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Agriculture escapes worst of flooding Urban centres hit worse by flooding but full impact on farmers and rural residents not yet known

By Victoria Paterson af staff / calgary

T

he impact of flooding on Alberta’s agriculture industry isn’t expected to be severe.

“It is early. I would say at this point we don’t have any reports of catastrophic damage to crops and livestock,” said Agriculture Minister Verlyn Olson.

“I’m sure there will be cases where there is some damage but for the most part, crops would, or could have been, covered by insurance.”

The province is assessing infrastructure damage suffered by irrigation districts and feedlots, and “is fully engaged in helping with rebuilding,” he added.

Farmers who have suffered damage should first check with their insurers, he said, adding it’s too early to know whether special provincial or federal programs may be available.

Livestock and crop producer groups said they haven’t received reports of widespread damage.

“There wasn’t a lot of general flooding,” said Kent Erickson, chair of the Alberta Wheat Commission. “I would say a very small percentage of grain land was lost.”

While many fields were negatively affected by downpours, others needed the rain, said Matt Sawyer, chair of the Alberta Barley Commission.

“It all balances out,” he said.

The situation is more uncertain on the livestock side as it will be a while before cattle can be counted, said Doug Sawyer, chair of Alberta Beef Producers.

“I’m very hopeful the cattle loss won’t be devastating as an industry,” he said.

“But for (affected) individual producers, it is devastating.”

Feedlot owners say all they need is some sunshine.

“We weren’t ravaged by any flooding but a lot of moisture makes the pens

see FLOOD } page 6

CHALLENGE:

A woman is airlifted by helicopter, equipped with a cable and harness, from her flooded farm in Millarville in southern Alberta.

She was stranded in the submerged tractor, as swollen waters from nearby Three Point Creek overtook the farm. Photo by Wendy Dudley

Calgary Co-op CEO talks meat and eggs } PAGE 3

Client: Salford Farm Machinery Alberta Famer Express/ Manitoba Cooperator Size: 10.25” x 3” Ad#: SFM06_12-10.25x3-W

news » inside this week

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inside » Climate change linked to floods Ganges, Nile and Amazon also at risk

JULY 8, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

livestock

crops

columNists

Silage can pay off

The clubroot challenge

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NEWS

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Bernie Peet More profitable if done by design

23

Is cleaning equipment worth the trouble?

11

Electronic sow feeding first choice for productivity

24

Bugs made a cheap and nutritious livestock feed and fertilizer too

By Axelle du Crest and Valerie Parent paris / reuters

F

Salford_SFM06_12-10.25x3-W_AFE.qxd

e Tillag y 0 r a 0 m i 1 I-5 Speed Pr h g i H

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Canola bulls disappointed by downturn

Beetles, housefly larvae open new frontier in animal feed sector

Prairie dog families know how to get along f the relatives have left, then it’s time for you to leave too — if you are a prairie dog, that is.

A study published in Science by behavioural ecologist John Hoogland of the University of Maryland says for most animals, individuals leave a territory to avoid competition with nearby relatives.

For three species of prairie dogs, however, individuals are more likely to disperse in the absence of nearby close kin.

Hoogland said prairie dogs resemble other animals in competing with nearby kin for resources such as burrows and mates. But they also cooperate with kin in the excavation of burrows that can be as deep as 15 feet, in defence of the home territory against prairie dogs from other territories and by giving alarm calls when a predator attacks.

Another important co-operative behaviour is communal nursing, which can be lifesaving for the unweaned offspring of close kin when the mother of those offspring dies for any reason.

Hoogland hypothesizes that the benefits of co-operation with close kin exceed the costs of competition with those same close kin.

When all close kin disappear, individuals disperse because they have nobody with whom to co-operate.

When the option is available, prairie dogs frequently disperse into a territory that contains close kin who dispersed there earlier so that benefits from co-operation are once again available.

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5

Empowering our youth and our future

David Drozd

Helping North Korea MCC project demonstrates soil conservation

brenda schoepp

rench start-up company Ynsect has identified a cheap, nourishing and locally sourced alternative to soybeans as a vital source of protein in animal feed. The clue is in its name.

Ynsect is not alone in looking to invertebrates to meet a jump in demand for meat and fish, and so for feed, in coming decades.

Black soldier flies, common housefly larvae, silkworms and yellow mealworms were named as among the most promising species for industrial feed output in a report last month by the FAO, the United Nations food agency.

“Given insects’ natural role as food for a number of farmed livestock species, it is worth reconsidering their role as feed for specific poultry and fish species,” the Food and Agriculture Organization’s report said.

Jean-Gabriel Levon, cofounder of Ynsect, said new protein sources were essential in a market where costs are set to climb.

“Insects are an interesting source which can be bred locally,” Levon said. “We are in the same situation as oil, with resources getting scarcer and more expensive.”

According to the FAO, protein such as meat meal, fishmeal and soymeal make up 60 to 70 per cent of the price of feed.

6/11/13

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Soybean prices have more than doubled over the past decade due to soaring demand and fishmeal prices have also jumped.

The two-year old company has been developing an insectbased meal that could make up five to 30 per cent of feed products, Levon said.

Ynsect, which has around 10 rivals globally, is now raising funds to build the first European insect meal production unit by 2014-2015. One well-heated part of the plant would breed insects and the other would crush them into powder.

It aims to focus on using flies and beetles and Levon says a great advantage is that they can eat just about anything — for example human food leftovers such as potato peelings.

Great fertilizer

What is more, insect droppings make great fertilizer.

“Insects drink very little water. Their droppings are very dry. They’re like sand and have all the qualities needed for a classic fertilizers,” Levon said.

Stephane Radet, who heads France’s animal feed industry lobby (SNIA) said he was cautious as the protein product would have to prove itself to feed makers and win public acceptance.

“For new material to enter the manufacturing chain, it has to meet four major criteria: safety, quality, competitiveness and acceptability in the

Insects such as silkworms could displace grains and oilseeds as animal protein PHOTo: REUTERS/Kham food sector, processors and at the bottom of the chain, the consumer,” Radet said.

While another pioneering company, South Africa’s AgriProtein Technologies, is rearing house flies and using insect flour for cattle feed, this is not allowed in the European Union where the “mad cow” disease crisis of the late 1990s has led to caution over the use of processed animal proteins (PAPs).

PAPs, particularly when cattle were given bovine protein, were blamed for the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) outbreak.

The European Commission has approved the use of PAPs to feed fish from June 1, which includes insect meal. It may allow their use in pig and poultry feed from 2014, lifting a ban on animal by-products imposed during the BSE outbreak.

The EU imports about 70 per cent of its protein-rich material for animal feed. According to European Feed Manufacturer’s Federation Fefac, Europe’s market for processed animal feed is worth around 45 billion euros ($60 billion) a year.

Ynsect aims to start with fish feed, where insect-based meal could replace increasingly scarce fishmeal and fishoil.

Trials on certain fish species showed that diets where up to 50 per cent of fishmeal was replaced with grass hopper meal produced equally good results as fishmeal only, the FAO added.

A further step one day might be to rear insects for direct human consumption.

The FAO said insects already feed more than two billion humans in Africa, Asia and South America.

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3

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • JULY 8, 2013

Calgary Co-op CEO challenges the meat and egg industries Trends such as hormone-free meat, no confined housing for livestock here to stay: Co-op CEO

By Victoria Paterson af staff /red deer

I

f the customer is always right, then Alberta’s meat and egg producers have some work to do, according to one of Calgary’s largest grocers.

In a keynote address to the recent Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency’s FutureFare conference, Calgary Co-op CEO Deane Collinson said his customers are not getting the type and quality they want.

Members recently passed a motion asking that Calgary Co-op stop sourcing eggs or pork from confined-housing facilities.

“Maybe this is a good thing… if this many people voted for this maybe there’s something here,” Collinson said.

The motion is non-binding on the Co-op’s board of directors, but Collinson said after the issue hit the news his organization started getting calls from patrons of other grocery stores saying they were planning on switching to the Co-op because of the motion. “There’s some demand for this,” he told attendees at the Red Deer event.

Collinson said he had a “challenge” for the meat business — Calgary Co-op wants to be able to say it sells Alberta beef.

“Another thing we really want to work on is antibiotic and hormone-free beef,” Collinson said. “I truly believe that this is a trend that’s going to come.

People are very concerned about their

“If this many people voted for this maybe there’s something here.”

Deane Collinson

Calgary Co-op CEO Deane Collinson says Japan is getting better Canadian pork than Canadians. health and I think as an industry we need to think if we’re going to continue with the growth hormones in our cattle.”

And while bigger animals might help the producers’ pockets, retailers are having problems coming up with ways to sell all of the different cuts, not to mention the extra costs of slicing up the extra meat, Collinson said.

Lower-quality pork

Next on his list was pork marketing and quality in Canada. Collinson acknowledged pork is often used as a loss leader for grocery chains, but said

consumers don’t know how to cook cuts like pork shoulders.

And the quality of pork sold in Canada isn’t as high as the pork shipped from Canada to Japan, Collinson said.

“World-standard pork, that’s what we’re looking for. If we had that, we could sell it.”

On the topic of eggs, Collinson praised the diversity of options now available in value-added products such as free-run eggs. “People are willing to pay more for these eggs of perceived value,” he said.

Since the anti-confined housing motion was passed by Calgary Co-op members, Collinson has been visiting

various livestock facilities and speaking to animal welfare experts. “We have a real perception/reality gap,” Collinson said he’s been told. The challenge is how to communicate the reality of farms to the public. “There’s so much misinformation out there,” he said.

While sympathetic with producers on how they are affected by misperceptions, Collinson noted European countries are moving strongly in the direction of banning sow gestation stall use and expects the trend will continue. “I don’t think this issue’s going away,” he said. victoria.paterson@fbcpublishing.com

EPIC plant has already started breaking eggs FutureFare conference goers get inside look at new breaking plant

By Victoria Paterson af staff /red deer

P

roduction is underway at a new egg-breaking plant in a former Alpha Milk plant in Lethbridge.

Bruce Forbes, CEO of Egg Processing Innovations Cooperative (EPIC), outlined operations at the refurbished plant for attendees at the recent Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency’s (ALMA) FutureFare conference in Red Deer.

Forbes was approached to take the helm of the United Egg Farmers of Alberta initiative, diverting to a specialized business plan from a more commodity-based approach.

Realizing a standard breaking plant in Alberta couldn’t compete with the size of larger U.S. plants.

Forbes encouraged using the smaller operation size as an advantage. “One of the things these small barns lend themselves to is the ability to isolate flocks and treat them in a specific way to produce a very particular product,” Forbes said. This means they can customize product for customers and accommodate requests like one they’re fielding for eggs to be inseminated, incubated for two days and then pulled out, broken, pasteurized and turned to powder.

They can also pasteurize eggs right in the shell, which is a product Forbes says has become popular with U.S. food-service customers buying from U.S. breaking plants.

Plant engineer Bruce Smith said EPIC is initially focusing on pasteurized liquid whole egg, pasteurized albumin, pasteurized yolk, blend-

ing for food-service companies and using the egg shell membrane and egg shell calcium. “We’re now trying to maximize the yield out of that egg,” he said.

Alberta-based Champion Petfoods is the outfit’s initial big customer.

Forbes said ALMA, the Egg Farmers of Alberta and AFSC have all been partners in getting the facility up and running. Initially there were some egg supply issues, but the situation is improving and should be completely resolved soon, Forbes said.

“We have made arrangements.

We are getting product.” He noted eggs are a supply-managed business and it’s a very secure supply system once completely in it. victoria.paterson@fbcpublishing.com

Bruce Forbes, CEO of the Egg Processing Innovations Cooperative, speaks about the operation as engineer Bruce Smith looks on. Photo: Victoria Paterson

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JULY 8, 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

Flood raises some questions about more mitigation projects

Victoria Paterson, Calgary (403) 806-0522 victoria.paterson@fbcpublishing.com

PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Shawna Gibson Email: shawna@fbcpublishing.com

DIRECTOR OF SALES & CIRCULATION

Flooding is a fact of life is much of southern Alberta and the practice of building residential subdivisions in flood plains needs to be questioned

Lynda Tityk Email: lynda.tityk@fbcpublishing.com

CIRCULATION MANAGER Heather Anderson Email: heather@fbcpublishing.com

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

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

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

PUBLISHER Lynda Tityk Email: lynda.tityk@fbcpublishing.com

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER/ EDITORIAL DIRECTOR John Morriss Email: john.morriss@fbcpublishing.com

PRESIDENT Bob Willcox Glacier Media Agricultural Information Group bwillcox@glaciermedia.ca 204-944-5751

Printed by Gazette Press, St. Albert, AB THE ALBERTA FARMER EXPRESS is published 26 times a year by Farm Business Communications.

We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage for our publishing activities.

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ISSN 1481-3157

BY WILL VERBOVEN

ALBERTA FARMER | EDITOR

I

n this edition, we feature some stories on the impact of the southern Alberta floods and rain deluge on the ag sector. Clearly the impact has been most severe in Calgary and a number of smaller centres. Individual farms and ranches were affected, but they are few compared to the widespread devastation in residential areas. Our hearts go out to those folks whose lives will be severely altered because of this disaster.

There are photos of thousands of flooded acres in the affected areas. The impact on crops and pastures depends on how much moisture lies in fields and how long it takes to drain away. Much of the south already had delayed spring seeding, which puts emerging crops in a perilous situation. Many may end up being drowned.

The next few weeks will tell as crop insurance adjusters begin to make their rounds.

A bright spot had been pasture and hay conditions, which for the most part were excellent. A couple of weeks of dry hot weather would do wonders to improve the overall situation for crops and pastures, but some will need a miracle.

However, no sooner did the flood situation begin to abate than questions, concerns and, yes, blame were arising from various players. In reality, this flood in the general area is nothing new; four similar and larger floods occurred during the early years of the 1900s along with numerous lesser floods since. Very significant flood-

ing occurred in 1995, 2005 and 2007. During that more than 100-year period, governments took various steps to mitigate future damage from floods — but it never seems to be enough. Suffice to say in many parts of Alberta, floods are part of the hazard of living in those areas.

The most puzzling situation is the High River area, which appears to be the most flood-prone area of Alberta. Yet government officials continue to blissfully approve the development of more residential subdivisions on obvious flood plains.

The only hope for the future of this town is to build a massive diversionary floodway around the townsite otherwise history will repeat itself and soon. Ironically a provincial government flood hazard mitigation report made in 2006 by former ag minister George Groeneveld, who happens to be from High River, contained a number of significant flood mitigation recommendations some of which were acted upon.

However the big one about not building homes on flood plains was ignored, that will come back to haunt the government.

A number of government critics, including opposition political parties, made some pointed references to that matter. Perhaps now, after this calamity, the report will be dusted off and put to some use.

The High River area is also of particular concern to the cattle business as it is home to the Cargill Foods beef processing plant.

The facility itself wasn’t damaged, but was temporarily closed mainly because so many of its local employees were made homeless by the flood. Flood damage to area roads and bridges also made trans-

portation logistics and cattle supply something of a nightmare for the plant.

Another consequence of the flooding was damage to the CPR mainline, that caused significant delays in the grain and oilseed flow to West Coast shipping points.

Not surprisingly, climate change activists claimed it was obvious what caused this disaster. Weather experts had a different view, noting the rain deluge and subsequent flooding had more to do with a unique confluence of stalled weather systems and a subsequent rapid snowmelt. Be that as it may, I suspect flooding in the area has been a problem for the past 10,000 years.

Interestingly, climate change, particularly global warming, has been viewed by many as being a positive change for crop production in Alberta. Warmer weather and a longer growing season would increase crop yields and expand the opportunity to grow lucrative corn and soybean crops in this province. Such a crop development prospect would also have a particularly positive impact on our livestock feeding industry. But I digress.

The Alberta government has so far pledged $1 billion to recovery and rebuilding. It’s bound to eventually cost a lot more. Most of that money will go to cities and towns, but some will be destined for rural areas, particularly for infrastructure.

One does wish that government will now think more seriously about spending even more money on flood mitigation projects in flood-prone areas. Floods will surely happen again.

Call

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Report spreads the blame A

select committee of experts has released a report on the E. coli outbreak at the former XL Foods beef plant in Brooks. The committee was created by the federal government to find a cause for the outbreak and to make some recommendations to avert such a fiasco in the future.

This investigation was demanded by most of the cattle organizations, but curiously was resisted by the Alberta government, which said there was no need for an investigation every time there was a food safety problem. There is some truth to that, but the threshold for such an investigation seemed to have been set very high by the provincial government if the XL outbreak was any example.

In effect the report blamed both sides for an atmosphere of complacency within the plant and a cosy relationship between management and CFIA staff. That’s a surefire recipe for laxity and all but guarantees that something will slip through the system. When that occurs the only hope to avoid a bigger problem is luck, and for the XL plant it seems its luck just ran out.

From what leaked out during the crisis, it was alleged that management was probably not as diligent as it should have been. It was also reported back then that many of the CFIA inspectors may not have been trained to the highest standards.

What is clear is that the CFIA response to the outbreak was over the top. The beef recall, destruction and waste of so much product seemed at many times to be done more on whim than any scientifically accepted protocol. There

needs to be a firm recall standard established and it needs to be applied to any outbreak of food pathogens. What we have at present is an obvious bias by food inspection authorities against beef.

At almost the same time of the XL outbreak, one person died and many others got sick from E.coli in packaged lettuce. Yet it would seem our inspection authorities almost covered up that outbreak, there was little recall of the product and no real consequences for the lettuce packager.

The expert report did bring to light a food safety matter that has been discussed by the industry for at least 30 years, and that’s the use of irradiation. The report suggested that this process be considered to add another layer of food safety in the beef processing system. You would be hard pressed to find anyone involved in the entire chain who would not agree that the use of irradiation on beef is long overdue. The big exception to that common sense is not surprisingly the federal government. The biggest culprit being Health Canada, who for over 10 years managed to block the approval of the process. It boggles the mind considering the sickness and death that could have been avoided had the process been promptly approved.

In the end the report was of value and highlighted procedural and administrative problems that are resolvable. Even better, the new owners of the plant, JBS Canada, intend to install their own food safety standards which are even higher than those of the CFIA. That would indeed be a very good outcome for what was a bad situation.

5

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • JULY 8, 2013

Empowering our youth — and our future From the hip } One of the greatest gifts to our youth

will be the skills to survive financially

By Brenda Schoepp

E

mpowering means to enable, liberate, engage, free and permit. It is the drawing out of the very best in a person without the constraints of expectation or entitlement. It is the inside growth of a human being that gives them the power and the drive to change their life, succeed in school and business, to lead and to love. Empowerment is unconditional support.

I was once asked to describe the antithesis of empowerment. If you Google this question you will find all kinds of references to limiting knowledge or processes. I believe it to be something very different. The antithesis of empowerment, or the creature that kills it, is conditional support. A “strings attached” support that has nothing to do with growth and may have everything to do with conformity.

A young girl wants to join the mechanics club and is without any previous background or required tools. The first response by a parent may be mumbling about heavy work and cost. Or, it may be conditional on other grades, no interference with required care of siblings or a “we’ll see” answer. This is a

slow start to empowerment and really just an expression of the parents fear. A more empowering response may be “Of course, that may lead you to discover a whole new set of skills and meet new friends. How interesting! I cannot wait to hear about your first meeting. Now how do you choose to meet your other obligations and what can we do together to ensure your current commitments are addressed. Is there anything that needs changing?”

Notice how the ownership of the choice stayed with the girl who wanted to join the mechanics club. She may love or leave mechanics, but it was her choice to join and her choice to find ways to make it work within the family.

Giving others guidance is important but real empowerment comes to them — and to you — when they are permitted to own their actions, words, mistakes, successes and commitments. I recall my son coming home and announcing that he was getting an earring. I responded with “That is an interesting choice and will look great on you.” Left with the choice and unconditional support he did not get an earring. And it would have mattered not if he did, because an earring does not define or limit the talent within a man.

Mentorship is the way to empower an individual. It is not teaching or regulating. It is the bringing forth or the bringing up all that is unique about an individual.

I started professional mentoring years ago and what always amazes me is how talented individuals are.

Remember that these are often men, women and children who are stuck, troubled, uncertain, fearful, out of touch with themselves or others and always doubtful of their abilities. We don’t have to talk long before they realize that how they see themselves and who they are differs. It is like watching a plant grow in the pasture years after it was seeded. Who knew it was there?

Recently, I was approached by an angry young man whom was under a lot of pressure with a new business. His parents, he said, simply did not understand. Listening for details it was clear this was no ordinary change. This was a new business in another country to which he was moving to in the next year, taking with him a favoured daughter-in-law and the grandchildren. He was the only child and a business partner with his parents. He had made a choice as an adult but was caught in the emotional details.

Change for parents can be chal-

WTO actions must be continued Re: The opinion piece entitled “Please, let’s not win any more trade battle” by John Morriss in the June 24 issue.

T

he viewpoints expressed demonstrate a clear misunderstanding of the nature of the dispute regarding U.S. mandatory Country of Origin Labelling (COOL). The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) supports the concept of voluntary country of origin labelling and for consumers to have the option of paying for information that they genuinely value. The dispute is over the way in which the U.S. implemented mandatory COOL as it creates discrimination against imported livestock in the U.S. marketplace, thus contravening the U.S.’s trade obligations as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

When the WTO ordered the U.S. to come into compliance, the U.S. responded by introducing an amendment that clearly does not eliminate the discrimination and therefore we believe will not be found to comply with the WTO. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s amendment increases the discriminatory impact on imported cattle, leaving the U.S. in a position of non-compliance with its WTO obligations and Canadian beef producers to shoulder the impact of increased costs.

This is a step in the process, which in our view does not amount to a “win” as the author suggests. We continue to press for the U.S. genuinely to eliminate the discrimination. To suggest as the opinion piece does that Canada

roll over and do nothing in response to the U.S.’s blatant disregard for the rules of fair trade that all WTO member countries must abide by is simply absurd and not an option that we could contemplate.

COOL discrimination has cost Canadian cattle producers around $640 million in losses per year since being implemented in late 2008. Those costs are set to rise under the new amendment to an estimated $90 to $100 per head compared with the current $25 to $40 per head cost. This cost is unacceptable to the producers that the CCA represents. At CCA’s urging and our full support, the Governments of Canada and Mexico have taken initial steps to respond to the U.S. non-compliance by threatening the imposition of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products.

Furthermore, the CCA is working closely with allies in the U.S. to achieve a resolution that genuinely eliminates the discrimination caused by COOL. The CCA’s position remains that the only outcome that would bring the U.S. into compliance with the WTO is to amend the COOL legislation to allow either a single mandatory label for all meat produced in the U.S. or to allow for voluntary labelling. The latter approach could be patterned on Canada’s voluntary Product of Canada labeling requirements to provide consumers with origin information without creating trade discrimination.

Martin Unrau President, Canadian Cattlemen’s Association

lenging — especially when real love is involved. I kindly reminded him that being a parent is not limited to age and to respect that the parental static he felt he was getting was simply an expression of their love and fear for him. He had made a choice, set a goal. There was no doubt in my mind that he would succeed and I told him so but his challenge for the day was to see things for what they were.

When we are in one spot and choose to be in another (literally or figuratively) then there is a distance between those two points that we term as the journey. It is like the market changes between the day we buy a contract and the day we deliver on the contract.

The volatility in between is called noise. We have a choice to be part of the noise or to mentor so the journey for the individual is less distractive — even when it hurts us to let go.

Likely one of the greatest gifts to our youth will be the skills to survive financially. I did not say to give them the money to survive, that would be cheating them of the dignity of making choices, but to encourage business smarts from the moment they enter our lives. I think of a young man who wrote me lately saying he is so proud of his partner who owns

land and a few businesses on her own while raising children and encouraging him to do his thing.

Sound idealistic? Not really — it is a story of a young woman mentored and encouraged who came to strongly believe in herself, can distance herself from the noise on the journey and who practices an extraordinary set of financial disciplines. My own mentor reminded me years ago that if I do one thing for myself as I face the future, it should be to read a balance sheet.

He was right. And I look back on my life; the earliest gift I could have given those around me was to believe in myself and to find a financial mentor!

Empowering the youth who are our future is to encourage creative thought and a set of disciplines. It is to stop being part of the noise and to respect individual choices.

We do this now in a mentorship role because given the chance — our youth will boldly surpass the confines’ of our expectations!

Brenda Schoepp is a Nuffield Scholar who travels extensively exploring agriculture and meeting the people who feed, clothe and educate our world. A motivating speaker and mentor she works with young entrepreneurs across Canada and is the founder of Women in Search of Excellence. www.brendaschoepp.com

Supply management message misinterpreted RE: “Dairy Farmers show some bend in supply management” (AF May 27, 2013, Sylvain Charlebois)

C

harlebois states that the Canadian Dairy Commission’s introduction of Class 3(d) is a sign that supply management is on the way out, however, he misinterpreted this change.

We wouldn’t endorse a change that would foster the movement for the demise of supply management. We would, however, ensure that our system evolves and we are continuing to meet the needs of those at the table.

We want to keep the milk made in Canada, consumed in Canada. This helps our local economies, keeps our family owned farms in business — all at a fair price to consumers. Class 3(d) was created to reduce the price of mozzarella for restaurants to promote domestic products being used, rather than lose support to non-standardized cheese products. Dairy farmers don’t set the price of your pizza, the retailers do. We are making a step to promote Canadian dairy products even more, but if those retailers chose to lower their prices is not ours to determine. (Did you see a drop in beef prices when BSE hit? I didn’t either.) This is a clear example of the dairy industry working with organizations like the Canadian Food and Restaurant Association for Canadians.

We don’t claim that our system is perfect. I don’t think any marketing system can state that. However, supply management works for Canada. The cost of milk is comparable to many other countries, including the U.S. and Europe, and doesn’t use taxpayer dollars to bail out our farmers when prices dip. The predictability of the system allows our producers to continuously invest in technology on their farms and produce some of the best quality milk in the world by following some of the strictest regulations.

Mike Southwood General manager Alberta Milk

6

Off the front

july 8, 2013 • Albertafarmexpress.ca

flood } from page 1 pretty mucky,” said Bryan Walton, CEO of the Alberta Cattle Feeders’ Association.

It’s a far different story when it comes to rural roads, bridges and other infrastructure. “’Extensive’ is the word I’ve been hearing from almost everybody,” said Bob Barss, president of the Alberta Association of District Municipalities and Counties.

“I would say at this point we don’t have any reports of catastrophic damage to crops and livestock.”

Emergency trucks and a helicopter arrive at a flooded farm at Millarville, in southern Alberta, to airlift a couple stranded in their tractor by the rising waters. Photos: Wendy Dudley

Verlyn Olson

“Nobody was ever expecting anything like this. I think probably the majority of people were overwhelmed.”

More than 300 bridges need to be inspected and a host of roads need repairing, said Alberta Transportation spokesperson Nancy Beasley Hosker.

“We are working as fast as we can and as safely as we can to get the roads open as quickly as possible.

But safety is key,” she said.

Motorists should watch for lane closures and reduced speed limits, she said. victoria.paterson@fbcpublishing.com

The chopper landed on the highway, adjacent to the flooded farm, on Highway 549, at Millarville in southern Alberta.

PART OF YOUR FARM’S FINANCIAL PLAN

A woman and a rescuer dangle from a helicopter as they are airlifted above flooded farm fields near Millarville, in southern Alberta. The woman was stranded on a tractor when it submerged in the flooded waters streaming across her laneway.

Insured farmers with flood losses have options Agriculture Financial Services Corporation says insurance coverage for crop losses won’t kick in till harvest

By Victoria Paterson af staff / calgary

T

he impact of the flooding in southern Alberta won’t likely be known until harvest time.

There are insurance programs affected producers can access if their post-harvest yields aren’t up to snuff, said Doug Dueck, Agriculture Financial Services Corporation’s (AFSC) area manager for the south region of the province.

“Flooding is not spot loss, but flooding is a designated peril,” Dueck said.

Crop production insurance like AgriInsurance, or a whole farm program like AgriStability, could help farmers, though the deadline to get coverage was April 30. Insurance wouldn’t specifically cover losses due to flooding but would help make up total losses.

“The flooding is not as bad as we thought it would be (although) there is some localized flooding here and there,” he said. There has also been “a sprinkling of hail throughout the south region,” said Dueck, adding straight hail insurance can still be purchased as long as the producer hasn’t suffered more than 25 per cent hail damage already.

“The flooding is not as bad as we thought it would be.”

Doug Dueck

Producers served by AFSC’s High River branch, which is closed indefinitely, can go to Vulcan or Claresholm offices or phone the call centre.

AFSC’s lending programs are also available to eligible applicants who might be looking to access funds to repair and rebuild, Dueck said.

“They’re not specifically designed for this event but you know if that results in something folks need, they certainly can talk to us about any of their lending requirements,” Dueck said.

AFSC’s website notes producers with irrigation insurance won’t see their coverage reduced because this is a disaster and out of control of individual producers. victoria.paterson@fbcpublishing.com

7

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • JULY 8, 2013

Irrigation districts survive flood with a few minor worries Eastern Irrigation District, Bow River district experience problems

BY ALEXIS KIENLEN AF STAFF /EDMONTON

D

uring the flooding crisis, Earl Wilson, general manager of the Eastern Irrigation District watched water levels rise higher than he’d ever seen as two of the province’s 13 irrigation districts experienced problems during the floods.

“The amount of water we had at Bassano was 35 per cent more than what they had in Calgary, because we also get the Highwood River in coming downstream of Calgary, which set an all-time record high flow as well, the one that wiped out High River,” said Wilson.

The flow at the Bow River peaked at the Bassano diversion dam at a little more than 4,000 cubic metres per second on June 22 and remained at the peak for more than 20 hours. The previous peak in 2005 was only half that level. Gates were

wide open and the water climbed to 1.3 metres above the normal operating level of the dam.

The Bassano dam has a “fuse plug” in the clay portion of the dam, allowing clay to be removed so the plug can be washed out and create another channel. “We did remove that clay and we were within half a metre of going into that at the peak flow,” said Wilson.

Debris was also a concern. “We were getting more and more blockage of gates as 60-foot long logs were going across two and three gates at a time. But the dam operated exactly as it was designed 100 years ago and it carried the flow as it should,” Wilson said.

He described the experience of watching the water rise as “nervewracking.” He didn’t leave the dam, and knew that if things got worse, he’d need to cut the fuse plug lower, increasing the capacity of the dam by another 25 per cent.

Government gauges upstream

were all washed out, so those at the Eastern Irrigation District had to rely on their instincts.

“There was an 18-hour day with four hours of sleep and then a 42 -hour day the second one,” said Wilson.

Richard Phillips, general manager of the Bow River Irrigation District, said and earth dike near Carseland washed out during the flood.

“As the water levels recede to a more normal level, it’s probable that we won’t have near the depth that we normally have to our diversion structure for our district. We may see a greatly reduced ability to take water from the river once the levels get down to normal levels,” he said. “It’s a little soon to say, but that is a likely outcome.”

Phillips said less than 20,000 acres of irrigation would be affected by this water shortage as there are two large reservoirs downstream that are very close to

Fate unclear of Monsanto GM wheat stored in Colorado Question remains over whether wheat seed was incinerated

BY CAREY GILLAM REUTERS

M

onsanto Co’s unapproved, experimental genetically engineered wheat, which is feared to have potentially contaminated U.S. wheat supplies after it was found growing in an Oregon field this spring, was kept in a U.S. government storage facility until at least late 2011, according to documents obtained by Reuters.

The revelation that the seed for the controversial genetically engineered wheat was kept viable in a Colorado storage facility as recently as a year and a half ago comes as the U.S. government is investigating how the strain of experimental wheat wound up growing in an Oregon field this spring.

The probe by the U.S. Department of Agriculture includes an examination of the handling of the GMO wheat seed that Monsanto directed be sent to the

government-controlled National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation in Fort Collins, Colorado, beginning in late 2004, according to Peter Bretting, who oversees the center for the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service.

David Dierig, research leader at the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation, also said the matter was “under active investigation.”

The National Center uses hightech methods to extend the viability of seeds for decades, much longer than their viability in conventional storage. The facility took in at least 43 physical containers of Monsanto’s so-called “Roundup Ready” wheat in late 2004 and early 2005, the documents show.

The material represented more than 1,000 different unique varieties or lines, according to the documents that Monsanto provided in a heavily redacted format.

The documents were made up of correspondence between Monsanto and the Colorado facility.

Monsanto was shutting down

its work with Roundup Ready wheat, altered to tolerate treatments of Roundup herbicide, when it set up a contract dated Nov. 2, 2004, for the resources preservation center to store its wheat seed. Monsanto said the seed was confirmed incinerated on Jan. 5, 2012.

“At our direction, the seed was destroyed... as it was old material and we had no plans for its future use,” said Monsanto spokesman Thomas Helscher, who provided Reuters with the supporting documents. Monsanto also archived some of the wheat at its facilities in St. Louis, Missouri.

When asked if USDA had accounted for all the supplies sent to the Colorado facility, USDA spokesman Ed Curlett said the government probe is seeking an answer to that question.

A USDA spokesman said the government does believe that all the seed it received was incinerated, and that it cannot account for seed that might have been sent elsewhere.

“In general, we’ve dodged some very large bullets,” ROGER HOHM HEAD OF THE IRRIGATION DISTRICT SECRETARIAT WITH ALBERTA AGRICULTURE

full. However, “This has the potential to be a significant issue and it will need to be speedily corrected for business to go on next year.”

Roger Hohm, head of the irrigation secretariat with Alberta Agriculture, said there would be problems if the earth dike isn’t repaired and there is a lack of precipitation this July and August combined with hot, dry weather. “In general, we’ve dodged some very large bullets”, said Hohm. The farming

portion of the irrigation districts was not greatly impacted from flooding. In fact, many irrigation districts were still experiencing demand from downstream during flooding. Growers were still irrigating, even though their headworks were in flood conditions. There are isolated water ponding problems reported, especially around Coaldale and Taber. akienlen@fbcpublishing.com

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Call: Chantelle 403-686-8407 July 11: CTF Field Day, Steve Larocque Farm 1:00 pm, Morrin.

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NEWS » Markets

8

JULY 8, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

More futures contracts considered

Corn plantings surprise trade

The London Stock Exchange may look to develop more commodity futures contracts after launching a durum wheat contract earlier this year, an exchange spokesman said.

The exchange launched a contract for durum wheat in January and volumes so far have been light. Rival exchange NYSE Euronext has a Paris-based wheat contract which provides the benchmark for European prices. InterContinentalExchange Inc. (ICE) is in the process of acquiring NYSE Euronext.

U.S. farmers planted more corn than expected and a record amount of soybeans despite a wet, cold spring that slowed field work, the government said June 28. The large plantings put corn and soybean crops near records than would end three years of tight supplies and high prices.

Corn plantings were the largest since 1936. Corn and wheat futures prices tumbled after the report was released. In a companion report, the USDA said soybean and wheat stockpiles were smaller than trade expectations as of June 1.

StatsCan’s acreage estimates meet trade expectations A low loonie may boost exports, but financial jitters won’t

Photo: thinkstock

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

I

CE Futures Canada canola contracts saw some mixed activity ahead of the Canada Day long weekend, as a number of outside market factors spilled over to provide conflicting direction.

Overall, new-crop canola contracts were all lower during the week ended June 27, while old-crop July climbed higher. The activity in the front month was tied to participants holding short positions exiting the contract before being forced to make deliveries of canola they don’t have.

Aside from the last hurrahs of the oldcrop canola, attention in the market is now firmly on new-crop production prospects. Statistics Canada released its updated acreage estimates during the week, pegging canola area at 19.7 million acres. That was up from early intentions, but still behind the 21.5 million seeded the previous year.

Industry participants found little to question in the StatsCan numbers, as the official number actually fell in line with trade guesses for once. With the

acreage base down on the year, and with old-crop supplies looking very tight, yield prospects will be a hot topic heading through the growing season. Excessive moisture and other weather issues have already caused problems in some areas, but most anecdotal reports point to large crops at this early stage. Good conditions may keep the path of least resistance to the downside, although the tight supplies will heighten any weather related scares that materialize.

Movements in the U.S. soybean market also have the potential to pull canola one way or the other. Early crop prospects are also looking good in the U.S. but, just as in Canada, there are also areas of concern to watch. While soybeans were a little firmer over the past week, soyoil was down sharply. Canola has a higher oil content compared to beans, and softer vegetable oil markets weighed on Canadian prices.

Activity in outside financial markets, including the continued weakness in the Canadian dollar, can also be expected to remain a factor in canola. Continued weakness in the currency does make exports more attractive for inter-

national customers. However, those international customers are also dealing with the general sense of financial uncertainty that caused the sell-off in the currency and economic concerns abroad may also cause some demand to back away.

In the U.S., wheat was down, corn was mixed and soybeans were mostly higher during the week. Positioning ahead of updated acreage and stocks reports released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on June 28 was a feature in the U.S. markets. Old-crop soybeans found themselves in a similar situation as the canola market, with tight supplies and short-covering ahead of deliveries pulling the front month higher. The gains were much more subdued in new-crop months as relatively favourable U.S. crop prospects tempered the upside potential.

Corn also managed to see some modest strength in the front month, but was down in the new-crop contracts as improving production prospects were thought to be more than making up for the fact that some intended corn acres likely didn’t get in the ground this year.

For wheat, prices were down in all three U.S. futures markets, with the largest declines in Kansas City and Chicago as farmers in the southern U.S. Plains move forward with the winter wheat harvest. While there have been some reports of disappointing yields, the advancing harvest pressure was enough to keep the bias to the downside.

However, losses in Minneapolis spring wheat futures were a little more subdued as continued wetness in some wheat-growing areas of North Dakota likely limited the acreage base.

Canadian wheat area was pegged at 26.2 million acres by StatsCan on June 25.

That was down from an earlier guess, but still well above the 23.8 million seeded in 2012. Of that total, durum area came in 4.9 million acres, from 4.7 million the previous year. All other spring wheat was up by over two million acres on the year, with acreage estimated at 19.1 million acres, from 16.9 million in 2012.

Phil Franz-Warkentin writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting

9

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • JULY 8, 2013

Recent downturn in the price of canola disappoints market bulls The news is always bullish at the top, just as it is bearish at the bottom

BY DAVID DROZD

S

ome market bulls were caught off guard when the July 2013 canola futures contract peaked at $650 in the last week of May 2013 and lost $57 per tonne over the following three-week period.

Human nature makes it is very easy for market participants to get caught up in the bullish news and the news is always bullish at the top, just as it is always bearish at the bottom.

A recent example of this was in December 2012, when the nearby futures were around $575 per tonne and some farmers sold a portion of their canola on the fear of prices going lower.

My February 2013 column was about canola, in which I explained, “The charts portrayed a different picture. Based on the monthly chart, the major uptrend in the canola market was firmly intact with the harvest low of $570 proving to be a strong area of support.”

To the delight of canola producers who waited, the market did indeed turn up from $570 in December 2012 and rallied $80 per tonne by the first week of February 2013 providing an opportunity to sell canola.

Just as charting and technical analysis succeeded in cutting through the bearish news at the bottom of the canola market in December, these same tools also alerted knowledgeable traders and canola producers of the impending downturn in late May of this year in the face of all the bullish news.

Identifying areas of support and resistance are basic components to determining future price direction. This combined with being attentive to the development of reversal signals at key points of support and resistance invariably provides invaluable buy and sell signals.

The $650 price level was proving to be a tough area of resistance for canola futures prices to overcome not only on the daily charts, but also on the weekly and monthly charts.

Combine this important piece of information with a sell signal on May 29, 2013 referred to as a two day reversal and it became ever more evident July futures prices were about to turn down from the contract high of $650.80.

mance provides encouragement and reinforces the expectation of additional gains.

The second day’s activity is psychologically damaging, as it is a complete turnaround from the preceding day and serves to shake the confidence of many who are still long the market. The immediate outlook for prices is abruptly put in question. The longs respond to weakening prices by exiting the market. Some at first sell to take a profit, while others sell to cut losses. This action is referred to as long liquidation.

As illustrated in the accompanying chart, prices held up near the contract high for a few days after the two-day reversal developed providing ample opportunity to take advantage of the sell signal.

Once prices settled below the

rising line of support “A”, sell stops were quickly triggered driving prices down under the low “B” in between the two highs and sparked additional long liquidation, which is often responsible for a market selling off in light of bullish news.

Send your questions or comments about this article and chart to info@ag-chieve.ca.

CANOLA

JULY 2013

Chart as of June 26, 2013

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

with

Two-day reversal

On the first day, at a top, the market advances to new highs and closes very strong at or near the high of the day.

The following session, prices open unchanged to slightly higher, but cannot make additional upside progress. Quantity selling appears early in the day to halt the advance and prices begin to erode.

By day’s end, the market drops to around the preceding day’s lows and closes at or near that level. For a two-day reversal to be valid, the second day’s settlement must be below the mid-point of the previous day’s opening and closing price.

Market psychology

The two-day reversal is a snapshot of a turn in sentiment. On the first day the longs are comfortable and confident as the market closes higher. The market’s perfor-

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10

JULY 8, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Researchers seeking producers for pea root rot survey Pea acreage in Alberta has shifted south in recent years and researchers want to zero in on factors that can increase the incidence of fusarium root rot

BY ALEXIS KIENLEN AF STAFF / EDMONTON

Y

ou can help researchers learn more about fusarium root rot in peas by offering up your field for research.

Traditionally, Red Deer and Lacombe have been the primary area for peas, but things have changed in recent years and about half of the pea acreage is now in southern Alberta.

“When I started at this research station and started talking to growers and other researchers, it seemed pretty clear that fusarium root rot of peas was a growing issue,” said Syama Chatterton, a plant pathologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Leth-

bridge who is heading the new study.

The survey will compare the incidence and severity of root rot in different growing environments, soil types, and weather conditions. Once producers who are interested in participating contact her, Chatterton will send a researcher out to their fields to dig up pea roots from 10 random locations for lab analysis.

“It’s hard to assign the roots a rating because they are full of soil and you can’t see how much rot is present so we take them back to the lab, wash them, clean them and give them a root rot rating,” she said.

Producers of any colour or variety of peas can participate. They’ll need to provide land location and GPS co-ordinates of their pea

The survey will compare the incidence and severity of root rot in different growing environments, soil types, and weather conditions.

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fields, the history of the fields, as well as information on growing practices and cultivar selection.

“A lot of growers have more than one field and we don’t want to do all the fields for one grower,” said Chatterton.

“So after we’ve chosen the field that we’ll do, we will follow up with the grower by asking them to answer a few questions on crop history, tillage type and that sort of thing to see if there’s anything that really stands out as a key factor in predicting the risk of root rot.”

Pea root rot has several identifying symptoms including poor emergence and patchy distribution. Late season root rot is indicated by patches of stunted peas, yellow patches in the field, and stand collapse after flowering.

Growers who pull up the plant and open up the root to look at the vascular system will see a red streak inside the plant. Root rot lowers yield and interferes with nodulation and nitrogen fixation, so producers lose some of the nitrogen benefits. Root rot also reduces plant biomass, and makes plants more difficult to harvest.

“A lot of growers have more than one field and we don’t want to do all the fields for one grower. So after we’ve chosen the field that we’ll do, we will follow up with the grower by asking them to answer a few questions on crop history, tillage type and that sort of thing to see if there’s anything that really stands out as a key factor in predicting the risk of root rot.”

SYAMA CHATTERTON PLANT PATHOLOGIST

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To prevent root rot, produce can use good management practices, rotate their crops, make good field selections, and use seed treatments.

“These root rot pathogens are opportunistic pathogens, so they need a plant that is a little bit stressed in order to infect it,” said Chatterton.Other researchers involved with the study include Robyn Bowness from the Alberta Agriculture, Lacombe, and Mike Harding from the Crop Diversification Centre in Brooks. The three researchers have split up the province and will be surveying fields in their area. The survey will run for the next two years and is part of a four-year project.

Pea producer wanting to participate in this survey can contact Syama Chatterton at syama. chatterton@agr.gc.ca or at 403317-2226. akienlen@fbcpublishing.com

11

LITTLE EARLY SIGN OF ASTER YELLOWS Prairie pest specialists said that as of late June, there had been little sign of the insect which spreads aster yellows, the disease which did widespread damage to canola last year. “South winds that carry aster leafhoppers from the southern U.S. arrived more than a month later in 2013 than in 2012. This is a factor in lower numbers this year,” said the June 21 Canola Watch report from the Canola Council of Canada.”Late infestations are still possible, but the indication so far is that aster yellows will not be a major issue in 2013,” the report said.

Farmers betting on resistant varieties as clubroot spreads Experts tell farmers with infected fields to thoroughly clean equipment before moving to a new field, but many question whether the time-consuming chore is worth it STAFF

F

armers in the epicentre of Western Canada’s clubroot infestation are easing back on containment efforts and betting resistant varieties will save the day — even as leading researchers are warning it could be a losing wager.

Since first being discovered in an Alberta field in 2003, the soilborne disease has spread to more than 1,000 fields (covering 69,000 hectares) in 24 counties, as well as in Edmonton’s city boundaries. It has also spread to Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

The rapid spread caught researchers by surprise and comes despite calls for farmers to rigorously clean their equipment so soil contaminated with clubroot inoculum is kept out of clean fields.

That’s what farm consultant Paul Muyres used to do whenever he entered a new field, even when both belonged to the same farmer.

He developed a 16-item protocol for cleaning his truck, quad, and any other equipment he took from field to field.

“In an eight-hour day of scouting fields, I had four more hours (of cleaning,)” said Muyres, who is based in Beaumont, just south of Edmonton.

His clients used to insist on it, but no more, he said.

They are taking the approach that “if I have it in one field, it will be everywhere,” said Muyres, who

now cleans his equipment only when moving to another farm.

The cleaning process recommended by experts was not only very time-consuming, but farmers question its effectiveness when infected dirt could be left on roads by other farmers or inoculum spread by blowing dirt and dust, he said.

“Farmers just assume they have the disease in the world that I live in,” said Muyers. “They grow clubroot-resistant varieties. End of story.”

Perhaps not, said scientists who gathered at the recent International Clubroot Workshop in Edmonton.

While resistant seed varieties, available since 2009, have proven to be very effective, “resistance is not immunity” and may also be short-lived, said plant pathologist Gary Peng.

The clubroot pathogen can adapt and change, and if spores are repeatedly exposed to the same resistant variety, a new strain may emerge that can overcome the resistance, said Peng, who works out of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Saskatoon research station.

Moreover, resistant varieties still lose yield — although not as much as non-resistant ones. As a rule of thumb, the Canola Council of Canada says clubroot cuts yields by about half of the percentage of infected stems. (If 100 per cent of the stems are infected, yield loss would be about 50 per cent. A 40-per-cent infection rate

would cut yields by about 20 per cent.)

Since the number of spores (which can lay dormant for 20 years) increases with each canola crop, it’s recommended farmers take at least a two-year break between canola crops in the same field, and also rotate seed — alternating between the two sources of resistance currently available.

In Alberta, extensive measures have been put in place to prevent the spread of clubroot. In Leduc County, fieldmen inspect every canola field every year. Once clubroot is found, the farmer receives a notice which only allows canola to be grown one year in the four in that field, with only clubroot-resistant varieties allowed.

In Manitoba, officials are pondering how to deal with widespread infestation, which looks increasingly likely.

“Manitoba is no longer clubroot free,” Holly Derksen, field crop pathologist with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives reminded delegates at the Edmonton workshop.

Spores were first found in 2005 through the Manitoba Canola Disease Survey. Last year, the disease was found in six fields and “there’s definitely more than that out there,” she said.

For now, provincial staff are dealing with farmers with infected land on “an individual basis,” she said.

However, if clubroot was included in the provincial Plant Pests and Diseases Act, municipalities could publicize the location of infected fields.

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ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • JULY 8, 2013

But officials are holding off on that step because the canola disease survey is voluntary and the farmers whose fields have tested positive tend to be “prepared and willing to work with MAFRI,” she said.

How clubroot infects Tiny and hardy, clubroot spores become active when there are secretions from the roots of desirable brassica crops or weeds (including mustard, wild mustard, shepherd’s purse, broccoli and cabbage).

Germinated spores, or zoospores, attach themselves to plant root hairs and then produce more zoospores as well as ‘clubs’ or ‘galls,’ which restrict the flow of nutrients and water to aboveground plant tissues.

When the galls decay, resting clubroot spores are released into the soil. One infected plant root can generate billions of resting spores.

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12

JULY 8, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Canadian miller receives international award A familiar face at Cigi, Ashok Sarkar is also well known internationally and was recognized this spring for outstanding contributions to the industry

BY LORRAINE STEVENSON STAFF

M

any work quietly behind the scenes on farmers’ behalf, ensuring the work they start in the field produces optimum results for the dinner table.

None more so than Ashok Sarkar, head of milling technology at Canadian International Grains Institute (Cigi), who helps make sure Canadian wheat customers get the optimum results from the flour they produce.

Sarkar is credited with developing Cigi’s pilot mill into a global centre of excellence but it is his international work that has resulted in his peers referring to him as “the milling equivalent of a rock star.”

When Sarkar isn’t operating Cigi’s pilot mill, he could be virtually anywhere in the world where industrial flour millers seek his technical expertise.

His 40-year career began in the flour mills of India and Switzerland before he joined Cigi in 1979.

A key member of the Cigi team, Sarkar’s job is staying in touch with customers of Canadian wheat, providing onsite technical support, and ensuring they’re getting the best results from their wheat purchases. His overseas visits have taken him to flour mills in over 50 countries.

“We’re always trying to see what they think of the quality of the Canadian crop and to see if they have any questions or concerns,” he said in a recent interview.

What he finds so engaging and interesting about the work is that those questions are always changing, says Sarkar.

“We’re able to help people who sometimes don’t know how to find answers... and it’s never just one set of answers,” he said.

“The questions always change because the quality always changes. That is very intriguing and also very satisfying when the customers are satisfied.”

The soft-spoken milling expert is widely published and often asked to speak to flour milling conferences and trade shows about milling software he developed to help millers keep their cost down.

As an active member of the International Association of Operative Millers (IAOM) for over 25 years, Sarkar has served as chair of its global strategies committee and recently helped organize a new IAOM South East Asia to help flour millers in that part of the world expand their knowledge about new technologies. The district now includes countries such as Singapore and Indonesia.

One of his particular passions has been the IAOM’s Flour Fortification Initiative, Sarkar says.

It’s an organizational network of members including the World Health Organization whose goal is to get more of the world’s flour millers fortifying their flour.

Serving on the FFI’s education committee, he’s helped raise awareness internationally about the benefits of flour fortification while helping millers overcome hurdles to do it. Costs and the technical expertise can be par-

Head of Milling Technology at Canadian International Grains Institute, Ashok Sarkar is the recipient of the 2013 J.George Kehr Award for outstanding contributions to the worldwide milling industry. ticularly prohibitive especially in developing countries.

Thanks to FFI, nearly a third of all wheat flour produced in the world’s largest mills now fortified, putting healthier grainbased foods within reach for 2.26 billion people.

Sarkar’s contributions to the global milling industry, in particular his efforts to recruit n e w members and develop the new district for the IAOM, were recognized this past spring when he was presented with the prestigious J. George

Kehr Award. The award was presented before about 600 of his colleages attending the May 2 IAOM’s conference and Expo, this year held in Niagara Falls. lorraine@fbcpublishing.com

protect your yield potential A proactive fungicide program could be key to your success in 2013 While US cornfields dried and died last year, much of Alberta’s cropland enjoyed above average moisture for the third year in a row. But, that moisture comes with a hefty potential cost: a high pathogen load in the soil and stubble going into the 2013 season. This, combined with today’s increasingly tight rotations, means this year could prove a troublesome season for disease.

“Especially over the last five years, we’ve seen a dramatic shift to a canola, cereal, canola rotation. While it is probably pretty profitable in the short term, what it brings with it is a much greater risk of disease. Add wet years like we’ve had and the risk just goes up even more,” says, an Agriculture and Agri-food Canada research scientist in Lacombe. “If we have another wet year this year, producers will need to be extremely careful about disease management.”

Pathogens that cause the majority of diseases can easily survive two or more years in soil or stubble. As such, if you plant according to a two year rotation, look to the disease pressures you had in 2011 to give a good indication of some

All other products are registered trademarks of their respective companies. © 2013 UFA Co-operative Ltd. All rights reserved.

130067 130067_Fungicide Network-sizes.indd 5 Alberta Farmer 8.125 ‘’x 10.00 ‘’ Left

of the biggest challenges you may face this coming crop year.

Leaf diseases continue to cost growers the most in lost yield. Given that the best way to stay ahead of scald and blotch is rotation, practice a three to four year crop and / or variety rotation. Consult

“If we have another wet year this year, producers will need to be extremely careful about disease management.”

Dr. Kelly Turkington the Alberta Seed Guide (at seed.ab.ca) to identify crop varieties that offer resistance to the respective diseases that are issues for you.

Be extra vigilant in scouting for key diseases that are on the move. Stripe rust was newly found in multiple areas around Edmonton and as far north as Barrhead, which is not surprising given

that its spores can travel long distances by wind. Trace levels of fusarium head blight in cereals have now been reported across central Alberta, and damaging levels are occurring in irrigated parts of southern Alberta.

Finally, blackleg, which is all over the province, appears to be breaking through the resistance of some canola varieties.

To give yourself a fighting chance against disease, prepare your fungicide plans early.

A dense crop canopy, while excellent for yield, will hold in moisture and foster disease development. Therefore, if you have a strong, vigorously growing young crop, protect your yield potential by applying fungicide at the earliest stage recommended on the product label.

“A wait and see approach doesn’t work for some diseases. If you’ve got a disease like sclerotinia, once you see the symptoms of the disease in the crop, it’s already too late to spray,” says Turkington.

UFA.com 13-06-19 2:25 PM

13

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • JULY 8, 2013

Deregulation sparks rise in grain container trade Canadian wheat container trade is set to increase

BY NIGEL HUNT AND SARAH MCFARLANE LONDON / REUTERS

D

eregulation of grain trading in Australia has led to an explosion in shipments in containers rather than bulk, a trend that may be repeated in Canada although on a less spectacular scale, industry sources said June 11.

Australia, where grain markets were deregulated in 2008, now ships around two million to 2.5 million tonnes of wheat a year in containers, up from about 200,000 to 300,000 tonnes when the market was controlled by the Australian Wheat Board.

“A lot of it is done by smaller, regionally based, container packers who hopped on a plane and ferreted out new markets,” Geoff Honey, chief executive officer of Grain Trade Australia told Reuters.

“For instance there are Vietnamese flour millers who can’t handle bulk (shipments) but they

can handle a few containers,” he said on the sidelines of conference organized by the International Grains Council.

Containers may individually contain about 20 tonnes of wheat compared with about 40,000 to 50,000 tonnes which may be shipped in a bulk cargo.

Honey said most of the container shipments were going to southeast Asian customers including Malaysia and Indonesia while trade to China had also been significant.

“About 400,000 tonnes of sorghum has gone to China in the last six months from southern Queensland and New South Wales for liquor production,” Honey said.

The rising popularity of a liquor in China known as Baijiu, which is made from sorghum, has led to increased shipments of the grain from Australia to China.

Canada has recently followed in Australia’s footsteps and deregulated grain exports and a

rise in container traffic is anticipated, albeit less dramatic.

“We probably will see some level of increase in container traffic... That is the beauty of having many players looking at how they can take a product and market it,” Ian White, president and chief executive officer with the Canadian Wheat Board said.

White said, however, the key market for containers in southeast Asia was harder to reach for North American suppliers.

Financing has also played a role in the growth of the trade.

“Customers in Asia are using containers because of the financing scenario,” one industry source said, explaining that buyers preferred to minimise the stocks they carried due to the difficult credit environment.

“Sending in bits and pieces allows them to manage inventory via a steady flow,” the source said. “The downside is administration as it multiplies the paperwork which is a pain for traders.”

A truck is loaded with a shipping container amid rainfall at a port in Nantong, Jiangsu province. PHOTO: REUTERS/CHINA DAILY

Square roots?

Scientists say plants are good at math

UFA OFFERS TOP CAnOlA & PUlSE FUngiCidES including Brand name

Manufacturer

Active ingredient

Crop

Target disease

Prothioconazole

Canola

Sclerotinia

Pyraclostrobin

Canola

Black Leg

Boscalid

Canola

Sclerotinia, Black Spot

Fluxapyroxad & Pyraclostrobin

Field Peas

LONDON / REUTERS

White Mould, Powdery Mildew, Mycosphaerella Blight

Penthiopyrad

Canola

Sclerotinia

Cyprodinil & Fludioxonil

Canola

Sclerotinia

P

lants do complex arithmetic calculations to make sure they have enough food to get them through the night, new research published in journal eLife shows.

Scientists at Britain’s John Innes Centre said plants adjust their rate of starch consumption to prevent starvation during the night when they are unable to feed themselves with energy from the sun.

They can even compensate for an unexpected early night.

“This is the first concrete example in a fundamental biological process of such a sophisticated arithmetic calculation,” mathematical modeller Martin Howard of John Innes Centre (JIC) said.

During the night, mechanisms inside the leaf measure the size of the starch store and estimate the length of time until dawn. Information about time comes from an internal clock, similar to the human body clock.

“The capacity to perform arithmetic calculation is vital for plant growth and productivity,” JIC metabolic biologist Alison Smith said.

“Understanding how plants continue to grow in the dark could help unlock new ways to boost crop yield.”

UFA OFFERS TOP CEREAl FUngiCidES including Brand name

Manufacturer

Active ingredient Tebuconazole

Crop Wheat

Target disease Fusarium Head Blight Rusts (Leaf, Stem & Stripe)

Prothioconazole & Tebuconazole

Wheat

Fusarium Head Blight

Metconazole

Wheat

Fusarium Head Blight Leaf Rust, Tan Spot

Pyraclostrobin

Wheat

Leaf Rust, Tan Spot, Stripe Rust

Pyraclostrobin & Metconazole

Wheat

Leaf Rust, Tan Spot, Stripe Rust

Picoxystrobin

Wheat

Leaf Rust, Tan Spot, Septoria

Azoxystrobin & Propiconazole

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Propiconazole

Wheat

Rusts (Leaf, Stem & Stripe), Leaf Spot

Note: this chart is not a complete listing of all crops and diseases controlled. For a complete list of all crop types and diseases controlled, consult the product label or talk with your local UFA Crop Representative.

Always read and follow label directions.

Products featured may have limited availability in select locations. Please contact your local UFA Farm & Ranch Supply store for more details.

Astound®, Quilt®, Tilt® and the Syngenta logo are trademarks of a Syngenta Group Company.

Subject to availability. All other products are registered trademarks of their respective companies. © 2013 UFA Co-operative Ltd. All rights reserved.

130077

130067_Fungicide Network-sizes.indd 6 Alberta Farmer 8.125 ‘’x 10.00 ‘’ Right

UFA.com 13-06-19 2:25 PM

PHOTO: THINKSTOCK

14

JULY 8, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Mennonite Central Committee helping North Korean farmers Manitobans with expertise in zero till and soil health are helping farmers increase productivity in the isolated nation

By Shannon VanRaes staff

W

hen it comes to North Korea, agriculture may not be the first thing that pops into people’s minds.

But for the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) it’s been front and centre for the last five years.

The Winnipeg-based organization has been providing farmers in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea with assistance with soil conservation and low-input systems as part of their ongoing work with conservation agriculture.

“Their climate is similar to ours... it’s a temperate climate, it’s not tropical, they get snow and real winters, and Canada is known for its level of expertise in minimum tillage, or conservation agriculture techniques, so it was a good fit,” said Dan Wiens, food security and livelihoods coordinator for the MCC. The organization, which first offered assistance to the country during a famine in the 1990s as part of its work with the Canada Foodgrains Bank, was contacted

by North Korean officials.

“They contacted MCC and said they’d be interested in working with us on some sort of agricultural project, so we said sure, ‘We’re interested,’” Wiens said.

In addition to staff in MCC’s Beijing office, experts from Manitoba have travelled to the country, including University of Manitoba professor Martin Entz, who volunteers his time.

“One of the things that’s been so much fun has been talking to farmers and running field schools where we talk about what happens when the carbon goes into the soil and why it’s important to enrich the soil with carbon,” said Entz.

Intensive fertilizer use, removal of plant matter, and tillage has reduced carbon, and therefore productivity, in many fields, he said.

In a d d i t i o n t o h e l p i n g t o reduce tillage, Entz is encouraging farmers to expand their use of green manure cover crops.

“It’s important to understand the context of farms in that country, they are quite large, and they are communal state farms, about 2,000 acres in size, so they’re not small,” said Entz, adding that despite their size, farm mechanization is not common.

Most farms in the country are diversified operations, although one of the three farms the MCC program works with focuses primarily on rice production, he said. Wheat, corn, soybeans, cabbage, and potatoes are also important crops in the country.

In addition to limited arable land, long-standing trade embargoes against the communist country make the importation of agricultural inputs difficult, if not impossible.

But it also makes the country fertile ground for natural cropping systems, such as zero tillage, green manures and cover crops, said Entz.

“That’s been helpful, because the thinking around agriculture has been all about industrializing it, using inputs, and like

many places in the world, they probably need to emphasize the biology of the system a bit more,” said Entz.

During field workshops, training is also provided on how to gauge organic matter in soil, how to determine if soil is becoming less compacted, and using biological indicators, such as earthworm populations, to assess soil health. Agronomists from North Korea have also visited Manitoba to learn more about conservation techniques used here.

But the Canadians also have learned from the North Koreans, said Entz, who has made three visits to the country.

“One of the most interesting things they’re doing, is how they are very vigorously composting

all of the organic material that comes out of the cities and using that as fertilizer,” he said.

Although tensions have been rising on the Korean peninsula, Wiens said the program will continue as normal.

“The farmers are still there on the ground growing food and in need of technical support,” he said.

“We’re supporting farmers to feed more people and have fewer people go hungry.”

Once you’re out in the field discussing a production issue, the cultural divide disappears, added Entz.

“It’s exactly like talking to a farmer in Manitoba,” he said. “A farmer is a farmer is a farmer.” shannon.vanraes@fbcpublishing.com

COULDA

Martin Entz leads a soil workshop in North Korea. PHOTo: submitted

SHOULDA

WOULDA

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

Always read and follow label directions. Prosaro® is a registered trademark of the Bayer Group. Bayer CropScience is a member of CropLife Canada.

FS:8.2” F:8.7”

DID

T:17

7.4”

15

Albertafarmexpress.ca • july 8, 2013

U.S. farmers are withdrawing unsustainable amounts from aquifers Groundwater resources have shrunk by an amount equal to two Lake Eries since 1900

By John Kemp london / reuters

A

merican farmers are withdrawing unsustainable volumes of groundwater to irrigate crops, resulting in an accelerating decline in aquifers across the central and western U.S., according to a new report by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Groundwater resources have shrunk by 1,000 cubic kilometres since 1900 — about double the total amount of water contained in Lake Erie.

And depletion rates are accelerating. The 40 aquifers in the survey declined almost 200 cubic kilometres between 2000 and 2008 alone — more than twice the depletion rate of the 1980s and ’90s.

The giant High Plains or Ogallala aquifer, which underlies about 450,000 square kilometres of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming and South Dakota, has lost more than 340 cubic kilome-

Environmentalists blame water-intensive hydraulic fracturing for adding to the stress in drought-hit areas.

tres of water since the beginning of the 20th century.

In the worst-affected parts of northern Texas, the water table in the High Plains aquifer has fallen by more than 150 feet.

Environmentalists blame water-intensive hydraulic fracturing for adding to the stress in drought-hit areas. But groundwater depletion started to accelerate in the 1940s and 1950s, long before fracking became widespread in the 2000s.

The bigger problem is waterintensive agriculture. In 2005, around 80 billion gallons of groundwater were withdrawn every day across the U.S., of which 53.5 billion were used for irrigation — dwarfing the 14.6 billion gallons for domestic use and the three billion gallons taken by industry.

This map from the U.S. Geological Service shows groundwater depletion from 1900 through 2008.

In Texas, irrigation accounted for over 71 per cent of all groundwater extraction, rising to 95 per cent in Nebraska.

The massive rise in water use for irrigation can be attributed mainly to the introduction of centre-pivot sprinkler systems in the 1950s. In North Dakota, the number of irrigation wells rose from fewer than six in 1960 to almost 1,500 by 1980, which were pumping up to 65 million gallons per day at the height of the irrigation season to water 100,000 acres of land.

“Continuation of depletion at observed rates makes the water supply unsustainable in the long term,” the latest survey states.

Depletion on this scale represents a severe threat to the environment as well as to supplies of water for drinking and irrigation on which communities depend.

Once depleted, the lost storage cannot easily or quickly be recovered, USGS warns.

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C-53-05/13-BCS13029-E

F:8.7”

DuPont opens seed plant in Ukraine

T:10”

For unparalleled yield and quality in your wheat and barley crops, choose Prosaro® fungicide. It delivers premium disease protection against fusarium head blight (FHB), reduces DON levels and controls leaf diseases.

KIEV / REUTERS U.S. chemical giant DuPont launched a seeds plant in Ukraine June 11 designed to help farmers increase harvests with more productive seeds, the company said.

The plant, which cost more than $40 million, is located in the central region of Poltava, the key area for Ukrainian agriculture.

The facility will produce seeds of maize, sunflower and rape, it said in a statement.

Ukraine, the world’s fourth-largest maize exporter in 2011-12, plans to harvest a record 27 million to 28 million tonnes of the commodity this year, but still needs higher-quality seeds to increase yields.

Another global player on the seed market, Monsanto Co., said last month it planned to launch a nonGM (genetically modified) corn seed plant in Ukraine in 2015.

16

} forecasts

JULY 8, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

EU wheat crop looking good

Argentine wheat on track

The European’s Union’s wheat crop is developing well and a larger harvest is expected this summer despite worry about Britain’s crop, observers said June 27. “Weather has been crop-friendly for EU wheat in the past weeks and harvest estimates are being marked up,” one German trader said.

“Overall wheat is developing positively apart from Britain, which remains the main problem area.”

The EU soft wheat crop will reach 130.7 million tonnes this year, EU grain lobby Coceral said, up three million from its March estimate and up from 125.4 million in 2012. — Reuters

More than half of Argentina’s 2013/14 wheat crop had been planted by June 27, outpacing the previous season’s sowing tempo by six percentage points, the Buenos Aires grain exchange said.

“Progress has been helped by adequate water supply in the eastern part of the national farm belt,” the report said. Reduced plantings last year and bad crop weather have pushed Argentine wheat prices to all-time highs, stopping exports cold and leaving local millers wondering how they will make enough flour to last through the Southern Hemisphere winter. — Reuters

July is hail season on the Prairies

In Alberta alone, hail damage estimates in 2012 totalled $530 million

by daniel bezte

S

ometimes it’s tough to come up with a topic to write about, especially when the weather is being quiet.

For this issue I have the opposite problem, but it’s making it just as tough to come up with a topic.

Usually I don’t discuss extreme weather events in detail, as by the time you read it the details have usually already been exhausted in other media.

So I’m not going to talk directly about the flooding in Alberta or southwestern Manitoba. So there goes one idea.

By the time you read this, July has already started, so you may be expecting a “month in review” article, along with the look ahead to the long-range forecast for July and August.

This time the long weekend played against me, as my deadline was before the long weekend, so that article will have to wait. Next idea, please!

Most of the weather-related problems we’ve seen across the Prairies over the last month have been related to upper lows.

Problem is, I discussed upper lows a couple of issues ago.

Hmm… what to write about now?

Personally, my philosophy when writing has always been on the education and understanding side of the weather story. acts and figures are great, but I want people to understand why they experienced the weather they did. Since we are just entering the peak summer weather season, I figured I would continue with my look at severe summer weather and this time my topic is one of the most dreaded phenomena: hail.

When you discuss severe summer weather there seems to be some kind of love/hate relationship between heavy rain, lightning and tornadoes, but when it comes to hail, that relationship is pure hate. Unless the hail occurs in March or early April, I don’t think there is one farmer or gardener who thinks hail is cool. I used to be one of those who loved hail — that is, until I owned my own car and house and had a vegetable garden.

Just how often can you expect

to see hail across the Prairies?

Over most of the Prairies it would be one to three times a year. There are hot spots that can see upward of five days per year, in south-central Alberta, extreme southern Saskatchewan and south-central Manitoba.

By far the most active area is in south-central Alberta — and in particular, Calgary. Looking at the most expensive hailstorms across Canada the vast majority has occurred in Alberta, with a few bad ones in Manitoba. The accompanying table gives us a list of the most destructive hail storms based on insured damage. An interesting thing to note is the dates of these top haildamaging storms.

Unfortunately, I could not find a more recent list of hailstorms, as I know Alberta and in particular, Calgary, has seen hail storms as big if not bigger.

While it wasn’t a comprehensive search, I did take a quick look and found references to hailstorms with more than $300 million to $400 million in damage in Calgary on July 12, 2010 and Aug. 12-13, 2012, with other mentions of notable hailstorms occurring on July 6, 2006, July 31, 2012, and Aug. 7, 2012.

In Alberta alone, hail damage estimates in 2012 totaled $530 million!

The Insurance Bureau of Canada says the frequency, severity and cost of extreme weather in Canada are increasing. Annual payouts from flooding, fire, hail and windstorms increased from $100 million about 10 years ago to $1 billion between 2009 and 2012 (source: CBC, May 29).

The big question: why does Alberta, in particular, and then southern Manitoba, see so many bad or damaging hail storms compared to the rest of the country? Well, for Alberta it has to do with topography, or the lay of the land, whereas in Manitoba it has more to do with its closer proximity to Gulf moisture that can help fuel really big storms.

Unfortunately, I’m running out of room for this issue article, but will definitely continue with this next time. Until then, let’s hope the first part of the summer is warm and, for most of us, relatively dry

hail the damage Recent Prairie hailstorms and their damage (in $ millions)

Province

Date

Year

Damage

Alberta

July 24/25

1996

75

Alberta

July 16-18

1996

103

July 16

1996

105

Alberta

July 13-15

1995

52

Alberta

July 10

1995

26

Manitoba

July 4

1995

15

Manitoba

Alberta

Aug. 27

1994

7

Alberta

June 18

1994

8

Alberta

July 29/30

1993

8

Alberta

Sept. 1

1992

7

Alberta

Aug. 28

1992

5

Alberta

July 31

1992

22

Alberta

Sept. 7

1991

343

Alberta

July 9

1990

16

Alberta

Aug. 16

1988

37

This issue’s map shows the total precipitation across the prairies during the 14-day period ending on June 26. This period covers the time frame when most of the heavy rainfall occurred. Looking at the map you can really get a good feel for just how much rain fell and where. You can see the 100-200mm of rain that fell from Calgary westward in Alberta, another area of heavy rain around Prince Albert in Saskatchewan, and a large pocket of heavy rain over western Manitoba.

17

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • JULY 8, 2013

calgarypolicerodeo.com

18

JULY 8, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Global warming linked to more floods along key rivers The Ganges, Nile and Amazon are expected to suffer more floods from warming

BY ALISTER DOYLE OSLO / REUTERS

C

limate change is likely to worsen floods on rivers such as the Ganges, the Nile and the Amazon this century while a few, including the now-inundated Danube, may become less prone, a Japaneseled scientific study said June 9.

The findings will go some way to help countries prepare for deluges that have killed thousands of people worldwide and caused tens of billions of dollars in damage every year in the past decade, experts wrote in the journal Nature Climate Change.

Given enough warning, governments can bring in flood barriers, building bans on flood plains, more flood-resistant crops and other measures to limit damage.

Overall, a “large increase” in flood frequency is expected in southeast Asia, central Africa and much of South America this century, the experts in Japan and Britain wrote.

Severe floods would happen more often on most of the 29 rivers reviewed in detail, including the Yangtze, Mekong and Ganges in Asia, the Niger, the Congo and the Nile in Africa, the Amazon and the Parana in Latin America and the Rhine in Europe.

Flooding would become less frequent in a handful of river basins including the Mississippi in the United States, the Euphrates in the Middle East and the Danube in Europe.

The experts predicted that northwestern Europe, where the Rhine flows, would be damper while a band from the Mediterranean Sea through eastern Europe — including the Danube region — into Russia would be drier.

The scientists said there were wide bands of uncertainty.

European floods

Tens of thousands were forced to leave their homes and at least a dozen people died in floods that hit Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic last month.

Climate scientists say that, overall, rising temperatures increase the risk of floods because warmer air can absorb more moisture and so cause more rain. Changes in winds and other factors mean some areas are likely to get wetter, others drier.

Professor Mojib Latif, a meteorologist at the Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Germany, who was not involved in the study, said there are few reliable rainfall records on which to build forecasts.

Still, he predicted that floods like those now in Europe would become more likely as temperatures rise. “We’re seeing an increase in flooding events...

Research shows that the probability of heavy precipitation will increase,” he said.

Worldwide, average surface temperatures have risen by 0.8 C since the Industrial Revolution, a trend the UN panel of experts blames mainly on human emissions of greenhouse gases from cars, factories and power plants.

Sugar beets are covered with residue from the floods of the ebbing Danube River, near Singerhof village, some six km away from the eastern German city of Deggendorf June 8, 2013. PHOTO: REUTERS/WOLFGANG RATTAY

19

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • JULY 8, 2013

EU regulator suspects BASF insecticide of harming bees

Scale of food challenge the question

BASF has until mid-June to respond to a proposed ban on fipronil FRANKFURT / REUTERS

T

he European Union’s food safety regulator has added a BASF insecticide to the list of crop chemicals it suspects of playing a role in declining bee populations.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) said in a statement May 27 that BASF’s fipronil poses an “acute risk to honeybees when used as a seed treatment for maize,” citing dust drift in particular.

BASF has until June 14 to file a comment on the report with the European Commission, which will discuss a possible ban with EU government officials in July.

The EU last month moved to ban three of the world’s most widely used pesticides for two years because of fears that they are linked to a plunge in the population of bees critical to the production of crops.

Attendees at Breadbasket 2.0 conference told world can’t rely on a second Green Revolution

The ban affected pesticides known as neonicotinoids, produced mainly

by Germany’s Bayer and Switzerland’s Syngenta, despite the EU’s 27-member states failing to reach an agreement on the matter.

BASF, which declined to provide fipronil sales figures, said in its statement that EFSA’s assessment does not highlight any new risk to bee health from approved uses of fipronil.

“BASF and other experts remain convinced that the currently observed decline in bee populations results from other causes than use of seed treatment products containing fipronil,” it added.

BASF said that fipronil-based products have been on the market since 1993 and are used in more than 70 countries.

Unlike neonicotinoids, fipronil is not widely used in Europe, with only five countries using it for maize production.

BY GORD GILMOUR STAFF / SASKATOON

T PHOTO: THINKSTOCK

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he world shouldn’t expect another Green Revolution in its bid to feed nine billion by 2050, says a leading expert on agricultural productivity.

In fact, despite advances in genetics and crop protection products, the rate of increased productivity appears to have slowed dramatically in recent years, University of California agricultural economist Alex McCalla told the recent Breadbasket 2.0 conference.

Citing World Bank figures, McCalla said the annual increase in crop yields of wheat, maize, and rice in developing countries shot up by an average of 2.0 per cent in the ’70s and ’80s, slowed to 1.1 per cent from 1990 to 2007, and has since declined even more.

“As you can see, in some crops the productivity growth is now below one per cent a year, which is concerning because population growth is at or above one per cent,” said McCalla, noting the average population estimate for 2050 is actually 9.6 billion.

Governments will need to take a multi-faceted approach to make the best use of their agricultural resources, he said.

For example, China will need to modernize and increase production of certain commodities such as cereals for human consumption while at the same time continuing to import livestock meal.

“They simply cannot do everything, so they’re going to make strategic choices,” McCalla said in a followup interview.

In Africa, there needs to be much more research, he said.

“One of the basic things that needs to be addressed is domestic agriculture research capacity — right now there’s almost none in Africa,” he said.

Biotechnology is likely to be a major part of the solution, he added.

“All of the people I’ve spoken to have told me the same thing — that when it comes to biotechnology we’ve barely scratched the surface of the potential it holds,” McCalla said.

There will also be many opportunities for a handful of key grain-exporting regions — Canada, the U.S., Australia/New Zealand, Latin America and the former Soviet Union.

“Everywhere else is a net importer of cereal grains,” McCalla said. “For Canada, growth in demand should be a good thing.”

The professor also told the 200 industry leaders at the conference that he is optimistic a food crisis will be averted.

“The question is: ‘How difficult is our food challenge?’” McCalla said. “Is it small and manageable? Large but manageable? Or is it a crisis? I would say it’s large, but hopefully manageable.”

20

JULY 8, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

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

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21

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • JULY 8, 2013

FARM MACHINERY Grain Handling

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

SEED/FEED MISCELLANEOUS Grain Wanted BUYING HEATED/DAMAGED PEAS, FLAX & GRAIN “On Farm Pickup” Westcan Feed & Grain 1-877-250-5252 BUYING SPRING THRASHED CANOLA & GRAIN “On Farm Pickup” Westcan Feed & Grain 1-877-250-5252 Hit our readers where it counts… in the classifieds.

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

ANTIQUES Antique Equipment INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER COLLECTORS CHAPTER 38, 2013 show will be held at Olds college grounds July 19th & 20th in conjunction w/the 60th World Plowing Championship. An IH collector will be offering many project units at the Olds College Antique Machinery Auction July 18th, 10:00am. ihc38.com Derald Marin (306)869-2262.

ENGINES ASSORTED DEUTZ & OTHER Diesel engines.

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

FARM MACHINERY Grain Bins

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

ROCKYFORD STEEL LTD. WWW.ROCKYFORDSTEEL.COM Phone:(403)533-2258. Upgrade lid openers, upgrade bin doors, OB1 temperature cables & cooling vent tubes.

AUCTION SALES

AUCTION SALES

AUCTION SALES Auctions Various

AUCTION SALES Auctions Various

SHIELDS

FARM, RANCH, REAL ESTATE & COMMERCIAL

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

BUILDINGS

40’ X 60’ X 16’ RIGID FRAME STEEL BUILDING

1-877-641-2798

BUYING:

HEATED & GREEN CANOLA

CANOLA WANTED Buying Spring Thrashed, Heated, Green, Canola, Freight Options, Prompt Payment Bonded and Insured

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

$28,418 When you go with steel you get the right deals!

Pioneer One Steel Buildings

Call toll free 1 (877) 525-2004 or see us online at www.pioneeronesteel.com BUSINESS SERVICES Crop Consulting

FARM MACHINERY Haying & Harvesting – Baling

FARM CHEMICAL SEED COMPLAINTS

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

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

Licensed Agrologist on Staff.

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

FARM MACHINERY Combine – Various

NEW WOBBLE BOXES for JD, IH, MacDon headers. Made in Europe, factory quality. Get it direct from Western Canada’s sole distributor starting at $1,095. 1-800-667-4515. www.combineworld.com

TracTors

FARM MACHINERY Haying & Harvesting – Swathers CIH 2188 COMBINE 2,451 sep hrs, CIH inspection & many updates clean combine stored inside, chopper, $49,000; 30-ft. CIH 1010 header, batt reel, VGC, $8,000; 30-ft. Header trailer, $2,000; CIH 8820 25-ft. SP swather w/UII PU reel w/dual rotoshears 1,133 eng hrs, nice condition, $30,000; 25ft. IH Cultivator #55 w/Prasco Bandit big tank, $3,500. Phone (403)823-9974 or (403)823-1928.

You’ll be surprised what you can find in the Alberta Farmer Express Classifieds Call 1-888-413-3325 & ask about our Prairie Wide Classifieds Book your word ad for 3 weeks & get 2 weeks free

FARM MACHINERY Tractors – Various

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

FARM MACHINERY Combine – Accessories

Wheat, Barley, Oats, Peas, etc.

Green or Heated Canola/Flax

1-877-250-5252

CX840 NH COMBINE, 1593S-HRS, 2124E-hrs, 16ft rake-up PU; 30-ft NH Honey-Bee straight cut header also avail., VGC. Phone(403)391-6021, Red Deer, AB.

Combine ACCessories

WE BUY DAMAGED GRAIN

“ON FARM PICK UP”

FARM MACHINERY Parts & Accessories

AUCTION SERVICE LTD. General Auction Services since 1960

BOW VALLEY TRADING LTD.

• Competitive Prices • Prompt Movement • Spring Thrashed

FARM MACHINERY Combine – Ford/New Holland

RECONDITIONED COMBINE HEADERS. RIGID & flex, most makes & sizes; also header transports.

Ed Lorenz, (306)344-4811 or Website: www.straightcutheaders.com Paradise Hill, SK.

FARM MACHINERY Parts & Accessories

JD 7210, FWA, 3 pth Front End LDR JD 4250 FWA, 280 loader JD 4440, 158 loader JD 4560, FWA, 280 loader JD 6400, FWA loader JD 2550, FWA JD 746 loader, new Mustang 2044 Skidsteer, 1300 Hrs. Clamp on Duals, 20.8x38-18.4x38 158 & 148, 265, 740.280, JD loaders JCB 1550B, Backhoe FWA, Extend A Hoe, Ford Backhoe 655C 4x4, Extend A Hoe

FOR SALE: PARTS FOR IH TD40 track tractor, crankshaft & bearings, radiator, Diesel injector pump, All for $300. (403)729-2181

FINANCE, TRADES WELCOME 780-696-3527, BRETON, AB

FARM MACHINERY Sprayers

FARM MACHINERY Sprayers

JD 9400, 9420, 9520, 8970 JD 7810 & 7210, FWA JD 9860, 9760, 9750, 9650, 9600 JD 9430, 9530, 9630 CIH 8010 w/RWD, lateral tilt, duals 900 hrs.

Case STX 375, 425, 430, 450, 480, 500, 530 CIH 8010-2388, 2188 combine CIH 435Q, 535Q, 450Q, 550Q, 600Q pto avail.

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

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

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

Stretch your ADVERTISING DOLLAR!

1-888-413-3325

22

JULY 8, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

FARM MACHINERY Tractors – Various

FARM MACHINERY Tractors – Various

Double LL Industries 780.905.8565 Nisku, Alberta

1987 Case IH 385

FWA, 45 HP Diesel, 3 Point Hitch

12,500

$

John Deere 520

Loader

3,800

$

2001 Kubota L3000

FWA, 32 HP Diesel, 1128 Hours, 3 Point Hitch

1986 John Deere 410B

Extendahoe, 4x4, 6255 Hours

13,800

$

24,500

$

www.doublellindustries.com

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

FARM MACHINERY Machinery Miscellaneous 1993 960 JD COMBINE w/914 pick-up, Asking $68,000; JD 930D straight-cut header w/pick-up reel, $35,000; 2006 JD 4995 self-propelled swather, comes w/2 headers: 30-ft Honeybee & JD 5-m discbine, $110,000; 1997 9400 JD 4x4 tractor, $128,000; 2007 56-ft 5112 Conscerva-pak air drill w/440 tank, $150,000; 1997 JD 7810 front wheel assist w/740 SI front end loader, $60,000; 1999 JD 7410 front wheel assist w/740 SI front end loader, $58,000; 2005 JD 567 round baler w/net wrap, $25,000; Jiffy 712 12-wheel brake, $9,500; Ren 36in roller mill, $3,000; Crown hyd. 3 Batt rock picker, $3,750; 1987 freight liner Tandem dump truck, $20,000; 1997 freight liner semi-truck, $24,000; 2012 Wilson Tridem grian trailer, aluminum & airride, $55,000; 2001 IH 9200 semi-truck, $24,000; Doctor Tandem grain trailer, $17,500; Leon 4-way blade, 16-ft, $15,000. Call:(780)888-1278.

ACREAGE EQUIPMENT: CULTIVATORS, DISCS, Plows, Blades, Post pounders, Haying Equipment, Etc. (780)892-3092, Wabamun, Ab. BLANCHARD (HARMON) 83-FT SPRAYER, $1800; Morris B3-48 rod weeder, $650; Morris CP519 cultivator, $950; CCIL 3-ring walking harrows, $375; 2 disc markers, $75 ea. Ph (403)782-2545.

NH STACKLINER 1010 BALE wagon, will take offers; MF 3-PTH 7-ft sickle mower, belt driven, asking $400. Phone: (403)783-2691.

FARM MACHINERY Machinery Miscellaneous JD 8820 914 PICK-UP header & 930 grain header & trailer; MF 860 w/pick-up & MF 20-ft grain header; MF 410 combine, PU header; Honeybee 36-ft draper header, pick-up reel, fits Case 2388 & 2588 combine; D7G, PS, ripper; CAT 235 track hoe; D760 Champion Grater; Tree farmer skidder, mechanical special, new 18.4x34 tires; Calhoun fertilizer spreader, PTO; Grousen dozer, fits a JD 8970 16-ft; 2004 Dodge RumbleBee short box. Phone: (306)236-8023.

RETIRED SALE: JD 702 10 wheel V-rake, $5,100; LZB JD hoe drill, 12-ft w/7-in spacing, fine seed & fertilizer box, stored inside, excellent condition $3,200; NH 575 small square baler, stored inside since overhaul, w/hyd toungue & bale tension, $9,500. Phone:(403)932-5522. Cochrane.

SEED DRILLS 6200 24ft. rubber packers, fertilizer, factory transport shedded; IH 5100 end wheel drill, w/fertilizer attachment; IH #10 end wheel drill w/grass and fertilizer; hyd drill mover, 24ft; #10 deep tillage; IH 12ft deep tillage IH.; 12ft MF disc. with hyd. gas tanks and stands. (780)919-9985 Hit our readers where it counts… in the classifieds.

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

FARMING IS ENOUGH OF A GAMBLE...

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

FARM MACHINERY Machinery Miscellaneous

LIVESTOCK Cattle – Angus

RON SAUER

PB RED & BLACK Angus yearling bulls for sale.

Canadian pedigrees, semen tested. Phone (780)336-4009, Kinsella, AB.

(403) 540-7691 ronsauer@shaw.ca

40 REGISTERED RED ANGUS bulls, (from 7 sires) quiet, easy calving, low to moderate birth weight, good growth, EPD’s, guaranteed breeders, exc. for heifers or cows. Cleveley Cattle Company (780)689-2754, Ellscott, AB.

MACHINERY LTD. 1998 Commander by Triple E RV, loaded .............. $25,900 Flexicoil 6 run seed treater ................................ $2,000 Wanted 60’ Flexicoil S95 harrow packer draw bar, tandem wheels, P30 packers, nice condition ............................... 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 sprayer, 2006,trail boom, auto rate, rinse tank, hyd. pump, combo jets, nice shape.... $26,500 100’ 65XL Flexicoil Sprayer, complete with windguards, elec. end nozzles dual tips, markers ........................ $3,500 30’ 8230 CIH PT swather, PU reel, nice shape,.. $10,000 25ft Hesston 1200 PT swather, Bat reel, nice shape .......................................................... $5,500 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 MATR 10 wheel V-Hayrake, hyd. fold, as new .... $5,250 New Sakundiak Augers Complete with E-Kay Attachments ............................................... Call 2 Used 8” Self Propelled Sakundiak Augers .Coming In New E-Kay 7”, 8”, 9” Bin Sweeps .........................Call Flexicoil 10”x 50’ Grain auger ......................... $2,500 7721 JD PT combine, decent cond. ....................... $5,000 7701 JD PT combine, new concaves & rub bars ..... $4,000 Jiffy Feed Wagon, like new, hardly used, shedded .....$9,250 415 New Holland Discbine, like new ................. $12,500 166 New Holland Hay Turner, like new .............. $5,500 40’ Morris Harrow Packer Bar, P30 packers, 4 bar harrows, Hyd. fold up, good condition ..................... $5,500 1990 GMC 9000 Single Axle Grain Truck, 16’ x 18’ steel box, propane only, runs good.......................... $6,500 8” Wheat Heart Transfer Auger, as new............ $1,500 Jiffy Grain Feeder, 3 pt hitch, hydraulic auger, as new .$500 New Outback MAX & STX Guidance & Mapping ....In Stock New Outback E-Drive, TC’s .................................In Stock New Outback E-Drive X, c/w free E turns ............In Stock New Outback S-Lite................................................$900 New Outback VSI’s Swather Steering Wheel Kits .......................................................In Stock Used Outback RTK Guidance System ....................... Call Used Outback E-Drive Hyd. Kits.(JD,Case, Cat & NH) $500 **NuVision, Sakundiak & Farm King Augers, Outback GPS Systems, EK Auger Movers, Belt Tighteners, Bin Sweeps, & Crop Dividers, Kohler & Robin Subaru engines, Degelman, Headsight Harvesting Solutions**

FARM MACHINERY Machinery Wanted WANTED: NH 8500 ROUND bale wagon. Phone (406)883-2118

LIVESTOCK Cattle – Red Angus

LIVESTOCK Cattle – Hereford BULLS FOR SALE: HEREFORDS, mostly dehorned, great selection including “Surefire Heifer Bulls.” Dependable maternal genetics selected for 39-yrs. www.bretonwestherefords.com Phone: (780)696-3878.

HEREFORD BULLS, YEARLINGS AND two year olds, dehorned, and polled, excellent quality, check out our catalogue of bulls for sale by private treaty at Coulee Crest Herefords, couleecrest.ca (403)227-2259 or (403)588-6160, Bowden, Ab.

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

1-888-413-3325.

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 GOLDENVIEW FEEDLOT PRO DELUXE hyd squeeze w/palpation cage, scale, crowding tub, transition tub, 4 alley sections, alley splitter & loading chute. Phone (403)391-6021, Red Deer AB. Stretch your advertising dollars! Place an ad in the classifieds. Our friendly staff is waiting for your call.

1-888-413-3325.

REAL ESTATE REAL ESTATE Mobile Homes CANADA SINGLE FAMILY HOME NEW 16 wide & 20 wide MODULAR HOMES at GREAT prices.

(218)751-7720 frontierhomesonline.com

HEAT & AIR CONDITIONING

REAL ESTATE Land For Sale

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

www.penta.ca

1-800-587-4711

Competitive Rates

PAUL MOWER

DAVE KOEHN

403-304-1496

ALL GRADES Prompt Payment

403-546-0060

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

New 30.5L-32 16 ply, $2,195; 20.8-38 12 ply $866; 18.4-38 12 ply; $898; 24.5-32 14 ply, $1,749; 14.9-24 12 ply, $486; 16.9-28 12 ply $558, 18.4-26 10 ply, $890. Factory direct. More sizes available new and used. 1-800-667-4515. www.combineworld.com

TRAVEL

Rural & Cultural Tours

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23

ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • JULY 8, 2013

Horse herpes quarantine at Woodbine

Record Australian beef exports

Toronto’s Woodbine Racetrack was placed under quarantine June 14 due to discovery of a case of equine herpes (EHV-1). According to the Ontario Racing Commission (ORC), an unraced two-year-old horse was euthanized after becoming “recumbent with a fever” and showing symptoms of a potential neurological disease. Other cases were being investigated, and the quarantine was expected to continue for anywhere from 14 to 28 days, depending on whether the disease spreads.

Australia will export a record amount of beef in 2013/14, driven by strong demand from the United States and emerging markets, the government’s official forecaster said June 16.

Beef and veal exports in the coming season were expected to total 1.07 million tonnes, up from a record 1.015 million this year, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) said in its quarterly report. The increase would be underpinned by stronger demand from Asia, while a rise in demand from the U.S. would offset falling sales in other markets, including Japan following an easing of import restrictions on U.S. beef.

Silage can be your biggest profit centre, but you need to plan ahead Silage pays, says farm production adviser

A Manitoba beef specialist says forage production, not stockmanship or animal husbandry skills, is the true profit centre of most ranches. PHOTo: thinkstock

By Daniel Winters staff / neepawa, man.

S

ilage is often looked at as a rescue operation.

There’s a lot of reasons why that’s the case, says Ray Bittner, a Manitoba Agriculture farm production adviser who also runs a cattle operatio and has done silage for years.

It is often the only alternative in wet years when it won’t stop raining, when a first crop of alfalfa is so full of weeds it would never dry down, or it’s greenfeed harvested in late fall. Other obvious reasons are manured fields prone to rot, heavily lodged crops lying in a wet mess, or when corn is the feed of choice.

“In those cases, silage can save the day. But silage can make your farm more profitable if you do it by design,” Bittner said in a presentation at the recent Hay and Silage Day field tour hosted by the Manitoba Forage Council.

Forage production — not stockmanship or animal husbandry skills — is the true profit centre of most ranches, and whether it is better to grow your own forages or simply buy from someone else depends on a ranch’s particular circumstances, he said.

But since making silage is extra work and costs money, it has to provide an “edge” in delivering more yield per acre via better water and fertilizer use efficiency

as well as superior feed quality and reduced waste, he said.

Citing research on alfalfa done in water-scarce California, Bittner said making an early first cut of the thirsty crop often pays dividends, because it leaves more water and allows for faster regrowth for the second cut.

“It’s hard to make dry hay in June, but it’s a whole lot easier to make silage,” he said.

Waiting longer to make a first cut may boost total volume, but most of alfalfa’s later growth is in the form of stems, not the protein-rich leaves, and the older it gets, the poorer the digestibility.

Silage can also save the day when manure is overapplied and the lush result is too rich to dry down quickly. Studies show the optimum application level is 15 tons per acre, but since many farmers just eyeball the dose, it’s easy to overdo it.

“A lot of people don’t realize it, but 15 tons is one big industrial spreader covering 16 feet wide, half a mile long,” Bittner said.

“Nobody drives that far.”

Making silage at 62 to 64 total digestible nutrients (TDN) can pay off in cheaper wintering costs for beef cattle by compensating for poorer, cheaper feed such as slough hay or straw.

For example, 40 pounds of 57 TDN hay for an old beef cow costs $1.40. On the other hand, highquality alfalfa silage with cheap

“whatever” hay or straw can work just as well.

“You can get your ration cost down to $1.16 just by having that quality with the same animal performance,” he said.

For 650-pound calves gaining 2.25 pounds/day, 14 pounds of hay and eight pounds of barley cost $1.32. But 11 pounds of good alfalfa and 22 pounds of corn silage at 65 per cent moisture plus five pounds of barley cost only $1.12.

“Doing a more expensive process can reduce your costs,” said Bittner.

Getting a forage crop to ensile properly depends on sugar content, also known as water-soluble carbohydrates. In early corn at 31 per cent sugar, the milky goo can be seen coming out of every hole of the blower.

“That’s water-soluble carbohydrates to the max. That’s the type of stuff that makes ensiling a cakewalk,” he said.

However, late, fully mature corn drops to around eight per cent, and can be tough to ensile.

Barley at the milk stage contains 32 per cent water-soluble carbohydrates, but if it’s left to mature too long, and there’s only grain and straw, problems may arise.

That’s where the reliability of custom harvesters come in, he added.

“If they are late by two or three weeks or some ridiculous time, it’s a mess that costs you more than their bill,” said Bittner.

Covering good hay can pay, study shows

T

here are many alternatives for protecting a hay harvest, from fullon storage sheds with walls and doors to tarps and dangling weights.

Leaving round bales outside in rows side by side or “mushroom style” results in spoilage losses of six to 10 per cent, a 1988 study by the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute found.

However, hay kept in a shed saw exactly zero losses, said Tim Clarke, a farm production adviser based in Ashern, Man. A top-notch, 80x200-foot storage shed 20 feet high with no foundation and a gravel floor would cost $228,000. If it holds 1,077 tons of medium squares and lasts 30 years, the cost of storage is about $212 per ton in capital costs or $7 per ton per year. If it lasts 25 years, the annual cost per ton is $8.20.

At four cents per pound, you’re probably better off storing hay outside and learning to live with the seven per cent lost to weather, he said.

But if the hay is worth over six cents per pound, the shed pays for itself — if it’s always full and lasts 30 years.

At $200-per-ton hay, weathering losses amount to $14 per ton. At that price, having a hay shed makes sense.

“So, the higher the value of the hay, the easier it is to pay for the hay shed,” said Clarke.

Lower-cost alternatives such as owner-built structures made with salvaged hydro poles or treated timbers can do a good job, too, but the hay may still be subject to rain or snow infiltration and bleaching if the sides aren’t covered.

A tarp can pay for itself, he added, especially if it can be made to last a few years.

A 25x48-foot hay tarp that costs $150 plus $25 of rope and weights covering 42 tons of hay with a three-foot overhang costs $4.17 per ton. If it lasts three years, the cost is just $1.38/ton per year. daniel.winters@fbcpublishing.com

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JULY 8, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Electronic sow feeding first choice for productivity peet on pigs } Both the pigs and the barn staff need

training when moving to open sow-housing systems By bernie peet

W

hen considering group sow housing systems, electronic sow feeding (ESF) is likely the best choice for pig producers with high productivity expectations, according to Thomas Parsons at the University of Pennsylvania.

“We now have farms pushing above 30 pigs weaned per sow per year and thus the technology itself, if properly managed, is not a barrier to outstanding production,” he says.

ESF is the only alternative to gestation stalls that provides true individual animal nutrition, he notes. It also provides the opportunity to further automate sow management — for example spray marking of animals requiring vaccination or selection of animals needing to move to farrowing.

Parsons has gained widespread experience with the system in 40 farms with 70,000 sows and has identified the most important design and management considerations.

One key design aspect is to segregate gilts and young sows from the older sows. “When mixed with higher-parity sows, the smaller, still-growing gilt can be at a disadvantage and suffer negative consequences from being at the bottom of the social order,” Parsons explains. “These animals can be fed a different ration than the sows and managed differently, perhaps by being attended to by the best available labour.”

It’s important to pen gilts separately in ESF systems to reduce competition from bigger sows The overall objective is to reduce stress and competition in the pen environment, he says.

Dynamic or static groups?

Another fundamental design decision is whether to base the system on a dynamic group of sows or static groups.

“Dynamic flows are required on small farms where the weekly breeding group is less than that supported by a single ESF sta-

tion,” Parsons points out. “This will range between 50 and 75 sows depending upon the feeder manufacturer.”

Dynamic flow also works well where sows are mixed immediately after breeding, because the 21 day returns can be rebred and just left in the pen, he says. However, the downside to dynamic grouping is that the integrity of the weekly breeding groups is lost as there are sows at all stages of

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gestation in the same pen, which makes daily management and identification of individual animals more difficult.

Static groups are constituted once, social hierarchy stabilizes, and the group is then left intact for the duration of gestation. There are clear management advantages of working with weekly breeding groups. However, Parsons says variations in weekly breeding targets and any unanticipated fallout from a group can lead to sub-optimal space utilization of the facility. He suggests that the minimum herd size for implementing static groups is 1,400, but most often recommends this method for herds of 2,800 or more.

“Here we would have about 90 sows and 30 gilts comprising the weekly breeding group,” Parsons explains. “We make one static group of about 75 sows per week and then run the gilts and remaining sows in separate dynamic flows. This captures the convenience of a static system, but helps maximize space and feeder utilization as expected from a dynamic flow.”

The time of group formation, relative to breeding, is another important consideration, according to Parsons. Sows may be mixed together within three to five days of breeding or at about 35 days into gestation when they have been confirmed pregnant. The argument for mixing at 35 days is that management in early gestation remains the same as a sow stall system and is easier than when sows are in groups. However, despite this apparent advantage, Dr. Parson says that mixing soon after breeding also works well. “Our experience is that both pre- and postimplantation systems can support good production,” he notes. “Some of our best ESF herds are pushing 28 to 30 pigs weaned per sow per year and are using a pre-implantation system.”

Training pigs and people

www.greenprairie.com

Training gilts to use ESF feeders is essential, stresses Parsons.

“The key aspects are to get gilts used to stalls prior to ESF training,

the use of training feeders modified to accommodate the size of gilts and dedicated training pens with additional gating to facilitate animal control during the training process,” he says. “No gilt should enter the herd without being fully trained as they will become a problem in the future and are at greatest risk of prematurely leaving the herd.”

Sow housing involving large groups of sows is so different to manage compared to sow stalls that the operators need training too. Staff can be resistant to change, Parsons points out.

“It is important that the barn staff is enthusiastic and committed to the project. The barn staff must take ownership of the ESF and the individual animals that it is feeding,” he says. “Less pig experience and an on-the-job worker training program can in some cases be preferable to trying to re-educate experienced workers.”

One of the biggest challenges of moving to group housing is being able to maintain the same level of individual care as can be achieved in sow stalls, Parsons believes.

“In large groups it is more difficult to use the physical location of the animal as the identifier of an animal and or the problem to be managed,” he says. “Thus, barn staff needs to more skilled at identifying individual animals with the group as well as recognizing problems within the pen.” He suggests labelling all physically identifiable locations in the barn to aid communication between staff members and clearly marking sows in need of attention so that they can easily be found in the future. He also recommends using the ESF computer to identify those animals that either do not eat all their ration or eat at the end of the feeding cycle as these are the ones most likely to need attention.

Bernie Peet is president of Pork Chain Consulting of Lacombe, Alberta and a director of UK-based Pig Production Training Ltd.

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ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • JULY 8, 2013

Grain grower diversifies operation with fish farm Mark McNaughton raises 50 tonnes of tilapia a year for Asian markets and restaurants in Calgary and Edmonton

By Alexis Kienlen af staff / trochu

A

lberta and fishery aren’t words commonly used together, but Mark McNaughton grows nearly 50 tonnes of fish a year.

Along with his 3,500 acres of wheat, canola and barley, the Trochu producer has anywhere from 50,000 to 60,000 tilapia in his a “big giant aquarium” housed on his farm. Just like the home version, you need to monitor and manage levels of oxygen, carbon dioxide, ammonia and fecal matter.

“Those are the four steps you need to take care of, just like a little water treatment plant,” said McNaughton. “You can have all the fish that you want, but if you don’t have a system to take care of that water quality, it won’t do you any good.”

MDM Aqua Farms began by raising trout in 1999, when a downturn in the hog market prompted him to get out of that business.

The fish were used to stock trout ponds, but that created a serious logistical problem.

“We were trying to seed and deliver fish all across southern Alberta in May and that didn’t work out too well,” he said. “We got to know some guys who were raising tilapia and couldn’t keep up so they started importing live tilapia from the U.S. for the Asian markets.”

McNaughton, whose outfit is one of four tilapia farms in Alberta, takes in three batches of 30,000 fingerlings three times a year. He ships — in totes in a cube van — about 1,000 fish weekly to a wholesaler who delivers the fish to restaurants and Asian markets in Edmonton and Calgary. At that point, they weigh nearly one and one-half pounds and will be kept live in tanks until selected by customers.

Native to the Nile river, tilapia is a white-meat freshwater fish that reaches maturity in a few months.

They’re also sturdy critters who can handle the stress of repeated transport.

“They can take a lot more abuse than a salmon and a trout such as lower oxygen levels and higher ammonia levels in the water,” said McNaughton. “But they’re not invincible.”

Neither are Alberta tilapia producers, who are well aware their tiny market could easily be swamped by much larger American ones.

“They can grow fish a lot cheaper in the U.S. than we do, because they can grow fish outside,” he said. “If they get a bit of overproduction in the U.S., they start to look for markets somewhere else.”

Tilapia in a net at Mark McNaughton’s farm Photos: Alexis Kienlen

Raising fish is fairly similar to pigs in many ways, but there are key differences, he said.

“The pigs were a lot simpler because there is a lot less going on,” he said. “In fish, you’re basically building the environment.

If something goes wrong and the water stops moving, they’re dead.”

To avoid that dire situation, McNaughton employs back-up pumps, oxygen, alarm systems and generators. His fish live in two barns with a number of smaller tanks filled with well water and filtration systems. Energy costs are the biggest expense for the operation.

The fish eat a mixture of wheat and soybean pre-made pellets,

and McNaughton only raise males because they grow faster. He also wants to avoid breeding, as baby fish can get caught in filters and other parts of the aquarium.

His operation is small-scale and would never be viable if he wasn’t farming about 3,500 acres of wheat, barley and canola, he said.

There has been a growing interest in aquaponics (raising fish and produce in a partially closed loop system), but McNaughton said he hasn’t seen a large commercial growth in the industry in Alberta. He’s got a small aquaponics and greenhouse system on his farm, but said he considers it a hobby. akienlen@fbcpublishing.com

Mark McNaughton nets tilapia at MDM Aqua Farms Ltd.

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JULY 8, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

Glencore founder Marc Rich dies in Switzerland Once a fugitive from justice who was controversially pardoned by Bill Clinton

BY ALICE BAGHDJIAN

LUCERNE / SWITZERLAND/ REUTERS

B

Marc Rich made his fortune by anticipating the price gains during OPEC’s 1973 oil embargo. PHOTO: REUTERS

illionaire Marc Rich, who invented oil trading and was pardoned by President Bill Clinton over tax evasion, racketeering and busting sanctions with Iran, died June 26 in Switzerland aged 78.

Rich fled the Holocaust with his parents for America to become the most successful and controversial trader of his time and a fugitive from U.S. justice, enjoying decades of comfortable privacy at his sprawling Villa Rosa on Lake Lucerne.

Belgian-born Rich, whose trading group eventually became the global commodities powerhouse Glencore Xstrata, died in hospital from a stroke, spokesman Christian Koenig said.

Many of the biggest players in oil and metals trading trace their roots back to the swashbuckling Rich, whose triumph in the 1970s was to pioneer a spot market for crude oil, wresting business away from the world’s big oil groups.

To his critics, he was a whitecollar criminal, a serial sanctions breaker, whom they accused of building a fortune trading with revolutionary Iran, Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya, apartheid-era South Africa, Nicolae Ceausescu’s Romania, Fidel Castro’s Cuba and Augusto Pinochet’s Chile.

In interviews with journalist Daniel Ammann for his biography, “The King of Oil”, the normally obsessively secretive Rich admitted to bribing officials in countries such as Nigeria and to

assisting the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad.

Explaining Rich’s route to riches in an interview with Reuters in 2010, Ammann said: “He was faster and more aggressive than his competitors. He was able to recognize trends and seize opportunities before other traders. And he went where others feared to tread — geographically and morally.”

A U.S. government website once described Rich more simply, as “a white male, 177 centimetres in height... wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Customs Service and the U.S. Marshall Service.”

In 1983, he was on the FBI’s 10 most wanted list indicted for tax evasion, fraud and racketeering.

At the time, it was the biggest tax evasion case in U.S. history.

Trust, loyalty and secrecy

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On learning of the indictment plans, Rich fled to Switzerland to escape the charges, which included exploiting the U.S. embargo against Iran, while it was holding U.S. hostages, to make huge profits on illicit Iranian oil sales.

He was faster and more aggressive than his competitors. He was able to recognize trends and seize opportunities before other traders.

“Marc Rich is to asset concealment what Babe Ruth was to baseball,” said Arthur J. Roth, New York state commissioner of taxation and finance.

He remained under threat of a life sentence in a U.S. jail until Clinton pardoned him during the last chaotic days of his presidency, a move that provoked moral outrage and bewilderment amongst some politicians.

Clinton later said he regretted granting the pardon, calling it “terrible politics.”

“It wasn’t worth the damage to my reputation,” he told Newsweek magazine in 2002.

Rich, who was born Marcell David Reich in Antwerp on December 18, 1934, started his career at Philipp Brothers, a top global commodities trader after World War Two. Posted to Madrid in the late 1960s, he found ways to bypass the “Seven Sisters” major oil companies which controlled world oil supplies, and is credited with inventing spot oil trading, which involves sale or purchase for immediate delivery.

While at Phibro, Rich foresaw the huge price increases imposed by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in 1973, earning big profits for the firm.

However, he became infuriated by his pay and trading strictures.

He left in 1974 with a fellow graduate of the Phibro mailroom, Pincus “Pinky” Green, and set up Marc Rich and Co AG in Switzerland, a firm that would eventually become Glencore Xstrata Plc.

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ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • JULY 8, 2013

Opening the plant doors via video for curious consumers a good step: AFAC The film includes all aspects of processing including CO2 and electrical stunning before slaughter. PHOTO: AMI VIDEO SCREEN SHOT

BY VICTORIA PATERSON AF STAFF /CALGARY

A

n Alberta organization is welcoming the American Meat Institute’s “Glass Walls” project. “We should have done this years ago,” said Heini Hehli, chair of Alberta Farm Animal Care (AFAC).

The “Glass Walls” project (http:// animalhandling.org) posted a beef packing plant video online in 2012

and added a pork video in May 2013. The videos feature narration by by well-known animal welfare researcher Temple Grandin, and have garnered considerable interest from the public as well as producers.

“I think it’s a very good approach.

It’s a unique approach,” Hehli said, However, he pointed out that watching the videos, which take viewers through the slaughter process, might not be for everyone.

Some consumers are interested

Glass Walls project allows consumers a look inside processing plants in what’s happening, and while others might not want the intimate details of what happens in processing plants, it’s good to have the option of showing them, Hehli said, especially when animal rights groups show their own videos.

“Those that would discredit us, they can no longer do that,” Hehli said. “We’ve got to be wide open.”

Those that don’t want to watch the videos might still be reassured by the fact that they exist, simply because it means the industry is

willing to show its practices, Hehli said. “To me, that’s the biggest victory in this whole approach. Now with this, they know it’s done well.”

AFAC executive director Lorna Baird said board members have been taking it to their commodity groups and other contacts.

“We support this kind of initiative where people are aiming to promote what’s working well in the industry,” Baird said. She agreed with Hehli that it’s good to have the videos there for the curi-

ous and to show the industry has nothing to hide, but noted regular operations aren’t as “appealing and sexy to the media” as videos of a sort touted by animal rights groups.

“That’s why having lots of normal stuff out there, it might not seem as impactful as one horrible story, but we can say… ‘this terrible case, it’s the exception,’” she said. victoria.paterson@fbcpublishing.com

U.S. farmers warned to steer clear of loans When good times end, farmers take on more debt

BY CHRISTINE STEBBINS CHICAGO / REUTERS

U

.S. grain farmers are being warned not to fall into the trap of borrowing against inflated land values.

A new report by the Kansas City Federal Reserve says farm incomes “could fall dramatically in 2014,” and that might tempt farmers to borrow against their land.

The report cautions “the stage is set for another wealth effect and leveraging cycle in U.S. agriculture.”

In past farm booms and busts, such as the 1910-20 and 1970-80 periods, U.S. farmers built debt even as incomes fell and interest rates rose. By contrast, U.S. grain farmers have used the latest boom to retire debt, even as land prices set new records. But that’s also a warning sign as farmers tend to accumulate more debt when wealth levels are high.

“Today, an increase in farm debt may signal the beginning of another turning point in farm debt and leverage,” the study says. “After rising less than one per cent annually since 2008, farm debt outstanding at commercial banks rose roughly five per cent in the fourth quarter of 2012.”

The latest USDA forecast predicts net farm incomes to fall 20 to 25 per cent this year and remain near these levels over the next decade.

As well, many now expect interest rates to be two per cent higher by 2015.

“History has shown that a combination of falling profits and rising interest rates drive farmland prices lower,” the study states.

Current farm debt ratios remain near historical lows, and farmers should strive to keep it that way, it adds.

“Working capital is the first line of defence farmers can use to manage through periods of weak profitability,” the study says.

Enabling rural succEss. UFA is a thriving, progressive co-operative with a passion for agriculture and rural life. We are proud to work and live in Alberta, supporting our neighbours and helping build communities for over 100 years. Although we’ve grown and changed over that time, UFA remains a big part of small towns from the prairies to the foothills. Just like those towns, we know we will achieve far greater success as a group than as individuals. Because great things really do happen when we share a common vision and then roll up our sleeves to get it done.

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JULY 8, 2013 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA

THREE CROP DISEASES. ONE GROWING RISK.

FUSARIUM BLACKLEG CLUBROOT

ALBERTA CEREAL AND CANOLA GROWERS SHOULD ACT NOW TO PROTECT AGAINST THESE DISEASES. WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW Fusarium, Blackleg and Clubroot pose a serious threat to Alberta crops and can spread quickly once present.

Crop yields can be significantly reduced and these diseases can take years to eradicate once established.

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO Take proper care and precautions: • Evaluate risks by scouting for signs and symptoms – if you want to know, you have to scout • Deploy cultivars with disease resistance and adopt good rotation practices to help avoid build-up of diseases • Ensure seed, soil and equipment are clean to avoid spreading diseases to new fields

WHERE YOU SHOULD GO TO LEARN MORE Get fully informed about Fusarium, Clubroot and Blackleg by visiting agric.gov.ab.ca or call 310–FARM (3276) toll-free in Alberta. You can also pick up a fact sheet at your local agricultural fieldmen’s office.

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