlumpf, a banker.

Schlumpf spent a day with Dan Ronceray on his farm in Somerset, Manitoba, where the two were able to share their perspectives.

Other participants included Humphrey Banack, a grower in Camrose, Alberta who met with Detlev Kloss, an inventory control manager from Whitby, Ontario; Curt Gessell, who operates a farm in Delisle, Saskatchewan who met Marie Duggan, an administrator from Tottenham, Ontario; Brian Vandervalk, a producer in Fort Macleod, Alberta, who met Mike Reid, a recent university graduate from Toronto; and Steve Twynstra, a grower in Ailsa Craig, Ontario, who met Gerry Johnston, a registered nurse from London, Ontario.

View the videos at www.you tube.com/BASFAgSolutions, the BASF Canada AgSolutions channel.

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37

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • FEBRUARY 4, 2013

North Dakota State University develops farm fuel budget app

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Comparisons } Producers can compare projected fuel costs and use based on alternative crop acreages, tillage systems and crop rotations NDSU release

F

armers can use a new Farm Fuel Budget cellphone app to plan their farm fuel budget and use for the next year or more.

John Nowatzki, North Dakota State University Extension Service agricultural machine systems specialist, developed the Android cellphone app for crop producers to compare projected fuel costs based on alternate crop acreages, tillage systems and crop rotations.

The app can be downloaded from the Google Play Store, which is accessible from the market app on Android cellphones.

Users select the number of acres they intend to plant each year and acreage for each crop, then select the field operations they will use for each crop. The app estimates the fuel cost by year.

The amount of fuel budgeted for each field operation is based on the machinery cost estimates published annually by University of Minnesota Extension. These fuel consumption estimates are based on the assumption of 0.044 gallon (U.S.) of diesel fuel per power takeoff horsepowerhour, on average, for each implement type.

Users can select the number of acres allocated to each crop to compare total farm fuel use based on the same number of acres.

“This feature is intended to help crop producers quickly see the difference in fuel consumption on their farm by changing the number of acres allocated to each crop,” Nowatzki says.

“Because field operations vary significantly for each type of crop, changing the number of acres of each crop grown impacts the total fuel cost for the farm.”

By choosing the field operations on each crop, users can use the Farm Fuel Budget app to evaluate the effects of various tillage systems on fuel use.

Because each field operation requires a different amount of fuel per acre, users quickly can see the impact on fuel costs by eliminating or adding specific field operations for each crop.

The last user input for the app is to enter the projected fuel cost per gallon. Crop producers can use this feature to see the effect of projected fuel prices on their total fuel budget.

Users can evaluate the Farm Fuel Budget app on the Google Play website at https://play. google.com and search for Farm Fuel Budget.

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FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Europe fears cutting farm aid will result in abandoned farms in remote areas Exodus } Land abandonment and a loss of young people are genuine fears london / reuters

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A local farmer rides a bicycle as he runs a herd of cows outside the village of Dlugi Lug, Poland. Expected cuts to farm programs due to the EU’s efforts to cut spending are raising fears that remote communities will suffer. PHOTo: REUTERS/Peter Andrews

educing farm supports and moving toward a more market-oriented farm policy is raising fears that remote communities will wither, according to a member of the European Parliament’s agriculture committee.

“There are genuine fears about land abandonment, village decline and a lack of young people in remote parts of the EU,” said Mairead McGuinness.

Policies such as the planned abolition of milk quotas in 2015 are causing concerns among some European parliamentarians, who fear milk production will end in disadvantaged regions, she said. European

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Union leaders were unable to reach agreement late last year on a budget for the 2014-20 period.

“Our real dilemma is that we do not know with any certainty how much money will be available for the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) budget post-2013, and more alarmingly we fear that cuts to rural development will be deep,” she said.

Owen Paterson, Britain’s farming and environment minister, said his country is the secondlargest net contributor after Germany and needs spending cuts as it is borrowing an estimated 400,000 pounds ($651,400) a minute.

“Until we starting growing wealth again, we are going to be reducing these programs,” he said.

Adequate snow cover fuels optimism for winter wheat crop Some concern }

Lack of snow cover in southwestern Saskatchewan by phil franz-warkentin

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Adequate snow cover across much of Western Canada should bode well for the winter wheat crop.

However, there are concerns in some areas that the crop wasn’t far enough along before entering dormancy, Jake Davidson, executive director of Winter Cereals Canada, said at a recent growers’ meeting in Saskatoon.

“I don’t think we’re in as bad shape as many people think,” said Davidson, adding most areas have enough moisture to “kickstart anything that’s ready to go” in the spring.

However, there is a lack of snow cover in the southwestern corner of Saskatchewan.

The end of the Canadian Wheat Board’s single desk allowed many winter wheat growers to sell last year’s crop early and have “cash in their pockets before their other crops even came off,” said Davidson. Much of that production was sold in the U.S. Prairie farmers planted 1.135 million acres of winter wheat this fall, down from the 1.305 million acres planted the previous year.

39

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • FEBRUARY 4, 2013

Black carbon a worse pollutant than feared POTENT  Now ranked second only to carbon dioxide as the most powerful climate pollutant

BY DEBORAH ZABARENKO WASHINGTON / REUTERS

B

lack carbon, the soot produced by burning fossil fuels and biomass, is a more potent atmospheric pollutant than previously thought, according to a new study.

Emitted by diesel engines, brick kilns and wood-fired cookstoves, black carbon is second only to carbon dioxide as the most powerful climate pollutant, according to the study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres.

But because black carbon only lasts in the atmosphere a matter of days, compared to carbon dioxide’s atmospheric endurance of centuries, addressing it could be a prime target for curb-

ing global warming, the report said.

“This new research provides further compelling evidence to act on short-lived climate pollutants, including black carbon,” said Achim Steiner, chief of the United Nations environment program.

The report found black carbon’s effect on climate is nearly twice what was previously thought.

The new assessment found black carbon emissions caused significantly higher warming over the Arctic and other regions, could affect rainfall patterns, including those of the Asian monsoon system, and have led to rapid warming in the northern United States, Canada, northern Europe and northern Asia.

U.S. cattle placements fall seventh straight month

A woman wearing a mask walks on the Bund in front of Pudong Lujiazui financial area on a hazy day in Shanghai Jan. 16. Chinese media say the government has to take urgent action to tackle air pollution, and one newspaper called for a rethink of a “fixation” on economic growth. PHOTO: REUTERS/ALY SONG

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BY THEOPOLIS WATERS CHICAGO / REUTERS

T

he number of cattle placed in U.S. feedlots in December fell for a seventh straight month, a government report showed Jan. 25, in a sign of high feed costs continuing to roil the industry after the worst drought in half a century.

The decline was against trade expectations for the first monthly increase in placements since May. The U.S. Department of Agriculture showed placements down one per cent from a year earlier to 1.664 million head, extending its string of monthly declines since May. The average analyst estimate was for a 3.8 per cent increase.

USDA put supply of cattle in feedlots on Jan. 1 at 11.193 million head, or 94 per cent of the year-ago total. Analysts polled by Reuters, on average, expected 95.5 per cent.

The government also said the number of cattle sold to packers, or marketings, in December was down two per cent from a year earlier, to 1.745 million head versus forecast for a 6.9 per cent reduction. Analysts viewed the cattle report as bullish for Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures.

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FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

USDA researches new methods for treating stable flies in pastures Treatments } Products applied at feeding sites include cyromazine and catnip USDA release

U A USDA study says stable flies cost the U.S. cattle industry more than $2.4 billion each year.

.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists are developing strategies to help livestock producers control stable flies, the most damaging arthropod pests of cattle in the United States.

An economic impact assessment by scientists at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Agroecosystem Management Research Unit (AMRU) in Lincoln, Neb., looked at four sectors of cattle production: dairy, cow-calf, pastured and range stocker, and animals on feed. They found that stable flies cost the U.S. cattle industry

more than $2.4 billion each year, due to reduced milk production in dairy cows, decreased weight gain in beef cattle, and lowered feed efficiency.

Stable flies are not only a problem in barnyards and stables for which they are named, but in pastures as well. AMRU entomologist David Taylor and his colleagues showed that this is partly due to the use of large bales of hay placed in fields as supplemental feed for cattle during winter. These feeding sites where wasted hay, manure and urine accumulate produce an ideal habititat for stable flies.

They found that stable flies cost the U.S. cattle industry more than $2.4 billion each year, due to reduced milk production in dairy cows, decreased weight gain in beef cattle, and lowered feed efficiency.

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To find an easy, inexpensive, quick way to control stable flies, Taylor tested cyromazine, an insect growth regulator that interferes with moulting and proper development of an insect’s external skeleton. A single application of cyromazine sprinkled on a hay-feeding site reduced the number of emerging adult stable flies by 97 per cent. The treatment took 10 minutes, cost $10 per site and was effective for 10 to 20 weeks.

Other potential methods for controlling stable flies include what AMRU entomologist Jerry Zhu calls a “push and pull” strategy. The “push” requires using a repellent to drive flies away from livestock. Treatments contain effective plant-based repellent chemicals like catnip that are low in toxicity. The “pull” involves developing natural attractants or substances associated with the flies’ environment to lure and trap them.

So far, Zhu and his team have developed several catnip oil formulations to reduce stable fly field populations. In collaboration with Microtek Laboratories, Inc., of Dayton, Ohio, the researchers are testing a new granular catnip product that prevents stable flies from laying eggs.

41

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • FEBRUARY 4, 2013

New carbon offsets available for cattle feeders EFFICIENCY  New protocol reduces emissions from beef cattle through advancements in genetic selection AGRI-NEWS

T

he recent approval of the Residual Feed Intake (RFI) carbon offset protocol by the Government of Alberta has opened up a new opportunity for farmers to get paid for making environmental improvements.

The innovative practice highlighted in this new protocol reduces greenhouse gas emissions from beef cattle through advancements in genetic selection. This makes it possible to increase the efficiency of feed used by cattle.

“Low RFI or efficient cattle have lower maintenance requirements and consume less feed for the same level of production, such as growth, milk production or fat deposition,” says John Basarab, beef research scientist at Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development’s Lacombe Research Station. “This improved efficiency of feed use translates into a carbon offset when compared with normal feeding practices.”

The first generation of cattle produced from animals with these genetic characteristics will be eligible to receive carbon offset credits of about 28 tonnes (T) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per 100 head. This is like taking five or six cars off the road every year. The value would be close to $340 per 100 head, assuming agricultural carbon offset prices of about $12/T CO2e. Extra benefits of reduced feed costs will also be gained. Tests are currently being conducted at Olds College and Strathmore to identify the most feed-efficient animals.

Buyers of offsets are companies regulated under Alberta’s Specified Gas Emitters Regulation (2007). These companies can purchase carbon offsets in the Alberta Carbon Market as a way to meet their legal requirement to reduce annual greenhouse gas emission intensities by 12 per cent. Agricultural carbon offsets are created from farm practice improvements that have a proven scientific

basis for reduced greenhouse gas emissions, are above and beyond business as usual, and can be verified by independent third parties.

“Although carbon offset payments are not large at this time, they provide a way to gain extra income from management improvements that increase efficiencies of production,” says Sheilah Nolan, climate change specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development.

“This also helps producers and livestock operators get familiar with types of verifiable farm records that are needed to prove the practice change happened.

These records are also likely to be needed to participate in other emerging environmental markets.”

Initiated by Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, funding for this Canada-Alberta cost-shared project was provided by Agriculture and AgriFood Canada through the Agricultural Flexibility Fund.

The first generation of cattle produced from animals with these genetic characteristics will be eligible to receive carbon offset credits of about 28 tonnes (T) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per 100 head.

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gricultural irrigation in California’s Central Valley doubles the amount of water vapour pumped into the atmosphere, ratcheting up rainfall and powerful monsoons across the interior southwest, according to a new study by UC Irvine scientists.

Moisture on the vast farm fields evaporates, is blown over the Sierra Nevada and dumps 15 per cent more than average summer rain in numerous other states. Run-off to the Colorado River increases by 28 per cent, and the Four Corners region experiences a 56 per cent boost in run-off. While the additional water supply can be a good thing, the transport pattern also accelerates the severity of monsoons and other potentially destructive seasonal weather events.

“If we stop irrigating in the valley, we’ll see a decrease in stream flow in the Colorado River basin,” said climate hydrologist Jay Famiglietti, senior author on the paper, which will be published online in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

The basin provides water for about 35 million people, including those in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Phoenix. But the extra water vapour also accelerates normal atmospheric circulation, he said, “firing up” the annual storm cycle and drawing in more water vapour from the Gulf of Mexico as well as the Central Valley.

When the additional waves of moisture bump into developing monsoons, Famiglietti said, “it’s like throwing fuel on a fire.”

Famiglietti’s team plans to increase the scope of the work to track how major human water usage elsewhere in the world affects neighbouring areas too.

A better understanding of irrigation’s impact on the changing climate and water availability could improve resource management in parched or flooded areas.

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42

FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Manitoba beef processor moves on federal upgrade ANOTHER TRY  Two other Manitoba plants planned in the wake of BSE were not successful

BY LAURA RANCE

EDITOR, MANITOBA CO-OPERATOR

I

f Calvin Vaags has his way, Manitoba will have a federally inspected ruminant slaughter plant capable of handling 1,000 head per week up and running within a year.

After three years of preparation, work has started on a $13-million expansion at Plains Processors, a small processing plant with a capacity of 80 head per week located between Carman and Elm Creek, purchased

by Vaags in 2008.

The revamped facility is expected to employ 80 workers and provide export-certified processing to the province’s cattle industry at a rate of up to 1,000 head per week — as well as to producers of other ruminant species.

“We haven’t done sheep on a large scale yet, but if I look into the future, I see the sheep industry in Manitoba really growing and again, no place for them to process locally and they have a huge freight bill going east,” Vaags said in an interview as his investors and elected officials from three levels of government gathered at the site Saturday to wish him well.

As well, nearly half of the company’s financial resources are coming from private investors in addition to federal and provincial support and commercial borrowings, he said.

“There is actually five different financial components putting this together,” he said.

Manitoba Beef Producers president Ray Armbruster said his organization welcomes the addition. “We like this initiative with some private initiative and investment, and we support it going forward in that way,” he said.

The scale of the facility won’t be attractive to a 20,000-head feedlot, he said, but it would give cow-calf producers or small-lot finishers another option for adding value to their cattle.

“We like this initiative with some private initiative and investment, and we support it going forward in that way.”

Meet Ken Dutton Started farming: 1974 Crop rotation: Chemfallow, durum, spring wheat, barley First vehicle: ‘64 Chevy Half-Ton Loves: Family, Saskatchewan Roughriders Hates: Kochia, Edmonton Eskimos Will never sell: His 4020 John Deere tractor, a gift from dad Most memorable farming moment: “Last year, we filled all the bins.”

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Vaags, who operates a grain farm and cattle feedlot near Oakbank, Man. entered the retail beef business when he opened a retail meat outlet in Winnipeg in 2004. He later expanded to a second retail outlet and started supplying Manitoba beef by wholesale.

Vaags acknowledged his isn’t the first attempt to bring federally inspected slaughter capacity back to the province in the wake of the 2003 BSE crisis, which disrupted export access for live cattle for years.

Despite provincial government backing, a producer co-op was unsuccessful in starting a cow slaughter facility near Dauphin. Another proposal, also backed by the province’s Manitoba Cattle Enhancement Council (MCEC), was to rehabilitate a mothballed hog slaughter facility in Winnipeg.

It has been in limbo since the federal government withdrew $10 million it promised the project in 2009.

The project is an expansion of the plant that’s been in operation since the early 1950s at a site that is centrally located in a rural area “where the community is welcoming to it,” Vaags said.

Calvin Vaags has operated a small 80-head-per week beef plant since 2008.

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43

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • FEBRUARY 4, 2013

U.S.-based animal welfare certification group gaining Canadian interest HIGH STANDARDS  Alberta ranch fourth in Canada to get seal from Animal Welfare Approved

BY VICTORIA PATERSON AF STAFF / HANNA

A

n organization that provides certification and labelling for livestock producers with regards to animal welfare standards is gaining more popularity in Canada.

Animal Welfare Approved (AWA), an organization based in the U.S., has seen a recent jump in applications from Canadian farms. “It’s becoming more of an issue as Canada explores its own relationship with farm animals,” said Andrew Gunther, the program director for AWA. So far only four Canadian farms have gone through the entire certification process successfully, with the most recent addition being TK Ranch in Hanna. Two other AWA-certified farms are based in Quebec and the other is in Ontario.

AWA provides certification for a variety of livestock operations.

Gunther said it works with 1,500 farms across more than a million acres of land in North America.

The organization has an office in Washington, D.C., but auditors and personnel work across the country giving AWA a physical presence in about 30 states and farmers in over 40.

Gunther expects interest to continue to rise as producers seek a label that he said doesn’t have an equivalent in a Canadian organization. He said Canada is short on humane or environmental seals, something consumers are looking for in their food. We are increasing our presence in the Canadian market,” he said. “Canada is naturally somewhere we would work in.”

The label complies with Canadian regulations, he said. “If you’re looking to avoid chemi-

Canada is naturally somewhere we would work in.

cals, if you’re looking to ensure your animal was raised to the highest welfare standards without trashing the environment… then we are the only seal you should really look for,” he said.

Certification process straightforward

In order to be certified by AWA, interested farmers can check out their detailed standards online and see if they feel their farm

would be compliant. The short version of AWA’s standards for animal welfare is no mutilations, no confinement and no drugs or antibiotics unless prescribed by a vet.

“AWA believes the right animal in the right environment will thrive,” Gunther said.

If the producer is interested an application form is filled out.

Then an auditor will go through a pre-visit questionnaire and soon after an on-site inspection.

“The standards are on the website so there are no surprises,” Gunther said. The subsequent audit is then submitted to an independent approvals board, and the slaughter plant needs to be approved as well. If the farm passes muster, a certificate will be sent and the label can be used. Gunther said, “if everything flows well” the process takes about 10 weeks.

Unlike most other produc-

tion certification programs, particularly in the organic sector, this process is at no cost for producers. “Absolutely nothing,” he said, adding that AWA is a donor-funded organization that has been around in charity form since 1951 and in its current form since 2008.

Colleen Biggs of TK Ranch said they decided to pursue the AWA certification as a way for their beef to stand out for methods they’ve already been using.

“I guess more than anything to differentiate our product,” she said, noting there’s not a lot of ways for consumers to compare different options. Their beef cattle aren’t the only livestock the Biggs are getting certified — they recently had an inspection for their pigs and lambs to receive the AWA stamp of approval as well. “It’s a very stringent program,” she said. “I really liked what they were doing.”

Beef code of practice open to comment ONLINE  Producers can visit farm animal care website and submit comments STAFF

R

anchers, farmers and consumers are all able to have their say until March 8 on the proposed Canadian code of practice for care and handling of beef cattle.

The public comment period opened earlier this month on the draft code, which can be viewed online at www.nfacc.ca, and has an option to submit comments.

The draft code, under development since September 2010, is being updated through the National Farm Animal Care Council’s (NFACC) code development process in partnership with the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association.

The code development committee’s process to date has included a peer-reviewed scientists’ committee report, summarizing research on priority welfare topics for beef cattle, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association said in a statement.

When finalized for release, which is expected to take place in June, the code will be “an important tool for communicating how beef cattle are raised in Canada,” the CCA said.

Consumers and industry stakeholders now get their say to ensure the code reflects a common understanding of beef cattle care expectations and science-based recommended practices in Canada, said Ryder Lee, CCA’s manager of federal and provincial relations.

“This public comment period really allows us to check our work with an even more representative group,” said Lee, who served as a member of the code development committee.

13-01-21 12:52 PM

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FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

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13-01-16 2:26 PM

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news » livestock

FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Equine care comments requested

Rethinking hours of business

Equine Canada and the National Farm Animal Care Council have reminded that the draft code of practice for the care and handling of equines is available for review online at www.nfacc. ca/codes-of-practice/equine. Equine Canada is appealing to organizations across Canada to add their official feedback. It said participation from individuals has been steady, but feedback from organizations has been missing. Individuals and organizations have until Feb. 14 to add comments or suggest alternative wording to the draft.

CME Group said Jan. 29 it will reduce the nearly non-stop trading cycle for its U.S. grain and oilseed markets after a backlash against longer hours that were implemented less than a year ago. CME, which owns the Chicago Board of Trade, said it had not yet determined what the new hours will be. The exchange operator increased electronic trading hours to 21 hours a day from 17 hours a day in May to fend off competition from rival IntercontinentalExchange. — reuters

Quick and easy is the name of the feeding game for rancher Unique } Manitoba rancher uses a skidsteer and method of his own design to feed bagged silage

Dugald grass-finished beef producer Ken Vaags describes his unique silage-feeding system at Ag Days. Photo: Daniel Winters by daniel winters staff / brandon, man.

K

en Vaags would put a short-order cook to shame.

The Dugald, Man. rancher uses his skidsteer loader and a specially designed self-feeder that controls access to a huge bag of silage. Two rollers operated by a hand crank wind up the top and bottom lips of the bag, while bars in front create a manger that minimizes waste. A polywire electric fence prevents cattle from trampling the bag, and all Vaags has to do is push the whole contraption about 18 inches towards the bag with the skidsteer.

“It takes me less than four minutes to feed about 5,000 pounds of silage,” said Vaags.

As a part-time rancher, Vaags needs to keep the amount of time spent looking after his 315head herd to a minimum. With that in mind, he keeps the bulls in a pen, and runs all the cows, steers and heifers together in one herd to save time.

“It’s not the number of cattle that takes the time, it’s the number of groups of cattle,” he said, adding that his winter chores take about two hours a day.

He uses a two-day feeding cycle that costs about $290 per day for the whole herd, not counting salt blocks or the 10 litres of diesel that go into the skidsteer each day.

On Day 1, they eat bagged silage with a 125 relative feed value and 16 to 18 per cent protein. On Day 2, they get timothy or meadow fescue straw that Vaags bales in the fields of local grass seed growers.

Some ranchers say silage is too expensive to feed, but not Vaags. He figures a 250foot bag of alfalfa silage costs $2,500 to fill, or roughly two cents per pound of dry matter for chopping, hauling, bagging and the cost of the bag, plus another cent per pound to grow it.

No grain is fed to his cattle, ever, because his final product is pitched to his customers as

“grass-marbled” beef that is delicious and tender.

“That’s a rule because I want to be able to say with a straight face to people buying my beef that this animal has never eaten a kernel of grain in its life,” said Vaags.

Genetics, feed quality, markets, human resources, and land quality have to work together to make a successful beef operation, said Vaags.

“It’s how your parts fit together that make you profitable, not that you have good parts,” he said.

Alfalfa is the “key resource” on his ranch, and without it, he’d have to change almost everything he does.

Cows go on grass by the end of April, and then onto alfalfa pasture from June 1 until well into the fall. Most years he keeps them on stockpiled or third-cut alfalfa up until Nov. 15, but this year, lack of rain in August meant they were off pasture by midOctober.

He uses a leader-follower system on his alfalfa-grass pastures, with finishing steers and yearling

heifers leading, and cow-calf pairs following.

After taking the plunge into grazing alfalfa more than a decade ago, he saw his share of “bloat storms” until he learned to wait until the plants are in flower.

“When they are leading on those juicy tops, they do extremely well,” said Vaags.

Instead of obsessing with notions about the advantages of big versus small cows, Vaags avoids the stereotypes altogether and opts for what he calls “designer cows” — ones with good fertility, able to easily calve, and consistently able to maintain body condition. To improve his meat-to-bone ratio and flank width, he has added a Gelbvieh bull.

Calving begins April 20, and the calves stay on the cows until March 10. His herd’s production exceeds the market for direct sales of his grass-finished beef, so he opts to sell 650-pound calves at 10 months of age.

Most of his females are sold as bred stock capable of producing grass-finished steers.

“I don’t believe in making hay in southeastern Manitoba,” said Vaags, who favours out-of-thebox thinking when it comes to raising beef.

“In my country, you can’t afford to make hay. You get one rain on a good crop and you lose about one-third of the tonnage and one-third of the feed value.”

Vaags moves his winter feeding sites each year so he doesn’t have to spend time or money scooping up the manure and hauling it elsewhere. Openfield feeding requires windbreaks, which he positions each day based on that morning’s weather forecast.

A special bracket welded onto each that fits his skidsteer’s loader makes the job easy, and by chaining them together, he can avoid having them fall over in a stiff wind. Water is provided from an insulated concrete trough.

A video of his silage-feeding system can be found by Googling “self-feeding silage bag demonstration.”

47

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • FEBRUARY 4, 2013

Urbanization is the growing trend in India IMPEDIMENTS  Culture, tradition and government

inaction inhibit progress in Indian agriculture

BY BRENDA SCHOEPP

T

he urbanization of nations is most striking in India where 30 per cent of rural residents have moved to the city in the past 10 years. This has created its own set of challenges, including excessive crowding and the overpowering of existing infrastructure including roads, sewers and schools. The rise in the daily wage to $5 in the city has pulled the young and old from the countryside in search of a better life.

India is a country of contrasts where the hand-sown and harvested crop may be sold on the Internet or from a handcart and city women in traditional saris ride sidesaddle, teetering on weaving motorbikes and talking on cellphones. To the outsider, it is a steaming, chaotic mess that overwhelms the senses (especially the sense of smell). But deep in her fabric is a quiet peace and a farmer who is the backbone of food security and exports that support 1.5 billion people.

In India, farmers are not taxed but the level of income of $1,000 per year or $2.73 per day hardly supports a growing family. The extra few dollars earned in the city may finance that motorbike, a new place to live or cellphone. And most men have taken advantage of the opportunity working their way in town to the trigger point which is $6,000. When a family gets to $6,000 of annual income they can buy a car or travel and their eating habits will dramatically change.

The potential growth in the Indian population with this type of disposable income is expected to reach 650 million people by 2015.

This leaves the primary rural workforce of women overworked and underpaid. In the fields, plants and factories, the women were hard pressed to earn more than $2 per day and yet make up 90 per cent of the farming and labour workforce.

As India really does not have a culture that is partial to telling time, the work hours are long. Even shopkeepers are open all day and every day if there is a potential customer.

Although the women of India feed the nation and contribute to its agricultural exports, they are stuck in their pay group because of caste and the risk of being homeless once within city limits.

When visiting with the women of the slums of New Delhi, nearly 70 per cent had come from farms looking for a new life that eroded into the narrow streets of slum dwelling. And yet all of these women on the farm and in the fields or plants were colourful and immaculate in dress, smart, proud and innovative.

falo, monkeys, rickshaws, bicycles, motorbikes, cars, trucks and people on foot. And all traffic does stop dead when the indigenous cow (considered holy) takes to standing in the middle of the highway.

Investors consider the village money lender and the lack of infrastructure to be the main impediments to growing the business of food. Milk sits in canisters in the hot sun, fruit wilts, grain spills and robbery is part of the equation.

Farm goods are sold by handcart, road stall, retailer and some in the modern-day supermarket.

To be part of the Indian agricultural scene you have to be able to manoeuvre through the cultural and structural obstacles. This is small in comparison with the political challenges that business faces in India. For example, although there is no major company today in food grains and huge potential to add value to meet the demands of 650 million potential clients, there is also a lack of policy or outcomebased strategy to support investment. Even with ad hoc money for irrigation, rural development and research — no one really knows what it is for or how it is to be used.

The result is abandoned irrigation or infrastructure projects, broken processing plants and outright confusion. Even the initiative to introduce toilets into homes (there is currently a toilet for every 1,500 persons) has been done so without the supporting infrastructure of a complimentary sewage system.

Brenda Schoepp with some of the women who do much of the work in Indian agriculture.

Land prices do not reflect the ancient infrastructure that is currently in need of a $200-trillion update. Land in the south around Bangalore sells for $15,000 per hectare and land in the north in the Punjab sells for $30,000 per hectare. All land ownership is limited by law to a maximum of seven hectares. When you add up the complexities of farming compared to making double the wage in the city and having a first-time

opportunity to spend that wage, it is easy to see why young men leave the farm for what they perceive as a new future.

The urbanization of India is mirrored in countries around the world, including Canada. And like India, Canadian women are increasingly investing in and working on farms. They have the added fortune of infrastructure and information. Certainly there is emerging opportunity within India and

for farmers in Canada to be part of her domestic economic growth.

And that may be done — women to women.

Brenda Schoepp is a Nuffield Scholar who travels extensively exploring agriculture and meeting the people who feed, clothe and educate our world. As a speaker and mentor she works with young entrepreneurs across Canada and is the founder of Women in Search of Excellence. She can be contacted at www.brendaschoepp.com.

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Class struggle for farmers

Growing and selling crops in India is just as complicated as her structure. Within the caste system the farmer is second from the bottom, just above the street cleaner and slightly lower than the tradesman, so they have little say in the marketplace.

Financing and selling of crops always includes an extra step — the village money lender — who is currently charging 26 per cent per annum based on daily interest. The transportation of goods is unreliable as the roads are plugged with everything from elephants, donkeys, horses, goats, sheep, buf-

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FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Record cattle prices with continued volatility possible Continued strength } Lower supplies of beef, competing meats and cattle will be supportive to prices in 2013 U.S. Department of Agriculture is projecting beef production to Extension livestock marketing decline four per cent in 2013 and economist NDSU Agribusiness and all red meat and poultry supplies Applied Economics Department to be down two per cent. or the third year (2010Due to drought in the southern 12), prices for all market Plains in 2011 and more wideclasses of beef cattle set spread drought in 2012, the beef record annual highs in the U.S. cow herd likely will be down one Are record highs possible again to two per cent in 2013 and result in 2013 and even 2014? in a correspondingly smaller calf The short answer to that is crop. “yes.” However, remember that Besides the smaller calf crop, prices for each market class of two additional factors will concattle have different seasonal tribute to lower trending U.S. patterns, so at times 2013 prices supplies of feeder and slaughfor some market classes (feeder ter cattle. There likely will be calves in particular) likely will be fewer feeder cattle imports in below last year.

2013 (especially from Mexico), Furthermore, there are many and there could be increased fundamental factors that affect retention of heifers and cows for prices and some are unexpected. breeding purposes if better moisFor example, in 2012, the lean ture conditions in the U.S. return. finely textured beef media event; Live cattle futures are indianother case of BSE in a U.S. cating another record year for cow; and the worst drought in fed-cattle prices. Strong hide the Corn Belt since 1988 all sur- and offal values and beef export faced. values will be supportive to fedSmaller supplies of beef, com- cattle prices. However, the U.S. SEC-MERE12-T-REV_AFE.qxd 11/7/12 4:18continues PM Page to 1 struggle peting meats and cattle will be economy supportive to prices in 2013. The and will need to improve in 2013

By Tim Petry

F

to support fed-cattle prices at the projected futures market price levels.

Cow prices to continue

Cow prices were at a record high throughout 2012 and likely will continue to be at a record high, especially if normal moisture levels prevail and beef cow slaughter declines.

A cyclical buildup in the beef cow herd could cause lower beef cow production for several years.

Also, the demand for 90 per cent lean, boneless beef is expected to stay strong because U.S. consumers have a big appetite for hamburger.

Steer calf prices ended 2012 near the previous year’s record levels. However, prices likely will not be as high as last year early in 2013 due to the drought that continues to plague much of the country. Should the drought subside, and spring and early-summer grazing conditions improve significantly, calf prices could challenge last year’s levels by April or May.

RecIP Con om tra me ct nde d

A cyclical buildup in the beef cow herd could cause lower beef cow production for several years.

Fall 2013 calf prices are dependent on corn prices. A good corn crop and lower corn prices would support calf prices at higher levels. However, another poor corn crop and higher corn prices could cause lower calf prices than what we had the last two years.

Both calf and feeder cattle prices are expected to be volatile in 2013 because of the expectation of continued volatility in corn prices. With good growing

conditions, there likely will be enough corn acres planted in 2013 to produce a 15-billionbushel corn crop, but another drought year could result in an even smaller crop than the 10.8 billion bushels produced in 2012.

That wide range in production potential could lead to corn prices ranging from less than $5 per bushel to more than $9 in the fall. As news of the potential size of the corn crop materializes, prices will adjust accordingly and relatively quickly.

Remember back to mid-June 2012 when November feeder cattle futures prices were $164 per hundredweight (cwt) and December corn futures prices were $5.25 per bushel? One month later, corn futures had climbed to $8 per bushel due to the drought and feeder cattle futures had declined to $140 cwt.

Volatile prices increase the risk but also opportunities, so producers need to have a good marketing plan with risk management strategies in place.

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razil’s northeast is suffering its worst drought in decades, threatening hydro power supplies in an area prone to blackouts and potentially slowing economic growth in one of the country’s emerging agricultural frontiers.

Lack of rain has hurt corn and cotton crops, left cattle and goats to starve to death in dry pastures and cut sugar cane production by 30 per cent. Thousands of subsistence farmers have seen their livelihoods wither away in recent months as animal carcasses lie abandoned in some areas that have seen almost no rain in two years.

“We are experiencing the worst drought in 50 years, with consequences that could be compared to a violent earthquake,” said Eduardo Salles, agriculture secretary in the northeastern state of Bahia.

Low water levels have hydro dams operating at one-third capacity, setting off alarm bells in a country with a history of energy shortages that crimped economic growth as recently as a decade ago.

President Dilma Rousseff has dismissed talk of an energy crisis, calling the idea of Brazil potentially needing to ration energy “ridiculous.” However, there have been some signs of strain already.

In October, the northeast experienced its worst blackout in more

Farmers from the Brazilian northeast carry out a demonstration holding cattle skulls in front of the Planalto Palace in Brasilia last month. The protesters are demanding the cancellation of their debts and help from the government to alleviate the effects of the drought that rages over the region this year.

Photo: REUTERS / Ueslei Marcelino

than a decade, knocking Bahia state’s important petrochemical industry offline.

Even with likely crop losses in the northeast, Brazil still expects an overall record soybean and strong corn harvest this season thanks to sufficient rainfall over the main centre-west and southern producing areas.

49

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • FEBRUARY 4, 2013

The emotional and physical exchange between rider and horse Shared ailments } If both rider and horse have a sore back, it may not be a coincidence By carol shwetz, dvm

R

iders are aware of the numerous aids, equipment and body positions employed to influence a horse’s movement. However, few are aware of the much deeper exchange — what is not so readily obvious is that a rider’s own health and balance is intimately intertwined with the well-being of their horse. Few riders look towards themselves and their own body as contributing factors to their horse’s health and behaviour.

As a veterinarian, my focus is on the health of the horse, yet after years of experience I could not help but observe an interesting relationship between a person and their horse. This relationship becomes even more evident when the person becomes a rider. With time the horse will mirror aspects of the rider’s emotional, mental and physical makeup.

It became interesting to note how on many occasions, owners and their horses seemed to share similar stories of illness or lack of well-being. When a horse carries a rider, his body yields to the misalignments and tensions within the rider’s body. Compensations manifest in various ways depending on the horse’s own patterns and alignment. Physical ailments like arthritis, lower back pain, lamenesses and even injuries may become shared.

health and that many modern diseases are emotionally rooted.

So then the emotional health of the horse’s caretaker/rider is crucial to the well-being of the horse itself. Awareness and responsibility of one’s own emotional state prior to interactions with any horse frees the horse from the responsibility of bringing it to the person’s attention.

Happy, healthy people tend to have happy, healthy horses.

One of the most common New Year’s resolutions is better care of one’s self. It turns out that following through with that resolution will also bring benefits to the well-being of your equine companion.

Carol Shwetz is a veterinarian specializing in equine practice at Westlock, Alberta.

When a horse carries a rider, his body yields to the misalignments and tensions within the rider’s body.

PHOTo: Thinkstock

Happy, healthy people tend to have happy, healthy horses.

Digestive disturbances, thyroid conditions, skin conditions and others may similarly manifest. Emotional relationships such as anxiety, frustration, anger, and unease can also be created. To any individual horse owner, it may seem to be a “coincidence” that they share their horse’s illness and issues, yet within my experience such “sharing” is commonplace. The stronger the bond between the horse and person, the more likely it is that they will share such a relationship.

To the horse, the emotional world of the person, even suppressed emotions, appear to be readily apparent. Besides picking up on a rider’s patterns of muscular tension, the horse also picks up on the rider’s emotional issues. A great deal of information about an individual’s emotional state can be revealed through their breathing patterns. The horse is wired to read this information and responds accordingly. This is why the same horse can have different responses to different individuals.

The medical profession recognizes emotional health to be closely linked to physical

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FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Second-litter syndrome a good indicator of sow fertility Repeat } Poor performance in the second litter tends

to continue for the rest of the sow’s lifetime By bernie peet

T

he occurrence of “secondlitter syndrome” in sows is an important measure of reproductive function in pig herds and a good indicator of likely lifetime performance, says Dr. Nicoline Soede from Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

Speaking at the recent Banff Pork Seminar, she said that the syndrome is characterized by an increased weaning-to-estrus interval, a reduced farrowing rate and lower litter size compared to first-parity sows. This is primarily related to sow body weight loss during first lactation.

Traditionally, the “second-litter dip,” as it is sometimes also called, was almost always associated with an extended weaning-to-estrus period after first weaning. But, notes Dr. Soede, today’s sows have been selected for a short wean-to-estrus interval and often only show reduced farrowing rate and litter size.

“Recent research in France found that 38 per cent of the 842 farms studied had a second litter size of at least 0.2 piglets below that of the first-parity sows,” she said. “If sows with a wean-toestrus interval of more than seven days and those with a farrowing rate of less than 85 per cent were included, then 79 per cent of the farms were defined as having a second-parity problem.”

The reduced reproductive efficiency of second-parity sows might also lead to early cull-

ing, Soede said. “Researchers in the Netherlands studied the relationships between failure to farrow and litter size at second parity and reproductive performance in later parities. In these data, from 45,000 sows, a total of 15.7 per cent of the secondparity sows inseminated became repeat breeders. While being a repeat breeder in second parity did not affect litter size in subsequent parities, it was associated with decreased farrowing rate in parities three and four.” Also, second-parity repeat breeder sows were, on average, culled two parities earlier (parity five versus seven, respectively) compared with non-repeat breeders, Soede said.

The study also showed that sows with a low second-parity litter size also had a smaller litter size in parity three and above, compared with sows with a moderate or large litter size at second parity.

“These data show that a large proportion of sows with poor reproductive performance in second parity are at risk of having a poor reproductive performance in subsequent parities, resulting in earlier culling,” Soede said.

Lactation weight loss

This decrease in performance is related to sow weight loss during lactation, Soede said. “One research study showed that sows with a high lactation weight loss had a similar ovulation rate, but fewer viable embryos (14.9 versus 16.8) at Day 35 of pregnancy,” she said. They also had fewer implan-

tation sites (17.2 versus 19.5) than sows with a low lactation weight loss, which indicates increased embryo mortality before implantation at approximately Day 15 of pregnancy as a problem.”

“Skipping breeding at first estrus can improve pregnancy rates by 15 per cent and subsequent litter sizes by 1.3 to 2.5 piglets, but increases the number of nonproductive days by 21.”

Dr. Nicoline Soede

This confirms that lactation weight loss affects embryo quality, resulting from reduced follicle and oocyte quality, she said.

“Since lactation weight loss is a crucial factor influencing reproductive performance in second-parity sows, any management solution that leads to higher lactation feed intake or reduced milk production will benefit the reproductive performance of second-parity sows,” Soede said.

She suggests a number of solutions including adequate gilt development to ensure a high feed intake capacity and a

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range of measures to increase lactation feed intake, such as improving water availability, optimizing room temperature to stimulate appetite and manipulation of piglet numbers and weaning age for gilt litters.

“Another approach is to allow sows time to recover from the loss of weight during lactation before they are inseminated,” Soede said. “The normal weanto-estrus interval in contemporary sows is too short to allow for this recovery. Skipping breeding at first estrus can improve pregnancy rates by 15 per cent and subsequent litter sizes by 1.3 to 2.5 piglets, but increases the number of non-productive days by 21.”

Soede suggests that providing a shorter recovery period than a full cycle length, by administering a progesterone analogue (Altrenogest, Matrix, Merck Animal Health) post-weaning, which delays the onset of heat hormonally, might be a more economic option. Treatment until 14 days after weaning has been shown to result in consistent and substantial improvements in performance, Soede said.

In modern hybrid first-litter sows with high lactation weight losses and short weaning-toestrus intervals, extending the period from weaning to first ovulation seems a promising route to improve reproductive performance,” she said.

Another option for reducing the impact of second-litter syndrome may be to stimulate body weight recovery during the

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

Ireland says horse DNA in its burgers came from Poland Scandal } British and Irish burger firms rocked by discovery of horsemeat Dublin / Reuters

B • They are deep bodied, easy �leshing bulls with lots of capacity.

subsequent pregnancy, Soede believes.

“During the first two-thirds of gestation, the energetic demands for litter growth are low and young sows can use this period to recover from lactation weight loss,” she said.

“Recent research in the Netherlands investigated whether a 30 per cent increase in feed intake during the first month of second pregnancy increases litter size. In the first of two studies, the increased feed intake increased litter size by two piglets. However, in a second study aimed at investigating the physiological background of this increase, embryo survival was not affected.”

Based on these and other data, Soede said an increased feed intake during the first month of second pregnancy is certainly beneficial for body weight recovery and may also increase reproductive performance.

The quality of management provided to gilts and young sows has become critical due to the drastically improved reproductive potential of modern genotypes. While the impact of the second-litter syndrome may be insidious when overall performance is high, nevertheless its effect on lifetime performance and longevity makes it worthy of some renewed focus in many herds.

eef containing horse DNA that was supplied by an Irish company to major food companies like Tesco originated in Poland, Ireland’s Agriculture Department said Jan. 26.

The British food industry has been rocked by the revelation retailers sold beef products that contained horse DNA, a scandal that has also left Ireland’s two billion euros ($2.6 billion) beef industry reeling from the knockon effects.

Results of tests showed that Polish ingredients used by Irish burger manufacturer Silvercrest contained 4.1 per cent horse DNA, the Agriculture Department said in a statement.

It said further tests of the Polish ingredient concerned showed up to 20 per cent horse DNA content relative to beef, confirming the raw material from Poland to be the source of equine DNA content in certain burgers.

Tests on samples taken from Irish food ingredients were negative for equine DNA and Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney said the results maintained the

integrity of Irish food production.

Burger King, one of the most popular fast-food chains in Britain and Ireland, said it had stopped using Silvercrest’s products. There was no horse DNA found in products sold by Burger King.

Smaller retail chains Aldi, Lidl and Iceland have also sold beef products found to contain horse DNA. Silvercrest’s parent company ABP Foods reiterated the plant had never knowingly sold equine products and that it would appoint a new management team, independently audit third-party suppliers and source all future raw material from Britain and Ireland.

Tesco, which withdrew from sale all products supplied by Silvercrest, said in a statement that the source of horse DNA identified by the department correlated with the results of its own investigations at the plant.

Food safety experts say horse DNA poses no added health risks to consumers, but the discovery has raised concerns about the food supply chain and the ability to trace meat ingredients.

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ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • FEBRUARY 4, 2013

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FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Russia may block some North American meat over ractopamine ALLEGATION  Russian watchdog says U.S., Canada violated import rules but little impact is expected on Canada

BY MELISSA AKIN AND THEOPOLIS WATERS

MOSCOW / CHICAGO / REUTERS

A

s of press time last week it was expected that Russia may impose a temporary ban on the import of some U.S. and Canadian beef and pork products as of Feb. 4, amid concerns that they may contain a drug used to make animal muscle more lean.

Russia’s Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Service said Jan. 23 that both countries were continuing to send chilled meat products to Russia that violated its import rules that require such proteins be free of residues from the feed additive ractopamine.

Such requirements are also in place in Belarus and Kazakhstan, that are partners with Russia in a three-country customs union.

Russia’s potential ban could jeopardize the more than $500 million a year in exports of U.S. beef and pork to Russia. It also comes amid mounting trade tensions between the two countries.

The Russian veterinary group “is especially concerned about the import of chilled meat products to Russia,” the service said in an English-language statement on its website.

Ractopamine is used as a feed additive by livestock producers in the United States and Canada and elsewhere. But countries such as China have banned its use amid concerns that traces of the drug could persist, despite scientific evidence stating that it is safe.

The additive’s effects on humans may include toxicity and other exposure risks, according to U.S. groups lobbying the Food and Drug Administration for domestic limits on the drug.

The United Nations has agreed on acceptable levels of the drug in livestock production.

Economic impact on Canada limited

A ban would likely have limited impact on Canada’s livestock industry, as Canada ships no chilled pork to Russia and only a small volume of chilled bovine meats.

In 2011, Canada’s fresh or chilled bovine meat shipments to Russia were worth just $216,000, compared with sales of nearly $15 million in frozen product, according to data provided by the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association.

Canadian Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, asked about Russia’s position, highlighted the importance of basing international trade rules on science.

“We will continue to work with producers as they strive to maintain access into the important Russian market,” he said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

Tensions mount over use

Late last year, the United States asked Russia, the sixth-largest market for U.S. beef and pork, to suspend its anti-ractopamine requirement.

Federal officials also warned U.S. meat companies that Moscow might reject their pork shipments that contained ractopamine and stop buying pork from processing plants that produced pork with the drug.

Earlier the Russian Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Service said U.S. and Canadian regulators had failed to respond to requests for information on measures taken to prevent deliveries to Russia of meat containing ractopamine.

Canadian pork shippers have promised to comply with the Russian policy on ractopamine.

The Russian watchdog said imports from Canada were expected to be free of ractopamine by Feb. 28, but it had no such assurances from the United States.

Ractopamine has also been a sore point in Taiwan. In this photo taken last June 15, legislators from Taiwan’s main opposition Democratic Progressive Party and Ruling Nationalist Party display placards during a Legislative Yuan session to vote on amendments to Act Governing Food Sanitation. The placards read, “To protect our people’s health” (top r) and “No ractopamine and no rising electricity prices.” PHOTO: REUTERS/STRINGER

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ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • FEBRUARY 4, 2013

CANADA BEEF INTRODUCES NEW PRODUCER WEBSITE Canada Beef Inc. has launched a website geared to Canadian beef producers and designed to provide information, merchandise and resources that may be useful when selling, discussing or promoting Canadian beef.

“We designed the site with the producer in mind. Every week we get requests from beef producers for resources, images and information they can use at the farm gate, farmers’ market, on their own website or in their promotional material. We tried to make it easy to get those resources through this website,” said Annemarie Pedersen, Canada Beef’s stakeholder communications manager. www. canadabeef.ca/producer

Celestial guidance for rolling balls of dung NAVIGATION  Dung beetles can’t keep a straight course when it’s cloudy

Dung beetles appear to keep their noses to the ground, but they are actually incredibly attuned to the sky.

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ou might expect dung beetles to keep their “noses to the ground,” but they are actually incredibly attuned to the sky. A report published online on January 24 in Current Biology, shows that even on the darkest of nights, African ballrolling insects are guided by the soft glow of the Milky Way. While birds and humans are known to navigate by the stars, the discovery is the first convincing evidence for such abilities in insects, the researchers say. It is also the first known example of any animal getting around by the Milky Way as opposed to the stars.

“Even on clear, moonless nights, many dung beetles still manage to orientate along straight paths,” said Marie Dacke of Lund University in Sweden.

“This led us to suspect that the beetles exploit the starry sky for orientation — a feat that had, to our knowledge, never before been demonstrated in an insect.”

Dacke and her colleagues found that dung beetles do transport their dung balls along straight paths under a starlit sky but lose the ability under overcast conditions. In a planetarium, the beetles stayed on track equally well under a full starlit sky and one showing only the diffuse streak of the Milky Way. That makes sense, the researchers explain, because the night sky is sprinkled with stars, but the vast majority of those stars should be too dim for the beetles’ tiny compound eyes to see.

The findings raise the possibility that other nocturnal insects might also use stars to guide them at night. On the other hand, dung beetles are pretty special. Upon locating a suitable dung pile, the beetles shape a piece of dung into a ball and roll it away in a straight line. That behaviour guarantees them that they will not return to the dung pile, where they risk having their ball stolen by other beetles.

“Dung beetles are known to use celestial compass cues such as the sun, the moon, and the pattern of polarized light formed around these light sources to roll their balls of dung along straight paths,” Dacke said. “Celestial compass cues dominate straightline orientation in dung beetles so strongly that, to our knowledge, this is the only animal with a visual compass system that ignores the extra orientation precision that landmarks can offer.”

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} production

FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Drought continues in the U.S.

Rains favour Brazil soy

Crop-killing drought deepened in Kansas over the week ending Jan. 24, further jeopardizing this season’s production of winter wheat. According to the Drought Monitor report, roughly 57.64 per cent of the contiguous United States was in at least “moderate” drought as of Jan. 22, an improvement from 58.87 per cent a week earlier. But the worst level of drought, dubbed “exceptional,” expanded slightly to 6.36 per cent, up from 6.31 per cent of the country. The worst-hit area is the High Plains, where severe drought blanketed 87.25 per cent of the area. — Reuters

The pattern of rains over Brazil’s Soy Belt was expected to reverse the weekend of Feb. 2-4, clearing in the centre-west where showers had slowed down harvesting and returning to the dry south to make it easier for producers gathering up an expected record crop. Brazil is forecast to surpass the United States as the No. 1 exporter and producer of soybeans this season, with a record 85-million-tonne crop which has already begun to be harvested in the top soy-growing state Mato Grosso.

More on the world’s wild weather in 2012 Final quarter } October and December saw plenty of action to close out the year

by daniel bezte

I

n our last article I finished our global look back at 2012 weather worldwide by discussing the record-low Arctic sea ice extent last September. Moving on to October, far and away the biggest weather story of that month was Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy, which ended up causing billions of dollars’ worth of damage along the eastern seaboard of the United States.

Tropical depression 18 formed on Oct. 22 over the Caribbean Sea. Conditions were favourable for the development of this tropical depression and by Oct. 23 the storm was upgraded to Tropical Storm Sandy. By Oct. 24 the storm had intensified further and was now a hurricane.

As the hurricane moved northward over Jamaica, forecasters were already talking about the possible impacts it might have on the eastern seaboard in about a week’s time.

On Oct. 25 Sandy crossed over Cuba, losing some of her strength before intensifying back into a Category 2 hurricane. By Oct. 26 Sandy was feeling the effects of strong wind shear, which was trying to pull the storm apart. While the wind shear did weaken the storm it also helped to stretch out its wind field, resulting in a much larger storm. Forecasters were no longer wondering if the storm would hit the U.S. East Coast, but were now trying to figure out where it would hit.

By Oct. 28 Sandy had grown to record size, with 12-foot-high seas covering an area of over 1,600 kilometres in diameter. By the 29th that area had grown to over 2,500 km in diameter. High wind warnings directly tied to Sandy were issued as far north as northern Michigan and as far south as Lake Okeechobee in Florida. By late in the day, all-time record-low air pressure readings were recorded at seven different locations, with five more cities coming within a couple of millibars of their records. Overnight, from Oct. 29 to 30, Superstorm Sandy came ashore in New Jersey, bringing a devastating storm surge resulting in tens of billions of dollars’ worth of damage.

photo: ©thinkstock November break

It seems as though after all the weather that happened during October, the Earth’s atmosphere took a bit of a break during November. Looking through dozens of weather articles I was not able to find any significant weather events during that month.

December was a little more active, as Super Typhoon Bopha (equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane) hit the Philippine island of Mindanao on Dec. 4. This was the strongest typhoon to ever hit the island, as it rarely sees strong storms since it’s close to the equator. Official death tolls are still not in, but over 1,000 deaths are now being blamed on Bopha. This makes Typhoon Bopha the most deadly weather event of 2012.

Also in December, Tropical Cyclone Evan made landfall on the north shore of Samoa near the capital of Apia. On Dec. 13, Evan was classified as a Category 1 cyclone with 145km/h winds, and intensified into a Category 3 storm with 185-km/h winds after the eye wandered back offshore. The storm ended up killing four and left over 4,000 people homeless.

Evan then continued on to Fiji, making landfall on Dec. 16 as a Category 4 storm. Luckily there was no loss of life, but damage was heavy. Evan ended up being the strongest tropical storm to ever hit Fiji’s main island, with records going back to 1941.

the records will continue. The central and southwestern U.S. drought continues and as a result, record-setting low water levels are now or will soon be occurring on the Mississippi River, and on both Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Current forecasts show the drought continuing at least through to the end of April.

South Africa came close to setting an all-time temperature record for the Southern Hemi-

sphere part of Africa, when on Jan. 16, the temperature topped out at 48.4 C in Vioolsdrif, just inside the country’s northwestern border with Namibia.

This was the third-hottest temperature ever recorded for this region, just missing the record by 0.4 C. The heat has also been turned up in Australia this month.

Moomba airport in South Australia recorded a high temperature of 49.6 C on Jan. 12,

which was 1° shy of the all-time record high. Australia has also recorded seven days in a row in which the national average temperature was warmer than 39 C, which is the first time this has ever happened, according to records going back to 1910.

The previous longest streak was four days in a row back in 1973.

Next issue we’ll take a look at the top 2012 weather stories that occurred right here in Canada.

Outlook for 2013

So now the question is, will we continue to see record-setting weather events around the world in 2013, or was 2012 just one of those unusual years? If the first part of January is any indication, it looks as though

Not a lot has changed in regards to snow cover over the Prairies, so instead of looking at the snow cover map this week, here is a map showing the amount of precipitation that has fallen across the Prairies so far this winter compared to the long-term average. Most regions have seen near- to above-average amounts (green areas) with a large area of southern Saskatchewan seeing wellabove-average amounts.

55

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • FEBRUARY 4, 2013

Washington demands better food safety practices PROGRESS  New U.S. food safety rules aim for more accountability

BY CAREY GILLAM REUTERS

U

Bundled spinach sits in a cooler at a wholesale farmers’ market in Washington. New food safety rules aim to curb foodborne illness. PHOTO: REUTERS / JONATHAN ERNST

U.S. seen growing one of the smallest cotton crops in decades DISENCHANTED 

Volatile prices may have hurt farmers’ appetite for the fibre crop

BY JOSEPHINE MASON SAN ANTONIO / REUTERS

U

.S. farmers will plant one of the smallest cotton crops in two decades in 2013 as the fibre loses a battle for acreage to the more buoyant grains market, according to a Thomson Reuters poll.

Ahead of the Beltwide Cotton conference here this week, an informal survey of market participants showed that American farmers are expected to sow 10.36 million acres of cotton in the spring, down 16 per cent from 12.36 million in 2012.

Another double-digit percentage drop this year would take acreage to its third lowest since 1987, behind 2008 and 2009, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture archives. It would also be nine per cent below the five-year average and more than a fifth under the average of the past 10 years.

Fluctuations are not uncommon from one year to the next as farmers gravitate to the most profitable crops.

But the alarming speed and rate at which farmers may shift out of cotton are likely to underscore some concerns that the wild price swings of the past four years may have done long-term damage to growers’ appetite for fibres.

While prices have stabilized since 2011, farmers may still be “disenchanted” after struggling to sell their crops amid fluctuating prices and record volatility, said Sharon Johnson, cotton specialist at Knight Capital.

.S. regulators say proposed new food safety rules will make food processors and farms more accountable for reducing foodborne illnesses that kill or sicken thousands of Americans annually.

“These proposed regulations are a sign of progress,” said Caroline Smith DeWaal, food safety director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest and a critic of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“The new law should transform the FDA from an agency

that tracks down outbreaks after the fact to an agency focused on preventing food contamination in the first place.”

Roughly one in six Americans suffers from a foodborne illness each year, and about 3,000 die.

The usual culprits are salmonella, E. coli and listeria.

Food sickness has been linked to lettuce, cantaloupe, spinach, peppers and peanuts.

Under the new rules, makers of food to be sold in the U.S., whether produced at a foreignor domestic-based facility, would have to develop a formal plan for preventing their products from causing foodborne illness. They would also need

to have plans for correcting any problems that arise.

Companies will be required to document their plans and keep records to verify that they are preventing problems.

Inspectors will be able to audit the program to enforce safety standards, which should “dramatically” improve the effectiveness of inspections, the FDA said.

A second rule proposes safety standard requirements for farms that produce and harvest fruits and vegetables.

Farms would be required to meet national standards for the quality of water applied to their crops, as water is often a pathway for pathogens.

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FEBRUARY 4, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

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