Cattle Country - September 2022

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MeetingDistrict Season

Tim Sopuck: Not Done Advocating For Conservation and the Beef Industry Yet

www.mbbeef.ca PUBLISHED BY MANITOBA BEEF PRODUCERS SEPTEMBER 2022 TOSOPIECUNDELIVERABLEURNRPLEASEPOSTMASTERET SRYCENTUP,MBUNIT220,530TREET,WINNIPEG,MBR3H0Y4 ESSALCTRODUIONSPUBLICCANADIANATMAILP OSAGREEMENTNUMBER40005187PTAGEPAIDINWINNIPEG.

An overhead view of the Manitoba Beef & Forage Initiatives Inc. Brookdale farm site near Brandon. MBFI recently launched a new podcast to showcase the beef and forage industry – please see the story on page 14 of the newspaper. (Photo credit: Matt Poole/mplocates.ca)

“Deep

BY ANGELA LOVELL

Page DocumentaryHealth Rooted”

After 43 years in conservation, Tim Sopuck re cently retired as CEO of the Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation (MHHC), a position he held for 12 years. During that time, Sopuck saw a lot of changes and much progress made in the conservation field. He has also been a tireless advocate for the beef industry, emphasiz ing the importance of beef production to conservation of wildlife habitat and the environment.

Manitoba Beef Producers caught up with him shortly after his retirement to reflect on his career and his future plans. What led you to a career in conservation? I ended up in conservation mainly because my family had a cottage at the lake where I got to go in the summers, and my dad took us fishing and hunting. We made a connection to the outdoors that way, and when you hunt and fish, you feel keenly the sense that it’s your responsibility to put things back. It was pretty natural to end up in a career in conservation as a result of the opportunities we had growing up to be in the outdoors so much. What path did you take to your career? I got a four-year degree in Zoology at the University of Manitoba and had great summer jobs up north in wild and remote places doing fisheries or wildlife stud ies. I also spent a year-and-a-half living in Northern Manitoba trapping and doing commercial fishing with Indigenous people. I had all kinds of these additional lived experiences that helped set me up for this career. Where was your first job in conservation and what were your responsibilities? My first full-time job was with Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC), where I spent seven years trying to develop wetland conservation projects. A big amount of my time was spent talking to farmers and other land owners to get permission to look at their land, and have discussions about whether or not wetland conservation might work on their farms. It was a humbling period because most of the time, you would drive up to somebody’s door with a DUC sticker on your pick-up truck, and you might hear a thing or two about the problems that people had with water and wildlife before you were able to have a conver sation about whether or not there was any conservation possibilities on their farm. It was amazing how many times I found out there were, because so many of the land owners that I dealt with did have an interest in seeing wildlife on their land.

3 ATV PageSafety7 Mental

In 1991, I got a chance to work with MHHC as a communication manager, then went on to Manager of Operations and then in 2009, I was named Chief Executive Officer. Can you talk about some of the changes in attitudes and perceptions about conservation that you have seen over the years, especially in the agricultural community?

 Page 1 Tim Sopuck: Not done advocating for conservation and the beef industry yet It was a tremendous learning opportunity for me because I spent much of those seven years at kitchen tables of farmers and landowners hearing the stories about the consequences of wildlife on the farm, and having discussions about how to find a place for nature in agriculture. How did you end up at Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation (MHHC)? After DUC, I spent four years at the Fort Whyte Centre in Winnipeg doing a lot of fundraising, which was great training for what came down the road, but the agricultural landscape always called to me. I just thought that doing conservation work in the agricultural landscape was one of the most exciting opportunities in the world of conservation and the environment because there was so much going on, so much change, so much need and opportunity.

Photo credit: Donalee Jones/Great Tastes of Manitoba

POLI C Y AN A LY S

But when you look at any conservation organiza tion that’s a member of the Canadian Round Table for Sustainable Beef, and there are a number of them, those people are making the statement that beef is something that we want as part of the production systems in these natural areas. As far as I’m concerned, beef is a positive environmental choice because there’s habitat out there that otherwise might not have been there if that cow/calf operator hadn’t been doing what they’re doing. What are your future plans?

MATTHEW ATKINSON 2ND Clanwilliam-Erickson, Glenella-Lansdowne, Harrison-Park, Minto-Odanah, Oakview, North Cypress-Langford, Rosedale, and West Lake-Gladstone DISTRIC T 9 TREVOR SUND Alexander, Brokenhead, East St. Paul, Lac Du Bonnet, Rockwood, Rosser, St. Andrews, St. Clements, St. Francois Xavier, West St. Paul, Whitemouth, Woodlands, LGD of Pinawa, Reynolds, Spring eld, Ste.

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SERVICES

2 CATTLE COUNTRY September 2022 www.mbbeef.ca DISTRIC T 13 MARY PAZIUK Dauphin, Ethelbert, Gilbert Plains, Grandview, Roblin and Mossey River COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING LEAD David Hultin O F FIC E A SS I S TA N T Jennifer Patryluk D ES IGNE D B Y Print Studio One C AT T L E CO U N TR Y E D I TO R David Hultin LIVESTOCK PREDATION PRE VENTION PROJEC T COORDINATOR Ray Bittner FINANC E Deb Walger DISTRIC T 14 VACANT Minitonas-Bowsman, Mountain, and Swan Valley West MA NI TOB A BE E F PROD U C E R S Ph: 1-800 772-0458 Un i t 220, 530 Ce n t u r y S t ree t Wi nn ipe g, MB R 3H 0Y 4 PH - (204) 772-4542 FX - (204) wwinfo@mb774-3264beefcaw.mbbeefcaCarsonCallumGEN E RA L M AN AG E R DISTRIC T 1 ALFRED EPP Boissevain-Morton, Brenda-Waskada, Grassland, Deloraine-Winchester, and Two Borders DISTRIC T 2 NANCY HOWATT Argyle, Cartwright-Roblin, KillarneyTurtle Mountain, Lorne, Louise, Pembina, and Prairie Lakes DISTRIC T 3 ANDRE STEPPLER Cartier, Du erin, Grey, MacDonald, Portage la Prairie, Rhineland, Roland, Stanley, Thompson, Montcalm, Morris, and Ritchot DISTRIC T 4 VACANT De Salaberry, Emerson-Franklin, Hanover, La Broquerie, Piney and Stuartburn, Montcalm, Morris, Ritchot, Spring eld, Ste. Anne, Taché, R.M. of Piney and Reynolds

What accomplishments have you been most proud of over your career?

Certainly, when I started, there was a lot of animos ity between wildlife conservation and agriculture. There was just a general view that there really wasn’t a good fit and I think a lot of distrust on both sides. I’m not saying it was all failure, but it was a time when attitudes were harder and a little more separated than they are now. Early on in my career, I bought into the idea that if only we could just get landowners to do the right thing, then everything would be fine. Looking back, that was the arrogance of youth, and I had to jettison it to be more effective. In the 1990s there was a new attitude that said, we have to be partners with landowners in conservation. So, there were more programs developed where there were incentives being offered to landowners to participate in conservation. We were seeing more efforts to provide cost shares for landowners who might do something different like seed down some areas to provide nesting cover for water fowl, or, if they were go ing to make an adjustment to grazing practices, putting up at least some of the funds for things like additional fencing on their property. And more landowners were saying, ‘these conser vation folks are starting to get it. This stuff costs money and they’re willing to help me out.’ I think that has been an important and positive change on the land. You have long been a champion of the importance of beef production to conservation and the environment. How did that evolve?

Conservation organizations began to see that live stock producers had most of the habitat. So, one of the really important things has been conservation recog nizing how strategically important the grazing livestock industry is to conservation. One of the things, for me, was looking at conser vation plans that were being written 20 years ago, and they were talking about how important it was to save grasslands, wetlands, and pasture lands, but we weren’t writing these plans with cattle producers at the table. In the 2000s, we started to lose significant segments of the cattle industry because of BSE and chronic low prices, and every time we saw a reduction in the cattle herd, we saw a reduction in grasslands, wetlands and other habitats because the lands basically went to annual crop production.Theline that got me more than anything else was a statement by a former Manitoba Cattle Producers Association (now operating as MBP) director, Glen Campbell. He said, if all the cattle producers in Manitoba were considered as a single group, it would be the largest habitat conservation organization in the province by far. He was absolutely right, and that helped to solidify in my mind that conservation groups had to have a more fundamental and strategic relationship with the beef industry on the Prairies. It got me thinking about other ways in which con servation groups could be of strategic value to the in dustry because I think a lot of cattle producers would be surprised to hear that conservation groups in Western Canada want to see the cattle herd grow, not retract, because that would point to the fact that we’re also gaining or retaining grasslands, wetlands, woodlands and pastures.Nowyou see conservation groups like DUC, MHHC, Nature Conservancy Canada and Birds Canada sitting on the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef. They are there because the beef industry is strategically important to the conservation of habitat. It’s just that simple, and reflecting back over the last 20 years, its one of the things that I’ve been really pleased to see. And conservation groups didn’t really need any prodding, it’s just evident to everybody that this relationship between cattle and conservation is too important to be left on the sidelines.

The funding for this program goes to the Manitoba Beef Producers and MHHC delivers the projects on MBP’s behalf. So, here we have a conservation group working for a livestock industry group providing and delivering species at risk stewardship projects on cattle lands. I think that makes a powerful statement about how committed the industry is to be a conservation player and it builds such an important partnership between MBP and MHHC. It’s providing significant benefits to everyone, including species at risk. How are conservation groups like MHHC helping to promote positive environmental messages about livestock production? It would be really great if conservation groups had more resources, and could be more effective at telling the positive environmental messages about cattle on the land, and they are trying to do that.

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I think the beef industry should be really proud of what they’ve done in this area because other groups are saying how do we take that model, that the beef folks have put together, to tell our story.

One of the MHHC programs I’m most proud of is an initiative called Species at Risk Partnerships on Agricultural Lands (SARPAL). It’s a stewardship pro gram for species at risk that focuses on providing incen tives to cattle producers to help manage the grasslands because grasslands in certain areas of the province are where all the grassland species at risk are found. They’re on those grasslands not because cattle producers put the birds at risk; they’re on those grasslands because those are the remaining areas of habitat. So, these cattle pro ducers have been stewards of lands that are important to species at risk and SARPAL provides some incentives to help them mange those grasslands a bit more effectively, improve their management practices and be more viable as cattle producers.

DISTRIC T 5 STEVEN MANNS Cornwallis, Elton, Norfolk-Treherne, North Norfolk, Glenboro-SouthOakland-Wawanesa,Cypress,andVictoria DISTRIC T 6 MELISSA ATCHISON Pipestone, Riverdale, Sifton, Souris-Glenwood, Wallace-Woodworth, and Whitehead DISTRIC T 7 T YLER FULTON PRESIDENT Ellice-Archie, Hamiota, Prairie-View, Riding Mountain West, Rossburn, Russell-Binscarth, and Yellowhead DISTRIC T 8 Anne, and Taché DISTRIC T 10 MIKE DUGUID SECRETARY Armstrong, Bifrost-Riverton, Fisher, and Gimli DISTRIC T 11 ARVID NOTT VEIT Coldwell, Grahamdale, St. Laurent, and West Interlake DISTRIC T 12 MARK GOOD TREASURER Alonsa, Lakeshore, McCreary, and Ste. Rose Maureen Cousins T

Preference will be given to those students pursuing a field of study related to agriculture or to those acquir ing a skilled trade or pursuing a career that would be beneficial to the rural economy.

Whenever I can, I speak about beef from the Great Plains being an environmental choice product. If you buy beef that comes from the Great Plains of North America, you’re supporting carbon sequestration be cause of all the grasslands that remain intact because of that industry. You’re supporting biodiversity, you’re supporting perennial grasslands that capture water and hold nutrients in place instead of them running off the land. And you’re supporting a way of life that has sustained that landscape for many decades. Many of us in the conservation world view it as our responsibility to speak on behalf of the industry and the marketplace, wherever we can. It’s just that’s very hard to do in a way that counters some of the massive misperceptions about the environmental effects of beef.

The industry needs spokespeople from a conser vation side of the ledger. I’m not a nutritionist, I’m not an economist, but I know something about biodiversity and those kinds of things, and I’m happy to speak where I can about the importance of beef production and environmental concerns.

Looking Back at Summer Activities for MBP and Looking Ahead to Fall District Meetings

3CATTLE COUNTRY September 2022 www.mbbeef.ca

CARSON CALLUM General Manager’s Column DATE DISTRICT DIRECTOR LOCATION October 19 9 Trevor Sund South Interlake Rockwood Ag Society - Stonewall October 20 11 Arvid Nottveit Ashern Legion October 24 13 Mary Paziuk Rotary Arena (upper floor) - Dauphin October 25 7 Tyler Fulton Miniota Community Centre November 1 3 Andre Steppler Carman Legion Auxilliary Hall November 2 5 Steven Manns Austin Community Hall November 3 1 Alfred Epp Mountview Centre - Deloraine November 7 All VIRTUAL MEETING - 7:00 pm DISTRICT MEETING SCHEDULE 4:00 pm start time | Register at mbbeef.ca Questions about what district you live in? Call the MBP office at 1-800-772-0458 or email: info@mbbeef.ca Wild pigs are WIDESPREAD in Manitoba LOOK OUT WILD PIGSFOR To learn more or if you see evidence of wild pigs, call 1-833-SPOT-PIG or visit SQUEALONPIGSMB.ORG The in-person meetings will start around 4 p.m. where we will provide various updates on MBP’s activities over the past year.

I would also like to again take the opportunity to greatly thank Dr. Mary Jane Orr and her team at Manitoba Beef & Forage Initiatives for hosting our first-ever MBP summer BBQ at MBFI’s Brookdale site in July. It was so great to see so many producers and indus try leaders, as well as recognize past MBP directors for their service to our board. Thanks as well to Agriculture Minister Derek Johnson, Official Opposition Leader Wab Kinew and Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa MP Dan Mazier for bringing greetings and spending time with the producers. It was appreciated. Best regards, Carson.

Greetings all, As we approach another busy time (back to school, harvest, etc.), I am hoping many of you were able to take some time away from the farm to recharge. This was hopefully made possible by the abundance of grass this year as opposed to last growing season. From what I am hearing from producers across the province, though the excess moisture has been challenging, we are in a much better position going into the fall feed wise than last summer when drought conditions prevailed. Speaking of this fall, we are looking forward to hosting our district meetings, some in person and one virtual. Barring unforeseen circumstances due to the pandemic, the plan is to hold the odd-numbered district meetings in person as director elections are required in them. There will also be one virtual session for those that can’t make it, and this will be recorded for later viewing as well. For those members that reside in an even-numbered district, we encourage you to attend an odd-numbered district meeting that is most convenient for you or to take in the virtual meeting. However, you will not be eligible to vote in the director elections. The in-person meetings will start around 4 p.m. where we will provide various updates on MBPs activ ities over the past year. We will take a break for a beef supper and some fellowship around 5:15 p.m. At about 6:15 p.m. we will finish up any outstanding presenta tions, do the director elections and hold the resolutions and action items component of the meetings. Please see the ad on this page for the meeting dates and locations. Registration is free and will be available through the MBP website, social media channels, and the weekly e-newsletter.Aswell, late resolutions forms will be available on MBP’s website for those members that cannot attend a meeting but who would like to provide resolutions for consideration for debate in advance of our 44th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in February 2023. Location wise, we are switching it up for our 44th AGM. Instead of holding it in Brandon, this time the AGM will be held at the Victoria Inn Hotel and Conference Centre in Winnipeg on February 2-3, 2023. Stay tuned in Cattle Country, on MBP’s website and on our social media channels for further details on our annual event. We’d love to see youLookingthere. ahead to the fall, I know a major discussion amongst our board will be around the latest iteration of the Next Policy Framework which will replace the Canadian Agricultural Partnership when it expires in March 2023. At the July Manitobafect(SCAP),Agriculturaltheonaningsistersprovincial/territorialfederal/minofagriculturemeettheministersreachedagreementinprincipleanewagreementonSustainableCanadianPartnershipanditwilltakeefinApril2023.Nowthegovernmentwill be focusing on the bilateral agreement with the federal government to determine how programs will roll out in the province.Weseemany potential benefits for the beef sector arising from SCAP, including some adjustments to busi ness risk management programs and an increased overall financial commitment by governments to the cost-shared portion of this new policy framework. However, as always, the devil is in the details. We will be reviewing and pro viding feedback on every stage in the consultation, such as those involving the $250 million Resilient Agriculture Lands Program (RALP) to shape how it can best be uti lized by beef producers here in Manitoba. RALP is sup posed to support ecological goods and services provided by the agriculture sector. As I write this column it is only a few weeks away from university and college programs resuming for the fall. If you are a student pursuing post-secondary studies or training in the 2022-23 academic year, I would encourage you to consider applying for the MBP scholarship program. MBP provides six $1,000 scholarships annually for MBP members or their children attending a university, college, other post-secondary institution or pursuing trades train ing. Preference will be given to those students pursuing a field of study related to agriculture or to those acquiring a skilled trade or pursuing a career that would be ben eficial to the rural economy. The completed application, supporting documents, references, required essay or video, etc. must be submitted to MBP by 4:30 p.m. Friday, November 4, 2022. For more information, including the application form visit our website: www.mbbeef.ca MBP will be busy with many files over the next number of months leading up to our district meetings. I hope to see many of you there to discuss all the import ant topics that impact the sector, such as recognition of the ecosystem services provided by producers, ensuring business risk management programs are more respon sive to beef producers’ specific needs, the Agricultural Crown Lands program modifications and more.

BY: ANGELA LOVELL Agricultural industry analysts all agree that the year ahead isn’t likely to be much different than the last two years in terms of the volatility and uncertainty that has characterized everything from supply chains and commodity prices to geopolitical issues and global economic struggles. But, with global supplies tight, and demand and prices strong for Canadian beef, the sector may be able to weather the headwinds better than some others.

What about feed?

What does all this mean for interest rates?

Continued demand good news for Canadian beef producers Lenz said continued growth in demand for beef is good news for the industry, and for Canadian producers in particular because more people around the world want high quality beef, have the money to buy it and are prepared to pay more for it. “People in the United States, and around the world want sustainable beef that has a story and they are also going to want high quality beef,” he said. “If you can pro duce a calf that can do prime or upper two-thirds choice in the U.S. versus its brother at grade select there is a US $500 difference [per carcass]. That’s not going away.” But where that beef is going to come from could be a big question. There is some growth in beef herds in the U.S., Brazil and Mexico but in other beef producing countries, including Canada, herds are stagnant or declining.Lenz emphasized there are headwinds ahead including uncertainty over geopolitical issues in places like Russia and the Ukraine, market issues with major importers like China, the global economic situation going forward, and continued weather concerns such as drought that can shift production and consumption patterns around the world. What is the economic outlook?

“This means, for our yearling grasser markets, prices have been increasing since May supported by strong futures markets as well as tighter supplies as we had a number of grass cattle that never made it to grass; they ended up getting placed in April and May,” Grant said. “We are looking at Alberta yearling prices ranging between $220/cwt and $240/cwt peaking in late August and into ThereSeptember.”havebeen

Although feed prices are down, feed supplies and future prices could still be an issue going into winter because although many drought-stricken areas of Canada and the U.S. have received more moisture so far this year, more rainfall is needed to fully recharge soil moisture in many areas, so it will remain to be seen how the rest of the summer and fall weather affects yields.

4 CATTLE COUNTRY September 2022 www.mbbeef.ca

Another Tough Year Ahead for the Economy But Not All Bad News for Beef Producers

“This spring if you look at livestock price insurance it was looking at seasonal price decline that you would normally see during the fall run of prices between that $220/cwt and $235/cwt,” Grant said. “But as feed pieces have come down there is definitely potential for a count er-seasonal rally going into the fall, and that puts prices in the $240/cwt to $260/cwt range.”

It’s a unique and uncertain time in terms of the global economic outlook. That was the message from Aaron Goertzen, Senior Economist and BMO to CBIC attendees. After the most extreme economic downturn in history during the pandemic, Canada recovered fairly strongly, but at the cost of inflation not seen in decades.

Cattle prices will stay up Alberta fed prices have steadily increased since February and are the highest since 2015 and Grant said she expects prices to continue to increase throughout the fall, averaging between $180/cwt and $190/cwt.

“Even as interest rates are rising, households have a lot of spending power to deploy into the economy, and we expect that central banks are going to find it’s harder to get a handle on demand and inflation through their usual tools,” Goertzen says. “So even by the middle of 2023 we wouldn’t be surprised to see inflation in Canada and the U.S. running in the four to five per cent range.”

Grant added it also illustrates the benefit of live stock price insurance which provides a floor price but leaves the upside open so producers can take advantage of higher prices. A rebound in cow/calf margins is likely this year, Grant said, quoting information from Canfax’s cow/ calf cost of production network which is 46 benchmark farms from B.C. to the Maritimes.

“When you look at history, tightening cycles, inter est rate up cycles become riskier when central banks fall behind the curve and inflation gets way away from the target which is where we are today,” Goertzen said. “I gave a baseline of zero to very slow growth over the next year or so, but we view that as most probable by a very small margin. We would put almost a coin toss on the possibility of a meaningful economic downturn over the next year or so, and certainly markets seem to be wary about prospects over the next 12 to 18 months.”

With large numbers of cows coming to market, cow slaughter is up four per cent in Canada, but a large number of cows are still being exported from western Canada.

AAFC is predicting barley prices averaging about $3.80 per tonne.“Forfeedlots, making sure that you have a good risk management plan on the feed side is going to be critical to future success in terms of margins and managing that risk,” Grant said.

strong forward sales in the U.S. in the calf market, with prices reaching $250/cwt in Ontario this August, which Grant said hints at some exciting prices coming up for cow/calf producers.

Central banks have allowed themselves to fall far behind the curve over the last year as inflation rates rose, Goertzen said. Interest rates remained close to zero until the summer when the Bank of Canada started to raise policy rates but still only to around 2.5 per cent. “It’s very clear there is more work to be done on raising interest rates,” Goertzen said. If the Bank of Canada policy interest rates rise by one per cent by the end of 2022, as Goertzen predicts, that will mean the prime rate will more than double.

The year ahead could be a bumpy ride, Goertzen suggests because of a number of things that will con tinue to affect world economies. His prediction is that economic growth in Canada will slow significantly over the next half of 2022 and virtually stall into 2023 as interest rates Geopoliticalrise.issues continue to be among the biggest unknowns. Russia and Ukraine are major agricultural producing nations. “After the invasion we saw crop prices take another major leg up as a result of the importance of Russia and the Ukraine in the global crop space,” Goertzen said. But with western countries viewing dependence on Russian crops as a vulnerability and turning to other sources, and crop production in the Ukraine being disrupted, crop supplies are tight and commodity prices high, a situation which is likely to continue in the year ahead.

“We are going to have some classes of cattle that are expecting to be back in the black for feedlots, which is going to be helpful as our feedlots have been challenged on margins over the last couple of years,” Grant said. Feed prices have been down since the end of June which has been price supportive of the feeder markets.

Brenna Grant, Executive Director of Canfax, in her presentation at the Canadian Beef Industry Conference (CBIC) in Penticton, B.C. in mid-August said there are several factors beef producers should watch in the year ahead.Firstly, there continues to be strong domestic and international demand for red meat, and smaller beef supplies globally, which is highly supportive of a strong futures market for beef cattle for the second half of 2022 and into Canada2023.had record high beef export values in 2021 and demand looks to stay steady through the rest of the year. At the same time, domestic retail beef demand was at its highest for 30 years during the height of the pandemic in 2020, when more people were cooking at home and still remains strong. Retail beef prices have held up well through the past couple of years but when prices reached record highs in the first quarter of 2022, consumers began to switch from high-end cuts to ground beef and to other lower priced meats like pork and poultry. “Where we get challenged is when we have our price relationship with pork and poultry get out of whack, and we then see incentives for the consumer to switch between proteins,” Grant said. Grant said beef supplies to consumers could be the tightest since 2015 due to large exports and virtually no growth in Canadian beef production. Tight cattle numbers ahead With large numbers of cows coming to market, cow slaughter is up four per cent in Canada, but a large num ber of cows are still being exported from western Canada. Cow prices in August were the strongest since 2015. “The combination of higher prices and larger sup plies shows how much demand we have for lean trim,” GrantCanadasays. has had large cattle on feed numbers for the last 13 months due to drought-induced placement last year; cattle were being pulled forward because of the lack of pasture. Placements were down in June and July of this year, so Grant says the numbers should get tighter and more current throughout the second half of the year.Fed cattle numbers are expected to get tighter in the fourth quarter too because the higher numbers of fed cattle have been supported by heifer placements, which were up 22 per cent from last year. “We know that if they were placed into feedlots, they weren’t put back into the cow herd so it’s just an other indication that we are going to have a smaller cow herd on January 1st [2023],” Grant said. Canada has also switched from being a net importer of fed cattle last year to a net exporter this year, which will further tighten supplies. U.S. cattle inventories are also dropping because of the recent drought and could approach record lows. “Supply is not going to be an issue as far as having to be cautious on markets, more likely it is going to be demand,” said Duane Lenz, an analyst with CattleFax in his CBIC presentation. Beef consumption in the U.S. is predicted to drop from an average of around 58/lb. per capita per year to around 52/lb. in the next two or three years, just because supply will be down. Demand will still increase, so that will support even stronger beef prices.Currently, Canadian packer utilization has been at around 94 per cent but as cattle supplies shrink across North America in the year ahead those levels will drop. “We are going to see leverage shift from the packer back to the feedlot, as they [packers] are going to be looking for cattle,” Grant said. She expects overall beef production to be up a modest two per cent this year.

Consumer demand driving inflation Inflation in Canada in 2022 and around the world has risen at the fastest pace since the early 1980s and in August was at 7.6 per cent. Goertzen says he does expect inflation to come down because central banks can no longer afford to ignore the situation, but it will take time. “Even this time next year we expect inflation to be well above target,” Goertzen said. While the pandemic and war have been disruptive to supply chains, shortages in supply are largely due to the inability to meet very strong levels of demand from consumers. That’s largely a result of how different the pandemic economic downturn was in comparison to any other in history. Traditionally, during a recession there are job losses and income losses in the household consumer space which weighs on the economy as a whole, Goertzen said. “What we saw in the pandemic was job losses, absolutely, but with the government programs that were put in place, overall incomes actually increased by 10 per cent,” he noted. Because households had more money to spend, but weren’t able to spend it on the things they traditionally would have, like eating out at a restaurant or going on a trip, savings went up 30 per cent in 2020. Those excess savings are now starting to be spent, which is and will continue to drive consumer demand.

5CATTLE COUNTRY September 2022 www.mbbeef.ca

• Clean up and removal of debris • Livestock fencing, harvested and stored crops, limit ed silting, field erosion • Repair and restoration of principal residences, pri mary outbuildings, driveways, essential farm/small business buildings, damaged pens and corrals

event.Manitobans

Paper DFA ap plications are also available to be mailed to you directly, or at most municipal offices. In order to process your claim, you need to pro vide: the most recent property tax bill and a completed Insurance Declaration Form. Other documents will be required once it is determined whether you are eligible for DFA.Itis important to take pictures of damages before they are repaired and before you dispose of anything. Track all your disaster-related repairs and activities, including labour/equipment hours, etc. Keep all receipts, invoices and other documents for disaster related expenses as they are required in order to support your DFA claim. To be eligible for payment you must provide invoices to demonstrate repairs have been completed and that costs have been incurred. Original proof of payment must also be provided. All mandatory documents must be submitted to Manitoba EMO before payment will be issued. The maximum amount of DFA available for private residences, farms, small businesses and NPOs is $300,000. A standard 20 per cent deductible is also applied to DFA payments. For all eligible costs, there are maximum amounts that DFA will pay out. DFA programs are open for a period of one year from the time the DFA program is established. All repairs must be done and all required documents must be submitted to Manitoba EMO by the program closure date (May 9, 2023). In exceptional circumstances, an extension may be granted if more time is required to return your property to its pre-disaster condition. For more information about eligibility or to apply, visit www.manitoba.ca/emo/dfa or email dfa@gov.mb.ca.

As noted, the DFA will provide assistance related to verified livestock losses. The following information has been provided by the provincial government and Manitoba Beef Producers to assist producers as they consider making a claim under the DFA program.

Deadline to Apply for Disaster Financial Assistance Program for Spring Flooding Extended to September 23

For complete program details and

Beautiful wedge shaped cow that raised calves into her teens for us

The following information was compiled from resources on the Manitoba Emergency Measures Organization’s website related to the 2022 Spring Flood DFA program. The deadline to apply for the Manitoba govern ment’s 2022 Spring Flood Disaster Financial Assistance (DFA) program has been extended to September 23, 2022.The program, announced May 9 is providing assis tance to eligible individuals and municipalities experi encing damages to infrastructure, private residences, farms or small businesses due to spring flooding. DFA helps provide financial assistance for uninsurable losses to basic and essential property. DFA will also assist with verified livestock losses, such as those sustained in the springThestorms.following items are typically eligible for DFA:

Note: The cost to obtain the veterinary certificate can be submitted as a DFA eligible cost For losses that happened some time ago, the pro ducer should contact their veterinarian, explain the situation, and obtain the needed certificate. Manitoba Beef Producers has developed a template that vets can use to support the producer’s DFA applica tion. In the veterinary certificate the cause of loss needs to be attributed to the ‘2022 spring flood’ and the date of loss should be Assistancestated.forlivestock losses will be calculated as follows:Isbased on the Wildlife Damage Compensation program for predation losses (MASC). See: age_livestock.htmlmasc.mb.ca/masc.nsf/fact_sheet_679_wildlife_damhttps://www.

asked questions about DFA:

To https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0S_STwXlP0

DFA and Livestock Losses

Will provide a price per pound for livestock losses. The price is based on the Canfax value on the date of loss (www.canfax.ca)Differenttypes of cattle are priced differently on Canfax, so therefore the farm will need to provide de tails on the type of livestock that were lost as well as the animal’s weight. For calf losses, the compensation will provide assis tance based on a 500 lb. cow. Producers should also examine the DFA eligibility criteria related to infrastructure damage to determine if there are any other losses for which they may be eligible to seekYoucompensation.have90daysfrom the announcement of a DFA program to submit an application form to Manitoba EMO. The application deadline for the spring 2022 DFA program is September 23, 2022. to download the DFA application form, go to: https://www.gov.mb.ca/emo/dfa/farm.html

For other inquiries contact Manitoba’s Emergency Measures organization as follows: Toll Free: 1-888-267-8298 Fax: (204) 945-4929 Email for Disaster Financial Assistance: dfa@gov.mb.ca

MH Mina 609, sired by Shoshone Ferrall 6340

view a video on how to apply for DFA:

• Mandatory evacuation costs to a pre-set limit. Examples of ineligible costs include: losses that could have been covered by insurance; costs recoverable through other government programs; losses recoverable through legal proceedings; non-essential items; normal operating/maintenance costs; capital purchases; up grades or improvements; loss of income or opportunity; damages that are a normal risk of trade or occupation; and, long-term maintenance issues unrelated to the are encouraged to check with their insurance providers to review their policy coverage before applying for DFA. Insurable costs, such as sewer backup, are not covered by DFA. Some Manitobans may have also purchased overland flood insurance. Apply for DFA using the online application form at: https://forms.gov.mb.ca/dfa-application/

• Damaged items in the house, essential furniture, essential clothing and primary appliances

• Costs to respond to a flood (e.g. dikes, pumping)

Frequently https://www.gov.mb.ca/emo/dfa/faq.html

DFA will provide assistance to farms that have ex perienced livestock losses as a result of spring flooding in 2022. To qualify for DFA, your farm must have yearly gross revenues of between $10,000 and $2 million and employ no more than 20 full time workers. It must be an owner-operated business and the owner-operator must be the day-to-day manager. The farm cannot be a hobby farm.In the DFA application form, producers should note the number and types of cattle lost, e.g. calves, fed steers, fed heifers, bulls, etc. Under the DFA program criteria, a veterinary cer tificate is required to verify that the losses were a direct result of the event. This is non-negotiable.

Our breeding program is focused on creating fertile cows that efficiently raise calves, are reliably repeatable, have excellent udders and feet and require minimal replacements (longevity); traits required to be profitable in the cow business. www.ediecreekangus.com

We would like to announce our Fall"Grazing & Genetics Tour" to be held Friday, Nov. 4, 2:00pm.

PROOF

Consumer confidence in Canadian livestock and meat products is built on Canada’s strong food safety system. The Government of Canada is committed to providing producers with the tools and resources they need to implement agricultural best practices to en hance the welfare of animals and provide Canada and the world with safe, quality food. Quick facts

Government of Canada Invests in Improving Animal Welfare

(August 8, 2022 Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada NewsTheRelease)humane care and handling of farm animals, and the ability to track their movements, are an import ant part of the confidence consumers have in their food in Canada. The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, announced an investment of up to nearly $3 million to three national organizations to enhance animal welfare and tracking in theWithcountry.funding under the AgriAssurance Program, the organizations will draw on new research to update industry standards for the care and handling of animals, and will evaluate technology to more efficiently trace farm animals in the production system in the event of a disease outbreak. The work will support the highest standards in farm animal care. The recipients include: Animal Health Canada, located in Elora, Ontario, will receive up to $2.9 million to update national codes of practice for the livestock sector, including the code for the safe and humane transportation of livestock. It has also developed and introduced a code of practice for the aquaculture sector covering farmed salmon, trout and arcticThechar.Canadian Cattle Identification Agency, located in Calgary, Alberta, will receive up to $52,140 to eval uate the use of ultra high frequency (UHF) scanners to read cattle identification tags as part of Canada’s commitment to the international community to quickly trace the movement of animals in the event of a disease outbreak. Tag readings are recorded in a database that makes it possible for government and industry to rapid ly contain the scope of a potential outbreak, protecting animal and human health.

“One of our mandates at Canadian Cattle Identification Agency (CCIA) is to keep in step with new technologies that have the potential to move livestock traceability forward, such as ultra high frequency (UHF) technology. We began with a review of its current application in livestock and are now enhancing our database to accommodate producers who are already use the technology. CCIA is grateful to have received funding to support both initiatives.”

The Canadian Poultry and Egg Processors Council, located in Ottawa, Ontario, will receive up to $35,750 to update its animal welfare program for hatcheries to meet the requirements of the National Farm Animal Care Council’s Code of Practice for the care and han dling of hatching eggs, breeders, chickens and turkeys.

-   Anne Brunet-Burgess, General Manager, Canadian Cattle Identification Agency

“The dedication of Canadian producers to the welfare of their farm animals is what makes our livestock system world famous. By improving our standards and practices for care and tracking, consumers can be assured that our food system is meeting the highest standards.”

Loveridge LoveridgeJennacredit:Photo

The Canadian Code of Practice is a national guideline developed by the National Farm Animal Council for the care and handling of farm animals. It includes requirements and recommendations on water and nutrition, environment management, housing and handling and transportation. The code is based on input from farmers, processors, researchers, government, vet erinarians, food service and retail representatives and animal welfare organizations.

The AgriAssurance Program is a $74-million federal initiative to build public trust by helping industry develop and adopt systems, standards and tools that enable it to make credible, meaningful and verifiable claims about the quality of Canadian agriculture and agri-food prod ucts and the manner in which they are produced.

Associated links Animal Health AgriAssuranceCanadianCanadianhttps://www.animalhealthcanada.ca/CanadaCattleIdentificationAgencyhttps://www.canadaid.ca/PoultryandEggProcessorsCouncilhttps://www.cpepc.ca/index.htmlProgramhttps://agriculture.canada.ca/en/agricultural-programs-and-services/agriassurance-program-national-industry-association-component/applicant-guide

Committment to the land, water, air, and wildlife is a prerequisite to raising healthy cattle. Sustainability is not a buzzword... it's a way of life.

6 CATTLE COUNTRY September 2022 www.mbbeef.ca

“QUOTES”

-   Dr. Melanie Barham, Executive Director of Animal Health Canada

As stewards of a vast portion of the Canadian landscape, Canada’s beef cattle producers play a significant role in protecting and enhancing the environment. They continuously strive to improve existing stewardship conservation practices to create a sustainable future – always farming for tomorrow.Atthe local level, a producer receives provincial recognition for their outstanding environmen tal contributions. In the case of Manitoba, this occurs in conjunction with MBP’s annual general meeting in February. All provincial award recipients then move forward to compete for national recognition from the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA). The national TESA recipient is announced during the CCA’s semi-annual meeting at the Canadian Beef Industry Conference. Each nominee exemplifies significant innovation and attention to a wide range of environ mental stewardship aspects in their farm operation. Such innovations extend beneficially to areas far beyond their land, including water, wildlife and air. How to Nominate All beef cattle operations in Canada are eligible to apply for TESA. Beef producers interested in TESA can apply by filling out the application form found on the MBP website ‒ www.mbbeef.ca. Producers can either nominate themselves, or be nominated by another individual or an organization. All methods are equally encouraged. The completed application form, along with all supporting documentation (such as letters of support, photos and/or videos), is to be submitted to Manitoba Beef Producers by email to info@ mbbeef.ca no later than 4:30 p.m. on Friday, December 9, 2022. If you have questions, please contact the MBP office at 204-772-4542.

Applications for Consideration for The Environmental Stewardship Award Due to MBP by December 9 Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP) is accepting applications until Friday, December 9, 2022 for consideration for the local awarding of The Environmental Stewardship Award (TESA). Since 1996, TESA has recognized producers who go above and beyond standard industry conservation practices and set positive examples for other cattle producers and the general public.

- The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food “We’re pleased to continue working collaboratively with industry, government, veterinary, and animal welfare professionals to continue in developing the Codes of Practice through the National Farm Animal Care Council, a division of Animal Health Canada. Evidence-based co-development is a cornerstone of how the Codes are created and updated and we are excited to lead this project into its final year of funding.”

Committment to the land, water, air, and wildlife is a prerequisite to raising healthy cattle. Sustainability is not a buzzword... it's a way of life.

BY ANGELA LOVELL

President: Melissa McRae

On the farm, people use ATVs (all-terrain vehicles) for all kinds of different transportation and work pur poses, and of course they can just be a lot of fun to ride recreationally on trails through the bush, which is why it’s important to respect the machines and operate them safely.“It’s getting to be commonplace now for ATVs or UTVs (utility terrain vehicles) to replace horses and things in cattle operations,” says Robert Gobeil, Agricultural Health and Safety Specialist with the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA). “People are hopping on an ATV to go check the fences out in the field, check the crops or make their rounds. They are used more and more because they can go places that regular trucks or vehicles can’t and they’re nimbler, but at times they can be a little quicker than we realize too, so just like a motor vehicle on the highway, we want to operate responsibly, and for the conditions at hand.” A major topic is ATVs and children, who may see the machines as fun, and be keen to emulate the tasks that the adults around them can do, not seeing an ATV as anywhere near as dangerous as other, larger farm machinery. But the statistics, sadly, show the opposite is often the case. Statistics Canada data shows that among ATV-related fatalities, seven per cent of riders were aged under“Something16. to keep mindful of is that we want to make sure that a child is physically and cognitively capable of operating an ATV,” Gobeil says. “That would include the parent or supervisor making sure that they physically fit the ATV, and that they’re able to operate it in a competent and safe manner. A small child operating an oversized ATV, other than some bragging rights for the kid, is a really unsafe thing.” “Some people don’t understand the power that some of these machines have and it’s too much for their riding capabilities, so sometimes that leads to collisions,” Sgt. Paul Manaigre of the RCMP. “The bigger they are, the more power they have, and the more weight they have. If you’re younger or smaller, the machine is going to ride you, it’s going to handle you, not the other way around. A lot of times it is, they hit something and then their handle bars turn and they get thrown because they’re too small. We see that a lot too in the winter time with snowmobiles; it’s just too much machine for the riders’ capabilities.” Adults need to supervise Adults need to be responsible for supervising and teaching kids how to ride properly in any setting, Manaigre“Legallyadds.in Manitoba, anyone 14 and under operat ing an ATV has to be under the constant supervision of a parent or an adult, someone that’s old enough [18 years or older]. They have to be within sight, they can’t just say I’ve shown them how and now they’re on their own,” he says. “When it comes to the younger ages, it’s just not a one-day thing. It’s like driving a car, you’ve got to be experienced in different terrains, different factors, what could come up. So, it should be an ongoing process of just watching them grow with the machine.” Adults also need to make kids respect the machines by making them aware of the hazards they can face. “Teach them how to ride it, but at the same time tell them, if you’re not driving this properly, if you’re going to be an idiot, these things can kill you,” Manaigre says. “You have to basically teach them to respect that machine and you can’t do that in 20 minutes; here’s the brake, here’s the shift lever, go. It’s a slow, ongoing pro cess and hopefully as a parent you’re going with them. It doesn’t always have to be for work. Parents with the kids can go for leisure rides, it can be an entertaining pastime, but that’s where you can build their confidence in being able to handle it, starting on a lower powered ATV for the kids so that they get confident.” Don’t take a passenger along Riders of ATVs should always wear a helmet and the appropriate riding gear for they are doing, which, on the farm, may include steel toed footwear if they are going to be around large livestock, and they shouldn’t have a passenger along for the ride. “If there’s one seat, there’s only one person operat ing, and unless it is a specially built and designed ATV for multiple passengers, there should be no extra riders,” Gobeil says. “We also strongly discourage operating on roadways because the design of ATVs, and the tires they use, are not made for hard roadways; they’re made for off-road. It’s surprisingly easy to lose control on a hard roadway.”There are also legal ramifications of riding an ATV on a roadway, which requires a driver’s licence, and the driver is subject to the same rules as they would be driv ing a car, including stiff penalties for driving impaired. It all comes down to operating safely and being prepared, Manaigre says. “I think that the machines themselves need to get more respect from people, and many do that. They have the right safety equipment, they’re riding properly to their knowledge and to their abilities,” he says. “You could be a pretty experienced rider but if you’re in unfamiliar terrain you don’t know what’s coming up. You could be coming up to a ridge or it could be some hidden object, and if you’re not prepared, or you’re going to fast, you can’t respond, there could be a collision or something that causes you to roll, so you need to be prepared.”CASA recently released a new online, ATV aware ness course, which can be found on its website at: https:// www.casa-acsa.ca/en/training/online-training/ pxhere.com 204-573-9903 Beswitherick 204-637-2046

ATV Safety Starts With Understanding Your Capabilities

7CATTLE COUNTRY September 2022 www.mbbeef.ca

THANK YOU FOR ALL OF SUPPORTTHE salesupcomingin making the 2022 CSA AGM & YCSA SHOW a success! OCT 26-29 - MANITOBA AG EX NOV 5 - CHERRY CREEK FARMS ONLINE BULL & FEMALE SALE NOV 15 - COME AS U R / RAINBOW RIVER ONLINE PRODUCTION SALE NOV 18 - PEMBINA TRIANGLE SIMMENTAL ASSOC. 42ND ANNUAL SALE DEC 4 - QUEENS OF THE HEARTLAND PRODUCTION SALE DEC 5 - NORTHERN LIGHT SIMMENTALS BRED HEIFE SR & 2 YEAR-OLD BULL SALE DEC 6 - KEYSTONE KONNECTION 43RD ANNUAL SIMMENTAL SALE DEC 10 - TRANSCON’S SEASON WRAP-UP SIMMENTAL BULL & FEMALE SALE DEC 10 - SHADES OF THE PRAIRIE SIMMENTAL SALE DEC 11 - BONCHUK FARMS FEMALE PRODUCTION SALE DEC. 14 - KARSIN FARMS SIMMENTAL BULL & FEMALE SALE DELIGHT SIMMENTALS - GORDON DELICHTE - ST. ALPHONSE, MB recipient of the A.O. Henuset Memorial Manitoba Simmental Ambassador Congratulations to www.mbsimmental.com SAVE THE NutritionDATE Workshop Featuring Dr. John McKinnon MBFI Brookdale Farm Learning Centre Wed., Nov. 2, 2022 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, call Manitoba Agriculture at 204-648-3965.

Secretary: Laurelly

Photo credit:

“Despite there being this overwhelming silence about the topic, if you crack that surface, people want to help each other, it’s just the difficulty of figuring out how to have those conversations because there’s stigma, there’s awkwardness,” Wickiam says. “I thought maybe we’d get people to talk and share some things and it would end there. But just as people want to help their neighbour with stuff on the farm, they also want to help start these conversations as well so that was a really interesting aspect.” A mental health crisis in ag? Until a few years ago, neither McDonnell, (who grew up on a farm), nor Wickiam, (who comes from the suburbs of Toronto), realized that there was a growing, and widely overlooked, mental health crisis in agricul ture.“I grew up on a small sheep farm outside of Goderich, Ontario. I had a single mom for most of my childhood who was the sole farmer. In addition to sheep farming, she did dog herding which was where she found most of her income,” McDonnell says. “So, I grew up with a different perspective than a lot of my peers who were from large poultry or dairy operations. Around 2017 to 2018, I was talking to my mom, who was retiring from the farm, about some farm magazine articles that had started to vaguely mention mental health in farming. This was still before a lot of the research came out. Until that point, I had no idea that there was anything going on with mental health in farming.” Wickiam was equally shocked when McDonnell started to share with him the information he was gath ering about mental health in agriculture. “I had no idea about the statistics and stuff he was sharing with me, and the prevalence of this issue,” Wickiam says. Shining a light on mental health in ag As the two friends delved into the issue, they also realized nobody was discussing it or bringing awareness to the subject, which is why they decided to make a documentary with the aim of shining a light on the topic for everyone, both inside and outside the agricultural industry.“Itseemed like an important project to be a part of and an opportunity to bring this to a wider audience,” Wickiam says. “We know that this film isn’t going to fix anything, it can’t speak for everybody, but we wanted to make a project that at least begins the conversation and bridges the gap in the work that is already being done. There are lots of studies and information, but not everyone reads that, but they might watch the film and see themselves in it and know that they are not alone, and there are resources out there.” COVID delayed the project, but they began shoot ing last October, interviewing farmers in Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba, as well as researchers, mental health experts and workers. “It’s going to be in English and French because we wanted to make sure we’re representing a wide variety of agricultural producers across the country,” McDonnell says. ‘We’re talking about mental health and how it af fects producers no matter what type of production they operate, or what scale, or what part of the country they are in; this is something national in scope.” What made the task of selecting interviewees hard er was the fact that the filmmakers had decided that they wanted to feature farmers and ranchers who had not previously talked publicly about mental health.

BY: ANGELA LOVELL With the strain of the COVID-19 pandemic the past two years, there probably aren’t too many people who haven’t struggled with their mental wellness from time to time, but for some people, that struggle is a daily one. In recent years, mental health experts have brought to the fore the mental health crisis that is happening in agriculture, and which has been largely unrecognized for a very long time. From the outside, farmers are tough, relentless and proudly independent; the kind of people others turn to when times get tough or they need a helping hand. Few realize that, in fact, farmers and their families are facing the same pressures – and more – than people in other walks of life, and need the same support for their mental health that others do. But they are often reluctant to talk about their feelings to others, as filmmakers, Kyle McDonnell and Van Wickiam found out. When they began searching for farmers across the country to interview for their new documentary, Deep Rooted that explores mental health in agriculture, they were surprised by some of the re sponses they received.

“Something we learned with working with these ag producers is that they want to be heard, they want to be understood,” Wickiam says “We’ve heard a lot about how social media has impacted ag producers, how there’s misinformation and things that stresses out people about the work that they’re doing. I don’t think people understand the stress and the mental health struggles that they experience. So, it’s to try and build empathy as well with people that watch this and maybe help them better understand some of the things those ag producers are going through.”

“Eventually we want it to be available for free to as many people as we can get, and we are reaching out to some farming groups about doing screening sessions,” McDonnell says. “We see the film being released to the general public in the traditional sense but also being used as a learning resource within communities, or at events where mental health is being discussed.”

For updates on the project, visit @deeprootedfilm on Instagram.

Upcoming Documentary Shines a Light on Mental Health in Agriculture

8 CATTLE COUNTRY September 2022 www.mbbeef.ca

The documentary will feature at some film festivals before being released online through streaming plat forms and eventually screened across the country.

“Either they were supportive and willing to talk or they just were not at all,” says McDonnell. “We got some messages saying, ‘mind your own business’ and that was not encouraging but also it steels your resolve because this is obviously something important if people are messaging you not to do it.” Once they did get farmers to speak with them about their experiences, though, they were overwhelmingly supportive of the project and wanted to help make a difference in their communities.

Photo credit: Kyle McDonnell

“We wanted to make sure these were people that hadn’t had a chance to tell their story,” McDonnell says. “This was a new opportunity to feature people whose voices weren’t heard yet.” Starting conversations The project is now in post-production and they are hoping to release the film in the fall of this year. The primary focus is to get the film in front of ag producer, so that they can watch and connect with it, and then to promote the issue among those outside of agriculture who have very little knowledge about it. “Our view is that the film can help de-stigmatize the issue and get things flowing,” McDonnell says. “We’re not saying everyone who watches this film is immedi ately going to call a health line and go to therapy the next day. We’re saying this is the first step that [might encourage them to] say to their spouse, or parent, or sib ling ‘maybe we should talk about mental health in our family’; this is a starting point for conversation. If one person calls or asks someone for help, we’ve succeeded.”

9CATTLE COUNTRY September 2022 www.mbbeef.ca And that’s why we’ve moved away from a third-party provider and brought tag sales in-house. This shift allows you to buy closer to the source, access any approved tag on the market and shop from anywhere, anytime. l CCIA Webstore is always open l Our shelves are never empty l “NEW ” Schedule a warehouse pickup l “NEW ” Special promotion codes for purchase l Same shipping promise as before CCIACANADIANCATTLEIDENTIFICATIONAGENCYcanadaid.ca We’re taking the bull by the horns Is it a good idea to take on tag Wedistribution?thinkso! Visit our webstore and join over 7,000 producers who are already enjoying the convenience of ordering tags and accessories online. Need help? tags.canadaid.ca | 1-877-909-2333

support

1-800-567-4400 grandvalley.com Advanced Animal Nutrition for Improved Human Health. THIS SUMMER SKIP THE LICK! ReplaceGARLICWITHAVAILABLEALSOexpensive lick tubs with high quality, palatable Nature’s Blend Cattle premix. Feed this perfect pasture mineral complete with organic source of selenium, essential minerals, and vitamins in a free choice mineral feeder and provide the superior nutrition your herd needs. Contact your Manitoba Beef Specialist today to learn more! 1-866-626-3933

MBP Statement re: Added Levy to Cattle and Other Commodities to Fund Keystone Agricultural Producers

(August 26, 2022) Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) has ad vised Manitoba Beef Producers it is seeking to expand the collection of its annual membership fee as outlined in the Agricultural Producers’ Organization Funding Act to more commodities, including cattle. MBP was not consulted about this and does not support this. MBP is continuing to investigate the po tential implications of KAP’s decision for our members and the sector on whose behalf we so proudly work.

10 CATTLE COUNTRY September 2022 www.mbbeef.ca

By way of background, on August 25 KAP sent correspondence to Manitoba commodity groups stating as follows: “KAP is the certified organization under the Agricultural Producers’ Organization Funding Act. This enables us to receive the funds generated through the check off system. The levy will be applied by designated purchasers (e.g., grain buyers, abattoirs, su permarkets) who buy agricultural product (e.g., cattle, grains, wool, honey, eggs) directly from Manitoba producers. The annual check off is capped at $262.50, plus GST.” This Act and accompanying regulation state that designated purchasers of agricultural products are to withhold a percentage value of the product, that being 1% of the gross selling price payable by a designatedProducerspurchaser.with questions about how this collection process will work should contact the Keystone Agricultural Producers office at 204-697-1140 or email kap@kap.ca Manitoba’s cattle producers already pay check-off dollars to fund invaluable beef sector-related work at both the provincial and national levels. This includes advo cacy on a wide array of issues and opportunities, as well as research and promotional activities aimed at stimulating, increasing and improving the well-being of the cattle and beef industry. Some recent MBP activities include: securing aid for producers affected by weather-related disasters; the Livestock Predation Prevention Pilot Project; and, advocacy work re: business risk management programs, Crown lands issues, vet shortages, front-of package labeling on ground beef, livestock transportation, and much more. We your and input.

value

11CATTLE COUNTRY September 2022 www.mbbeef.ca Survey NationalinandTuberculosisManagingre:BrucellosisWoodBuffaloPark

If you wish to learn more about our work or the bison disease issue, please visit our project website at ucvm-bison-project.com. Please contact Dr. Kyle Plotsky (kyle.plotsky@ucalgary.ca) or Dr. David Hall (dchall@ ucalgary.ca) with any comments or questions.

• SERVICES: Whether you are a specialty producer looking to get your product to a speci c market or distributor, or if you are producing commodity livestock for sale, we can partner with you. From our multi-species capabilities to our ability to handle smaller volumes, we o er excellent capabilities for producers in the Canadian Prairies to maximize their pro tability.

KYLE PLOTSKY, DAVID HALL (UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY)

• GRASSFED: “True North Foods is partnered with A&W Canada to supply Canadian grassfed beef for A&W’s grassfed burger program.

Although bovine tuberculosis (bTB) has been elim inated from Riding Mountain National Park, the disease is found in other areas of the country at the interface be tween wildlife and livestock. One of these areas is Wood Buffalo National Park (WBNP). It is the largest national park in Canada at 44,807 km2 and straddles the border between Alberta and the Northwest Territories. Nearly half of the remaining Canadian wood bison population live in herds in the WBNP area known to be infected with bTB and bovine brucellosis with prevalence estimated at around 40% in these herds. These diseases entered WBNP when 6600 plains bison were transported into the park around 1925 from another park near Wainwright, Alberta without being disease tested. Limited wood bison disease management has been conducted in the last century. The corralling and testing of wood bison and the creation of a bison meat industry were attempted in the mid-20th century. A 1990 propos al to depopulate the park of all wood bison and rein troduce disease free animals from Elk Island National Park near Edmonton, AB faced major criticism and was not implemented. Criticism was especially strong from Indigenous groups who have a historical and cultural connection with the animals. The Alberta and Northwest Territories governments have been operating control zones along the western and northern borders of the park to minimize the spread of the diseases. In a first for Canada, the World Heritage Status of WBNP was recently classified as under threat with the bison issue being an important concern. A number of actions have been taken to help address the bison issue, including changes to the provincial status of wood bison, work in genetics and vaccines, and a focus on working with Indigenous groups around the park. We are a non-governmental component of this process; our research investigates the socioeconomics of managing bTB and brucellosis in the WBNP wood bison. We aim to understand how rightsholders and stakeholders prefer the bison disease issue be managed. This includes understanding how important wood bison are to people and how knowledge and experience can influence management attitudes. Our findings will be summarized in a freely available report that can be used to inform future policy. The impact of bTB and brucellosis transmitting to animals outside of WBNP goes beyond the borders of a single park or province. This is especially true for livestock where transmission from bison to cattle could lead to billions in losses and the closing of international markets to Canadian cattle. This potentially devastating impact on the cattle industry highlights how important it is for our final report to include the views of people from across Canada. We are reaching out to various stakeholders for their assistance in completing a ques tionnaire on the bison disease issue regardless of their location or background. Responses will be anonymously incorporated into our final report along with responses from other rightsholders and stakeholders. You can participate by scanning the QR code to the right or by going to the following link for the cattle producer version of our question naire: form/SV_3Oek2YY9CXyutsq.https://survey.ucalgary.ca/jfe/

• FACILITY: We have a state-of-the-art facility to allow us to reach markets across Canada, the USA, and beyond. We understand producer’s needs, their care for their animals, and their honest, straightforward nature. Call us to hear how we can work together to get your product to market. www.truenorthfoods.ca | duane@truenorthfoods.ca | 204-791-5010

Market Report: An Optimistic Outlook for the Fall

It is the middle of August, and I have been on the road at cattle industry meetings from Ottawa to Penticton. Cattle producers are very optimistic this year about the fall cattle prices, and there are many of the fundamentals that support that optimism. The driving factor for the strong feeder cattle prices this fall is the anticipation of lower grain prices resulting in lower costs of gain. Canada’s grain outlook for the fall harvest is projecting a slight increase in barley volume, but still the second smallest barely crop in the past eight years. Export demand and domestic demand from the pork industry will keep the barley prices from falling too low. Corn production in Canada looks promising with estimates of a 35% increase in the corn harvest. Drought conditions in the major corn growing regions of the USA has cattle feeders on the south side of border more nervous than their partners in Canada. New crop corn in the USA is still over $6.00 per bushel. Another factor supporting the increased feeder cattle is the overall supply. On the fed cattle front, it looks like we are starting to get current with the inventory of market ready cattle. This glut of fed cattle and the above normal amount of cull cows this summer have given the packers the leverage on pricing and delivery schedules. Moving forward, many are predicting that in Western Canada we could see that lever age switch to the cattle feeders late in the 4th quarter of this year and carry through for much of 2023. Some industry experts are thinking that Canadian fed cattle prices could rally to over $1.90 per pound in December. Some traders think that the US price could reach $ 1.80 in the second quarter of 2023. With the heavy cull cow numbers behind us, there is a pretty good chance that there will not be as many cull cows on the market this fall. That could make for some interesting pricing later in the year. One has to remember that the bigger cull applied to the beef herd; the dairy business will still have a steady supply of culls to market. Currently the US packers are seeing lots of drought cows coming to market south of the border. This has allowed them to lower their price, making them non-competitive on the current cash market in Canada. This trend could carry over into the later fall. On the feeder supply side, drought conditions last year and this spring saw many ranchers cull deeper into their herds. In the past two years there were very few replacement heifers put out to pasture for breeding. This, combined with the terrible weather conditions during the calving season of 2022, resulted in unheard of calf losses this spring. In the USA, the experts are predicting that it will be the end of 2024 before the cowherds end the contraction mode and turn to rebuilding in serious fashion. The general feeling is that there will be a shortage of cattle in 2023 as we see more producers breed heifers to supply the rebuilding phase of the cattle cycle. The consensus is that if you want some feeder cattle you had better get them bought and you had better do it now! In Manitoba, our calf run could be somewhat delayed if the pastures hold out and the frost comes later than normal. If the prices on the early calf sales in the west are any indication, the addition of any extra pounds gained during the pasture season will be well rewarded. This could lead producers to try and put on as many extra pasture pounds as possible. Reports from Ontario are that there will be adequate feed this year; the crops may not be as good as last year, but still good. That is great news for Manitoba producers as Ontario has always been a strong supporter of Manitoba feeder cattle.

RICK WRIGHT The Bottom Line MHHCpays landowners to conserve wildlife habitat onprivate lands F i f i llT M MB ANGUS FALL GOLD SHOW AG EX For information and events check out the MAA www.cdnangus.ca/manitoba-angus-association/website!KeystoneCentre-Brandon,MBDecember6th,2022Please contact Bohrson Marketing for consignment or catalogue UPCOMING EVENTS! Keystone Centre - Brandon, MB October 27th, 2022 KEYSTONE KLASSIC SALE JACK HART MEMORIAL FOUNDATION FEMALE AWARD $2500 voucher to purchase an Angus female at the Keystone Klassic Sale. Visit the website or send an email for information to apply! Deadline to apply September 1st, 2022 P: 1-888-622-6487 E: mandi.mbangus@gmail.com Manitoba Angus Association Over 50 junior cattle producers from Manitoba and Saskatchewan took part in the 15th Annual Manitoba Youth Beef Round-Up in Neepawa July 30-August 1. For more information about the event, please visit https://www.facebook.com/ManitobaYouthBeefRoundUp/ (Photo credit: Prairie Pistol Design)

12 CATTLE COUNTRY September 2022 www.mbbeef.ca

There have been calls from the USA inquiring about both yearling and wet-nosed calf prices and supplies. As always, the American market will be the floor price. Their market has been very strong so far this summer with the deferred delivery sales bring ing near record prices. With the combination of Canadian feeding capacity increasing and the gap between the cost of feeding in the US and Canada drawing closer, the Americans may have a tough time prying the cattle away from the Canadian cattle feeders this year. If the cattle market stays on its current course, we could easily see the fall calf market exceed the prices paid in 2015. There are bold predictions of 500-pound steers at $2.80 plus and even whispers of some Manitoba steer calves at over $3.00 per pound. If you remember, I have been preaching that if the cattle producers can hang on, there will be a reward one day in the future. I strongly believe that the ‘reward’ is right around the corner. I realize that we need more than just one year of great prices to save the industry, but this fall looks like it has all of the fundamentals pointing in the right direction. I just wanted to thank everyone who took part in and supported the Manitoba Livestock Marketing Association’s annual Cattlemen’s Classic golf tournament. This year’s event was a great success. We had 188 golfers and fed 225 steaks for supper. The members of the committee did a great job! A big thanks to all of the 115 sponsors, along with the staff and volunteers from the Killarney Lakeside Golf Course who made this event so successful. Read Cattle Country’s next issue for a complete list of the sponsors and people who made this event such a success. Until next time, Rick.

When you bale graze, unroll bales, shred bales or feed in rings, nutrients are being added to the land from the feed. A 1,250-pound bale of alfalfa and grass hay at 14 per cent protein contains approximately 24 pounds of nitrogen, 2.5 pounds of phosphorus and 21 pounds of potassium. Livestock only capture a small percentage of these nutrients (10 to 20 per cent), so most of the nutrients are returned to the land. If 30 bales are fed per acre, and the animal uses 20 per cent of the nutrients, 570 pounds of nitrogen, 51 pounds of phosphorus (117 pounds of P2O5) and 434 pounds of potassium would be returned to the land. The value of the nutrients returned to the land would be close to $1000 per acre, depending on the value of fertilizer. Grazing stockpiled forage in the fall is one of the most economical methods of extended grazing, considering that the cost is for fencing and the standing forage (two cents per pound). Over the last four years at MBFI, grazing the second cut was the most economical method of extended grazing at $1.03 per cow per day, followed by corn at $1.86, swath at $2.58 and bale at $3.10. This includes yardage, labour and supplemented feed. This compares to Manitoba Agriculture’s average traditional feeding cost of $4.07 per cow.

Summary If you have never tried extended grazing, I would encourage you to try starting with stockpiled, stubble or corn stover grazing. By extending the grazing season, instead of confining animals and using stored feed, you can significantly lower your winter-feeding costs. Some extended grazing options can cut your feed costs, but not always. Extended grazing returns nutrients back to the land and will fertilize your fields, resulting in higher forage or crop production, higher livestock gains and possibly a longer grazing season. Add in reduced manure disposal costs, a cut in winter-feeding and yardage costs and this is one practice worth considering.

Shawn Cabak Livestock ManitobaSpecialist-BeefAgriculture shawn.cabak@gov.mb.ca

Stockpiled Perennial Forage Perennial forage that is grazed or cut early in the season, and the regrowth saved for late season or early spring grazing, is referred to as stockpiled forage. Typically, the first or second cut is harvested as hay, and re-growth is grazed after or close to killing frost. Grass and legume mixtures are better suited than pure grass or legume stands to decrease the risk of bloat, and grasses retain their leaves better.  Alfalfa and grass can be grazed moderately in the fall, close to or after a killing frost, with minimal impact on the winter survival of the alfalfa. Second cut alfalfa harvested in mid October averages 15 to 17 per cent protein and 64 to 66 per cent total digestible nutrients (TDN). A dry cow in mid gestation requires TDN in the mid 50s and seven to eight per cent protein, while a lactating cow in mid gestation requires TDN in the low 60s and 10 to 11 per cent protein.

Annual crops can be swathed in the late summer or early fall, and grazed imme diately or left until after freeze-up. Most annual cereals should be cut at the early to mid dough stage for highest quality and yield (oats late milk). You can control access to the swaths by strip grazing or using a portable electric fence, to reduce the risk of grain overload and ensure higher utilization. Swath grazing during a wet fall should be done after freeze-up to improve utilization and to decrease waste. Stubble grazing can make use of uncropped areas, straw aftermath and volunteer re-growth that is high quality for protein and energy. The fall of 2021 saw an amazing amount of crop regrowth that was both grazed and cut for feed. Nitrates were present and needed to be checked prior to grazing or feeding an annual crop. An annual crop producing two to three tonnes of dry matter per acre will produce 113 to 168 cow grazing days per acre, for a 1300-pound cow, assuming 20 per cent waste and residue. Grazing Standing Corn produced 318 cow grazing days per acre (1300 -pound cow) at the Manitoba Beef and Forage Initiatives (MBFI) Brookdale site from 2016 to 2021. The average yield was 5.6 tonnes of dry matter per acre, the protein was 7.5 per cent and the TDN was 75.7 per cent. For either corn or bale grazing, moving cattle every three to four days and using electric fencing minimizes the amount of waste and labour required. Feeding forages before moving the cattle to fresh corn will help prevent grain overload as the cattle will not be as hungry. In addition, tame forages (alfalfa and grass) will boost the protein in the ration and encourage the cattle to clean up the stover better. Another option is to graze corn stover in the fall. The lower feed value of the corn stover requires more supplementation, making it better suited to dry cows. Bale Grazing can involve all the bales being placed in the fall or hauled every seven to 10 days during the winter. If the bales are all placed in the fall, electric cross-fencingcross fencing helps to control feeding and to minimize waste. Another option is to place the bales in existing paddocks and move the cattle between pad docks according to how long the feed lasts. Bales should be spaced 30 to 40 feet apart to allow adequate access for the feeding animals and to keep nutrient importing at a moderate level. A bale spacing of 33 feet in all directions equates to 40 bales per acre. Portable wind breaks provide movable, affordable on-pasture shelter but may not be adequate in extreme winter conditions with high wind chill. Since snow is a good insulator, a powerful electric fencer is necessary for optimal livestock control. Using multiple wires including a ground on the cross fence may be required. An adequate supply of soft snow can be used as a water source but an alternative water source must be provided if conditions are icy or snow is lacking. Livestock energy requirements are slightly higher if snow is the sole water source. Providing fresh water to the younger and older cows with higher nutritional requirements is recommended.

For the next issue of Cattle Country, a Manitoba Agriculture forage or livestock specialist will answer a selected question. Email your questions to Elizabeth.Nernberg@gov.mb.ca. StockTalk for Cattle Country is brought to you by Manitoba Agriculture. We encourage you to email your questions to our department’s forage and livestock team. We are here to help make your cattle operation successful. Contact us today.

Extended grazing options can vary, from using crop residues to corn, swath, bale or stockpiled perennial forage grazing. Feeding management needs to be flexible to allow for some supplementation or complete feeding in extreme conditions. Extended grazing allows livestock to return most of the nutrients they consume directly to the landscape where they are fed. Feed costs can be less, but yardage and feeding costs are lower, as are manure removal costs. Manure and feed residues contain valuable nutrients that become available to annual or perennial crops. This improves crop productivity and quality and can extend the grazing season.

Answer:

Juanita Kopp Beausejour 204-825-4302 Juanita.Kopp@gov.mb.ca Elizabeth Nernberg Roblin 204-247-0087 Elizabeth.Nernberg@gov.mb.ca

Question: What are some options for extending the grazing season?

MBFI 2016-21 Corn Grazing Results Year CHU PlantPop. CP TDN% DM% DM Yield Cow Grzg tonne/acre days/acre 2016 Average 2150 38 K 7.0 73.7 44.7 6 338 2018 Average 2292 32.3 K 6.7 75.2 59 3.7 208 2019 Average 2318 28.4 K 7.0 77.9 56.1 6.7 379 2020 Average 2340 28.8 K 8.4 66.8 59.6 5.2 294 2021 Average 2295 31.9 K 8.2 84.9 67.2 6.6 370 Overall Average 2279 31.9 K 7.5 75.7 57.3 5.64 318

Share your Voice

13CATTLE COUNTRY September 2022 www.mbbeef.ca StockTalk Q&A Feature Brought to you by Manitoba Agriculture

Annuals for Fall Grazing or Swath Grazing

Shawn Cabak Portage 204-239-3403 Shawn.Cabak@gov.mb.ca Pam Iwanchysko Dauphin 204-648-3965 Pamela.Iwanchysko@gov.mb.ca

Feed Contains Valuable Nutrients

• Advocating for Agriculture: Opportunities and challenges in the beef sector with Carson Callum, Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP) General Manager. Hear about advocacy efforts MBP has been undertaking over the past couple of years to gain support for farmers facing feed and water shortages and those impacted by spring 2022 storms and flooding. Talking ticks and bovine anaplasmosis with Dr. Kateryn Rochon, University of Manitoba, Associate Professor of Veterinary and Wildlife Entomology. Discussion of all things ticks, with highlights from a current project assessing the relationship between tick abundance on pastures and cattle.

MBFI Has Launched The Beef & Forage Roundup Podcast

The Livestock Predation Prevention Project with Ray Bittner, Manitoba Beef Producers LPPP Project Lead. Updates on this three-year, industry-led pilot project with the aim of reducing wildlife predation of cattle and sheep in Manitoba. The bright future of agriculture with MBFI’s 2022 summer students. Hear about their summer experiences at MBFI and what this fantastic group is looking forward to in their careers.

Utilizing planned grazing to increase forage production with Pam Iwanchysko of Manitoba Agriculture. Hear about the many benefits of starting planned rotational grazing from a six year study at MBFI. Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) Grazing Club and the General Mills pilot pro gram with Michael Thiele, DUC Grazing Club Coordinator and UnderstandingAG consultant. Discussion of how DUC Grazing Club activities have evolved over time and Michael’s recent activities supporting adoption of regenerative farming practices.

when you close your eyes or wake up in the middle of the night? Alternatively, “If I could fix one thing that would take a bit of a weight off my shoulders, what would it be? Your mental and emotional health are important. As the leader on your farm and as a member of your family and community, here are four things you can do right now to help relieve some of the pressure you may be dealing with: Implement a stress management routine that works for you – I say stress management and not stress relief because it’s unlikely you’ll be able to eliminate stress from your life, but you can put yourself in a better position to deal with it. A routine can take many forms - morning walks, exercise, going for a drive, reading, enjoying nice weather, spending time with friends and family (this last one is debateable – depending on your family!). Choose something that works for you though. Reflect on internal vs. external stressors – after you have asked yourself what is keeping you up at night, expand on this. Is the source of that stress something that you have some control or influence over, or external forces that you can not influence? Examples of internal stressors are things like personal or family relationships, lending or retailer relationships, record keeping, herd management, time, etc. External factors are generally environmental, political, or economic – interest rates, economy, weather, prices etc.

Scott Kemp is a Farm and Agribusiness Management Consultant with Backswath Management. He can be reached at scott.kemp@backswath.com

BY: SCOTT KEMP

• Update on strategic beef cattle herd development case study covering production metrics in the MBFI herd and application of technology to evaluate performance • Feed testing and winter ration development • Producer spotlight • Extended grazing practices and cost of production • Economics of overwintering cow herd and feed calculators

Leveraging your group – most people have a group of people and networks they trust. Whether that is sourc es of information, business advice, or someone’s input you respect, identify those networks and consider how they can help (the coffee shop and Twitter don’t count!)

A few months ago, I wrote a piece for Cattle Country called “Managing your Farm Through Uncertainty” (May 2022). In it, I discussed that with so much uncertainty on the horizon, improving your farm management and focusing on aligning three key elements – vision, financial performance, and dayto-day management – would give your farm a better opportunity to be successful. What was not mentioned, and is often not discussed, is the person or people doing that work; those managing the farm and the people around them. We all know that even when times are good, being a beef producer is a stressful undertaking. And this last year has been a roller coaster – inflation, interest rates, COVID-19, feed prices, fuel prices, supply chain, political unrest, weather, and tightening margins. Who isn’t feeling burnt out? It is sometimes easy to associate those stresses and factors as “the farm”, but that stress doesn’t end when you get off the tractor or come in from the barn. We carry them with us through the day (and night) which impacts both our physical and mental health and those around us. Did you know that stress is the underlying factor of nearly every mental and physical illness? Avoiding the impact that stress is having on ourselves often leads to conflict with those around us. And these issues grow when we are under pressure which easily causes division with family, friends, and co-workers.

BY: DR. MARY-JANE ORR, MBFI GENERAL MANAGER

• Building productivity with grazing management with Steve Kenyon (Greener Pastures Ranching Ltd). A conversation about all things grazing with a feature on the Farm Resilience Mentorship Program in Advanced Grazing Systems in col laboration with Farmers for Climate Solutions, Canadian Forage and Grassland Association, Manitoba Agriculture, and MBFI.

• Balancing range health & cattle production with Leah Rodvang (MBFI Research Technician). Highlights of MBFI grazing practices and Leah’s insights on the most rewarding aspects of using grazing management to improve the land and soil health.

14 CATTLE COUNTRY September 2022 www.mbbeef.ca

• Cow body condition scoring and tools to monitor cow weights Listening to free audio programmes, like Beef & Forage Roundup, is straightfor ward with access to the internet. On your computer web browser or phone podcast app (e.g. Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify) you can search “Beef and Forage Roundup” and follow the links to listen, download, and subscribe to keep up to date with new releases. For more information or to start a conversation please email MBFI at informa tion@mbfi.ca or call at 204-761-3300.

So, what can you do to help manage your stress and reduceBeforeconflict?you answer that question, perhaps it’s help ful to start by asking yourself, “What is it that is keeping me up at night?” What is it that you are worrying about

•include:Introduction to Manitoba Beef & Forage Initiatives and upcoming extension events with General Manager Mary-Jane Orr. Overview of MBFI operations and 2022 extension events.

Manitoba Beef & Forage Initiatives (MBFI) has launched an audio program ‒ the “Beef & Forage Roundup” podcast with host Chantel McRae. It has been created to share information with farmers and agricultural enthusiasts, showcasing the beef and forage industry and the important work that is happening at MBFI. This podcast digs deep into on-farm research and field-testing practices to improve production and sustainability of practice. Episodes are released on the first and third Wednesday of each month, and feature conversations with MBFI staff, project leads from numerous research and demonstration studies, speakers from extension events, and leaders in the industry.

• Project findings from demonstration study on bale placement and type of bind ing’s impact on bale grazing residue.

What’s Keeping You Up At Night?

If the factors are external, what can you do to miti gate those? There are some tools to help with rising inter est rates. The federal government’s Advanced Payment Program offers interest-free loans up to $250,000 for livestock and commodity producers. In some cases, this can work as an operating loan to help manage cash flow (Google “Manitoba Livestock Cash Advance Inc. for details and eligibility).

With tightening margins, understanding your cost of production is an important first step. Manitoba Agriculture has a number of free Cost of Production Guides and Calculators online that may help provide some insights for beef producers. Every operation is different, but it may flag a couple of areas for you to dig a little deeper and compare your costs.

Understand how you can leverage those groups and seek support to help you with those things you need assistance with – whether that is financial, personal, or on the operation side. The personal and professional It’s not just you – stress and tension create conflict with those around you. Your loved ones and the people you work with daily feel your stress and sometimes feel the brunt of it – and not just when you are sorting cattle. What are you bottling up? Is there something that may seem trivial from the outside, that is really grinding your gears? Set aside a time to communicate it with those around you before it boils over. Read any ag publication or look at the face of any beef producer, nearly everyone is feeling the stress right now. Carrying stress for any length of time has an impact on your mental health and your physical health. Groups like Do More Agriculture Foundation (domore. ag) have a list of resources and information to help with your mental health or those around you. You can also call Manitoba’s Ag Help line 24/7 at 1-866-367-3276.

The podcast also shares information about upcoming workshops and field tours, links to educational materials, as well as producer profiles from around the province sharing their experiences, challenges, and successes. Chantel started working with MBFI in January of 2022 as an Extension Specialist with the goal of increasing awareness and sharing information regarding the im portant research and demonstration studies happening here at MBFI. In addition to creating and hosting the Beef & Forage Roundup, Chantel is active in the day-to-day operations of the family farm. She is also an Instructor for Assiniboine Community College in the Early Learning and Child Care Distance Education Program. In her spare time, Chantel enjoys riding and competing in rodeos, as well as spending time with her family and friends. Chantel, her husband Brett, and son Corbin, farm southwest of Brandon and run a herd of purebred Angus cattle who calve in the spring. They sell two-year-old bulls and replacement heifers and grain farm as well. Soil health principles for both their pasture and grain land is a focus in their operation, and they do their best to be good stewards of the land they own and rent. As our podcast host, Chantel’s enthusiasm for agriculture and connecting with people is guided by her interest in each guest’s story to share. Episodes released so far

Upcoming episode topics in 2022 include:

The study also revealed that when the beef samples were exposed to 6-day dry biofilms, harmful E. coli was transferred to the beef. However, no beef contamina tion with E. coli was detected when exposed to 60-day biofilms. Contamination from wet biofilms was higher than from dry biofilms.

Photo credit: Claudia Narvaez-Bravo

ChutesSqueeze # 1550 Hi-Hog CompletelyFull#1536SqueezeManualwithHeadHolder32”InsideWidthUnmatchedAccessHeadHolderSitsoutofWayWhenNotBeingUsed Built Strong From the Ground Up Available at Federated Co-op Ag Centres

15CATTLE COUNTRY September 2022 www.mbbeef.ca

It is important to note that during meat processing beef juices and water are released on surfaces in the processing plant and may come in contact with old dry biofilms present on these surfaces. The water and nutri ents awaken the bacteria residing within the biofilm. To check this theory, researchers exposed the 60-day old dry biofilms to water and nutrients and found that the E. coli survived. Interestingly, the highest E. coli survival rate was observed from these multi-species biofilms. This suggests that old and dry biofilm can still harbour viable bacteria that will be able to recover under favourable con ditions and can cause cross contamination in meat plants. The results from this research also showed that multi-species biofilms may help harmful E. coli bacteria survive and persist under dry conditions while other biofilm mixtures were able to decrease E. coli numbers withinOverall,biofilms.this research demonstrated that the risk of harmful E. coli contamination of beef can be influenced by bacterial species composition, the type of surface that the biofilm is formed on, humidity, and the age of biofilms. These findings demonstrate the importance of understanding the impact of bacterial communi ties within food processing environments to prevent contamination in processing plants. This research also emphasizes the importance of proper cleaning and sanitation to prevent or reduce bacterial persistence and biofilm formation and provides important information to more effectively protect consumers by mitigating the risks for food borne illness.

BY CLAUDIA NARVAEZ-BRAVO, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, FOOD AND HUMAN NUTRITIONAL SCIENCES AND THE NATIONAL CENTRE FOR LIVESTOCK AND THE ENVIRONMENT (NCLE), UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA

The industry has adopted aggressive sampling programs, which have revealed the occurrence of “high event periods” in slaughter plants. These high event periods occur when a large number of trim samples are found to contain harmful E coli. However, the causes behind these events in processing plants remain mostly unknown. Studies have shown that some strains of bacteria such as E. coli O157 can establish persistent populations in food-processing environments. The formation of biofilms on beef processing equipment can act as a continuous source of contamination. Researching E. coli and its function in biofilms Biofilms on contact surfaces have generally been investigated as single-species biofilms in wet conditions. The biofilms that form within beef processing facilities are typically composed of multiple bacterial species and these biofilms can exist in wet or dry conditions. Multiple strains of bacteria have been isolated from conveyor belt biofilms within a beef-processing facility after cleaning and sanitation procedures. The University of Manitoba research team led by researcher Claudia Narvaez-Bravo is studying potential interactions with multi-species biofilms formed on plas tic materials used on conveyor belts and on stainless steel surfaces. The purpose of the research is to determine if spoilage bacteria encourage or discourage attachment of harmful E coli to food contact surfaces. They are also assessing if this E coli can transfer from single and multi-species biofilms formed on surfaces in the pro cessing facility to beef products that are processed in the plant, considering different environmental conditions such as storage times, temperatures and humidity levels. What have we learned so far? The researchers selected bacteria that have a high biofilm forming ability at high (25˚C) and low tempera ture (10˚C). During the study, biofilms were formed on stainless steel and plastic exposed to different environ mentalResultsconditions.fromthe study show that specific biofilm mixtures consisting of various spoilage bacteria, formed at 25˚C can discourage harmful E. coli transfer to beef. None of the biofilms formed at 10°C contributed to contamination of beef by E. coli

University of Manitoba Researchers Investigate Bacterial Biofilms in the Food Industry

Foodborne bacteria are a concern for the food industry. Average national loss in the United States connected to health-related costs caused by foodborne pathogens was estimated to be approximately $51.0 billion annually. To reduce the risk of outbreaks, the beef industry has invested resources to control and reduce bacteria such as harmful E. coli, a known cause for foodborne illness. What are bacterial biofilms and how do they help bacteria survive?

People generally think of bacteria as free-moving cells, however bacteria can be fixed to a surface where they can be protected by structures known as biofilms. Biofilms are communities of microorganisms attached to solid surfaces or to each other and surrounded by a mucus-like substance that help the bacteria to survive. These natural protectants are very common in nature and can form on surfaces such as plastics, glass, stain less steel, and rubber. When established, biofilms act as shields to protect bacteria that reside within them, pro tecting them from sanitizers and antibiotics. Biofilms make bacteria more difficult to remove and they enable the exchange of genetic material among bacteria creat ing an environment favorable to cross-contamination, especially in meat processing plants. As a result, proper cleaning and sanitation proce dures are critical to the elimination of food borne patho gens that can pose risks to food quality and ultimately food safety. If the cleaning and sanitation processes are incomplete and ineffective then microorganisms can survive, setting the stage for biofilm formation.

BY: ANNA BORYS, MBP FOOD EXPERT

16 CATTLE COUNTRY September 2022 www.mbbeef.ca

MANGO SALSA

3. Cook for 15-16 minutes until rice is fully cooked, and liquids are all absorbed. Fluff rice, remove stocks of lemongrass and set aside until required.

NOTES

4. Pre-heat a cast iron pan (or pre-heat grill) over high heat until smoking. Add marinated flank steak and allow to sear for 4-5 minutes a side until internal temperature reaches about 130°F. Remove steak from pan or grill and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing thinly against the grain.

Staying in for date night can be challenging to find something new and exciting to cook when stuck in a rut. Pasta can be too heavy, seafood is hard to get when living nowhere near an ocean, and you’ve done steak and potatoes for the last 7 date nights. On these days which have been the hottest and most humid we’ve seen in a while (considering I’m writing this mid-July) are the days in which the idea of turning on an oven resulting in a few extra degrees on the thermostat are not so comfortable nor romantic. Trying a new cut like flank and doing a simple marinade and throwing it on the grill offers a fun, spicy twist to a dinner date for two.

Dinner, Yields 2 Servings Thai Flank Steak: • 375g flank steak • ¼ cup lime juice • 1 tsp garlic, minced • 1 tsp ginger, minced • 1 tbsp red thai curry paste 1 tsp fish sauce • ½ bunch cilantro, chopped • ¼ cup canola oil • 1 tsp – kosher salt • 1 tbsp white sugar • ¼ cup green onion, chopped • 1-2 thai chili peppers, chopped Mango Salsa: • 1 large mango, ripe, small diced • ¼ cup red pepper, small diced • 2 tbsp red onion, small diced • ¼ tsp kosher salt • 2 tbsp lime juice • ¼ cup cilantro, finely chopped Coconut-Lemongrass Rice: • 1 cup long grain rice, rinsed • 1 cup coconut milk, canned • ½ cup chicken stock • 2 x 6” stocks lemongrass • ½ tsp kosher salt • garnish toasted coconut • garnish slivered green onion

A Thai Twist to Date Night

4. To serve, garnish with toasted coconut and slivered green onion.

(Photo

Coconut

2. Add all ingredients to a small pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn heat to low and cover.

1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, cover and chill until required.

2. Add remaining ingredients to a food processor and blend until well combined and no large chunks remain. 3. Pour enough marinade into marinating bag or container to just cover the steak. Save re maining marinade to use as a sauce later on. Allow to marinate for a minimum of 8 hours or overnight in fridge.

FLANK STEAK

Half-page Contactopportunitiesalsoavailable.Jenniferformoreinformation. 1-800-772-0458

Rice

• For a lower calorie option, Lite Coconut Milk can also be used. credit: Anna Borys)

Using fresh ingredients like fruit, citrus and fresh herbs can help lighten any typically heavy dish. It may look like a laundry list of things to grab for the marinade, but there are maybe only a few ingredi ents that most home cooks might not already have on hand. These ingredients are all just thrown into a food processor and blitzed so there’s very little prep involved.

Thai Marinated Flank Steak with Mango Salsa and Lemongrass

• Be sure to shake the canned coconut milk well to release the coconut cream which separates and rises to the surface of the can to allow to mix in with the separated coconut water. If it cannot be released by shaking, open can and use a whisk or immersion hand blender to remix the cream and water together.

COCONUT-LEMONGRASS RICE

The steak will take at least 8 hours to marinate, so either throw it together the night before or the morning of and the hard part is already done. Using a rice cooker for the coconut rice is perfect if you want to “set it and forget it”, however stovetop is also a great option if you don’t have one. I chop all the ingredients for the mango salsa while the rice is cooking. Side note, the mango salsa is a great topping for so many other dishes like fish tacos, or grilled pork chops! If you can’t find nice ripe mangoes at your local grocery store, try substituting with pineapple! For those who have the “cilantro tastes like soap” gene, try a blend of mint and parsley, or thinly sliced basil instead.This recipe also makes for a great interactive party option if you want to omit the rice dish and sub in butter lettuce leaves to create a fun Thai steak lettuce wrap platter! Add a few more toppings such as crushed peanuts, extra marinade to drizzle, rice noodles, toasted coconut, a variety of slivered veggies and lime wedges! Enjoy! mbbeef.ca/news/SubscribeToday!

1. Place flank steak in a large sealable Ziploc bag or marinating container.

1. Wash the stocks of lemongrass, and slice off the bottom. Remove the outer leaves. Using the heel of a knife, lightly smash the lemongrass stocks to break up the fibres keeping the stock intact for easy removal. This will release the aroma and will allow for a deeper steep while cooking.

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