T

Volume 40, Number 12 | JUNE 10, 2014
$4.25
PRACTICAL PRODUCTION TIPS FOR THE PRAIRIE FARMER
www.grainews.ca
Fertilizer toxicity
can kill a seed
Too much fertilizer too close to the seed can create a toxic
environment. Here’s how to recognize the problem if you have it
BY ANDREA HILDERMAN
T
he last thing any farmer
wants to do is create a
toxic environment at
seeding time by applying
too much fertilizer so close to the
seed that it prevents normal germination and establishment.
Fertilizer is not the only culprit
when it comes to poor emergence.
Seeding too deep, poor seed quality, disease, insects, dry soil or
flooding can cause problems for
seed emergence. However, with
modern seeding equipment and
one-pass seeding regimes, it pays
to be aware of the havoc toxicity
from fertilizer can wreak.
Most nitrogen used in Western
Canada is applied in the form of
either granular urea, compressed
anhydrous ammonia (AA) gas or
liquid urea ammonium nitrate
(UAN). When anydrous ammonia
is injected into the soil, the pressure is lost and the AA reverts to its
gaseous form, releasing the ammonia (NH3) into the soil. Ammonia
reacts with water in the soil to
form ammonium ions (NH4+) that
adhere to soil organic matter and
soil particles.
Both ammonia and ammonium
ions at high concentrations are
Publications Mail Agreement Number 40069240
very toxic to seed and seedlings.
And so, AA must be banded into
moist soil and the furrow must be
closed to prevent ammonia loss. If
side-banding, ensure that there is
good separation between the AA
and the seed row which should
prevent ammonia from moving
into the seed row and injuring
seed or seedlings.
When urea is applied to the soil,
it is transformed by enzymatic
reactions to form ammonia gas,
which reacts with water to form
ammonium ions — as in the case
of AA. However, urea is also a salt,
which poses another danger to
seed and seedlings: salt toxicity.
If a high rate of urea is applied
in the seed row, seed mortality can
be increased due to high salt concentrations. The seed and seedplaced fertilizer are competing for
moisture around the seed, with
the seed likely to lose the battle
and become dehydrated or even
killed. Seed-placed urea poses risks
of salt, ammonia and ammonium
toxicities to seed and seedlings.
Liquid UAN is 50 per cent
urea and 50 per cent ammonium
nitrate. The urea half behaves as
already described with regards
to formation of ammonium and
the salt toxicity. The ammonium
nitrate portion separates into the
ammonium ion (NH4+) and the
nitrate ion (NO3-). Studies show
that nitrates at the typical concentrations of applied fertilizers are
not as toxic to seeds and seedlings.
Consequently, if UAN is placed
close to the seed it may also pose
salt as well as ammonium toxicity
to seeds and seedlings.
Soil moisture
needs to be
assessed
every year
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
Typical signs of fertilizer toxicity
are poor germination, large gaps
in the rows and poor-looking seedlings. If you dig into the soil, you
will find swollen dead seeds or seeds
with very short or no radicles at all
if these problems are due to fertilizer toxicity. If the seed did imbibe
enough moisture to start germination and a radicle and a plumule
formed, you will find brownish
roots with stubby or blunt tips. In
healthy plants, the roots should be
whitish, narrow and long.
Due to poor root formation or
lack of root formation, the shoot
that forms runs out of nutrients
and energy and may fail to push
through the soil. The extent of
the damage depends on the concentration of the salts in the soil.
The seed may germinate and
shoots might be able to emerge
but they’ll look as if they were
trampled on and there can be
gaps in the field or areas with
weak, sickly plants.
If it rains enough before the
seeds die, the salt concentration
is reduced and the damage minimized. If the damage is severe,
there are no effective remedies,
except possibly reseeding if there
is sufficient time left to do so.
There may be a significant volunteer problem. However, there are
strategies that can help growers
prevent this sort of damage in the
first place.
TOXICITY PREVENTION
“Farmers should be aware of
the guidelines for seed placed
f e r t i l i z e r, ” e x p l a i n s P a t r i c k
Mooleki, provincial soil and
nutrient management special-
In This Issue
ist for Saskatchewan Agriculture.
“We have fact sheets that provide guidelines for safe rates of
seed-placed fertilizers, which are
dependent on soil moisture and
soil texture.”
Farmers are advised to seedplace only safe rate of fertilizer
based on the crop, soil texture,
soil moisture, width of seed row
openers and row spacing as stipulated by the guidelines. The rest
of the fertilizer must be applied
away from the seed either before
or after seeding. During seeding,
fertilizer should be applied in
the side-band or in the mid row,
depending on the equipment
at hand. Farmers who want to
apply more fertilizer with the seed
should consider replacing part of
the urea with a polymer-coated
fertilizer such as ESN. Consult
suppliers for guidelines.
Generally, if the season starts
off very dry, it would be beneficial to reduce the amount of
seed-applied fertilizer. “What a
farmer might have applied in a
previous season with the seed is
not necessarily going to be the
right amount to apply in the next
season,” explains Mooleki. “Soil
» CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Wheat & Chaff ..................
2
Features ............................
5
Crop Advisor’s Casebook
8
Columns ........................... 14
Machinery & Shop ............ 19
Cattleman’s Corner .......... 44
Lemken showcases
new implements
SCOTT GARVEY PAGE 24
Adding minerals
to your nutrition plan
DEBBIE CHIKOUSKY PAGE 47
FarmLife ............................ 51
2
/ grainews.ca
JUNE 10, 2014
Wheat & Chaff
STAMPEDE
BY JERRY PALEN
LEEANN
MINOGUE
I
“He’s a natural born lawn cutter.”
CONTACT US
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or email: [email protected]
If you have story ideas, call us. You can write
the article and we’d pay you, or we can write it.
Phone Leeann Minogue at 306-861-2678
Fax to 204-944-5416
Email [email protected]
Write to Grainews, 1666 Dublin Ave.,
Winnipeg, Man. R3H 0H1
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When you renew your subscription to
Grainews, be sure to ask for six Please
Be Careful, We Love You hearts. Then
stick them onto equipment that you,
your loved ones and your employees
operate. That important message could
save an arm, a leg or a life.
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Leeann Minogue is @grainmuse
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Scott Garvey is @machineryeditor
n the May issue of Grainews we
ran two pages of stories about
controlling grasshoppers. As
soon as we sent it out, I got an
email about another solution.
My friend Leah Soroka grew up
on a farm near Innisfree, Alta. Now
Leah is working at a short-term job
in Kinshasa, the capital city of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo.
According to Leah, they manage
grasshoppers a little differently in
that part of West Africa.
“Our air conditioner broke in
the office. It’s hot!” she said. “All
the large grasshoppers are stuck
to the window.” When Leah said
the grasshoppers are “large,” she
meant about two inches long.
“The employees came in and
put all the grasshoppers in a bottle
to cook up at home. So now the
semi-alive grasshoppers are in 10
large bottles in the fridge.”
What’s the next step? “I guess
you take off the legs and the piece
of skin that covers the back (kind
of like a flap) and fry them in oil
with salt. Apparently they taste
like popcorn.”
If you try this at home, please
send pictures and a full taste
report. You’ll notice there are no
photos of Leah trying this herself.
PHOTO: LEAH SOROKA
These large grasshoppers were stuck to the window in the morning.
BATS ON THE PRAIRIES
By May 9, it was still too cold
and wet to seed. We could have
taken the tractor into the field, but
I’m not sure how we would have
gotten it out.
So we used our free Saturday
to take our seven-year old to
“Science Rendezvous” in Regina,
an annual spring science festival
that takes place at most Canadian
universities. There were professors,
researchers and students on hand
to demonstrate their research,
show off the latest gadgets and
run kids’ workshops. We saw a 3D
printer in action (amazing), used
a glow light to see germs on our
son’s hands (disgusting) and made
our own ice cream in a coffee can
(too salty, but fun).
One of the scientists involved
was Dr. Mark Brigham, head of
the University of Regina’s biology
department. Dr. Brigham is a big
fan of bats, and was doing his best
to pass on his enthusiasm.
I am anti-bat. I wasn’t wild
about bats even before I saw a
bat flying around our living room
last fall (you probably heard me
screaming from your farm).
Dr. Brigham has heard all of the
reasons people don’t like bats, and
has a rebuttal for each of them.
“First,” he said, “they won’t get
stuck in your hair.” He claims this
myth only has traction because
bats tend to fly around at adulthead height. We lose heat through
our heads and attract bugs to the
area. The bats eat those bugs.
Although they have a reputation
for digging in, Dr. Brigham says
that even if you purposely put a bat
in your hair, it would fly right out.
Next, he said, bats rarely have
rabies. “They don’t carry the virus
without exhibiting symptoms,”
he said. Bats are usually healthy,
PHOTO: LEEANN MINOGUE
This big brown bat is the biggest bat we’re likely to find on the Prairies.
but be suspicious if you see one
lying on the ground. Don’t pick it
up. “That’s not what bats are supposed to be doing, and there’s a
greater chance that it’s sick,” Dr.
Brigham said.
And finally, they don’t actually
suck blood. The three species of
vampire bats only live in South
America. And even they don’t suck
blood — they just make a small slit
in the skin and lick it. And Dr.
Brigham says they don’t care for
human blood. “It’s too salty.”
Sensing that I was still anti-bat,
Dr. Brigham told us that bats aren’t
even rodents, they’re mammals
like us. “Their closest relative are
primates, not mice.” And the ones
we have in Canada only eat insects.
Bats aren’t as big as I thought.
The (dead) “big brown bat” in the
photo is the biggest bat we’re likely to find on the Prairies. (It would
look much bigger with it’s wings
spread, swooping over my couch.)
Like them or not, bats may be
in danger.
Alyssa Stulberg, one of Dr.
Brigham’s students, is studying
white nose syndrome, a fungus
that is infecting bats all over eastern North America and as close as
Northern Ontario and Minnesota.
The fungus is headed this way, and
it could kill 95 per cent of our little
brown bats and 50 per cent of our
big brown bats. “If it gets here, it
could kill the majority of the bat
population,” Alyssa said.
Alyssa is going to spend most
of her summer outside counting
bats in southeastern Saskatchewan.
Knowing the current bat population
will help her understand the impact
of the fungus if it reaches us. If you
know of any good places for counting bats in southeast Saskatchewan,
please get in touch with Alyssa at
[email protected] and
let her know where she should start.
Personally, if I had a list of
places where I’d be sure to find
bats, I’d avoid those places at all
costs. Dr. Brigham did his best to
get me on side, but I still don’t
want one of those gigantic bloodsucking flying rabid rodents stuck
in my hair.
Leeann
JUNE 10, 2014
grainews.ca /
3
Wheat & Chaff
Farm safety
Voluntary guidelines for young farm workers
F
arm kids are a special breed. They are
often precocious, dedicated, smart
and willing to help out on the farm.
However, even the most advanced
young worker doesn’t have the knowledge,
experience or judgment of a seasoned farm
worker. With so many youth starting summer jobs on the farm, parents and employers
of young farm workers need to have a clear
understanding of youth development levels,
abilities, limitations and know when and
how to set clear rules and boundaries for any
work assigned to a young person.
Greg Englot is a Grade 12 student and
young farm worker from Abernethy,
Saskatchewan. “I enjoy (working on the
farm), I would do it for no money,” he says.
However, Englot says that young workers can put themselves in harm’s way,
“Sometimes you get full of yourself and
think you can do something you probably
shouldn’t. (Young workers) want to prove
themselves, especially if they are really
into the job they are doing and can end up
putting themselves at risk,” he says.
In March, the Canadian Agricultural
Safety Association (CASA) and the Canadian
Federation of Agriculture launched “Let’s
Talk About It!” a Canadian Agricultural
Safety Week campaign focused on encouraging farmers to talk about farm safety. Talking
to young workers is one part of good communication in the farm workplace.
Glen Blahey is a Health and Safety
Specialist with CASA. “Many young workers
tend to generalize their skills from one task
to another, feeling they possess the size and
strength to overcome any problem. They feel
that they are immortal and can’t be hurt.
This can put them at risk,” he says.
CASA has developed a resource that provides information about the needs and limitations of young workers. The Canadian
Model Youth Policy is a voluntary guideline
that enables parents and farm owners and
operators to plan and talk about keeping
young farm workers safe. The policy was
adapted from a similar document developed
by youth safety advocates and agricultural
leaders in the United States.
The model policy advices farm owners
and operators to provide a basic orientation
program for young workers, which helps
introduce guidelines, expectations and policies for farm work.
The policy also reviews the importance of
supervision. Young farm workers require the
highest level of support during orientation
and training. The level of supervision of a
young worker depends on the individual as
competency and maturity levels vary from
person to person. It is important to participate in on-the-job, hands-on training. All
work should be directly supervised until the
young worker can prove their competency at
a task. Young workers should not be placed
in a work-alone situation.
When assigning tasks to youth, factor in
the hazard level involved. For instance, job
assignments for 14 and 15 year olds should
occur in non-hazardous work environments
only. Options can expand for 16 and 17 year
old youth, but only if they have taken vocational or other work-based learning programs
and have the written consent of their parents.
Hours of work are another important
factor to consider when scheduling young
workers. Young workers require shorter work
hours and more frequent breaks than adults.
Youth under 18 are in a state of rapid growth
and development and need more time for
sleep and rest. They also need time to participate in school, family and community
recreation activities.
These are just some of the voluntary
guidelines covered in the model policy. It
is important to acknowledge that nothing magical happens at age 18 in terms of
maturity or risk of injury, so always evaluate the competency of a young worker on a
task-by-task basis regardless of the number
on their driver’s license. It is also important
to review provincial legislative requirements
for young workers, which govern hours of
work and safety and health regulations.
Young workers can be an excellent asset
to any farm but it is important to provide
them with the special attention, supervision,
training and orientation they need to be
productive and safe.
For more information visit http://casaacsa.ca//CanadianModelYouthPolicy. †
Canadian Agriculture Safety Association
— www.casa-acsa.ca
Agronomy tips…
Precision matters with fusarium Wait for
E
ven the best wheat fungicides only offer
suppression of fusarium head blight
(FHB), so it’s crucial to follow label
instructions closely to protect as much
of your hard-won yield and quality as possible.
The application window for most FHB fungicides is as short as two to three days, so
timing is tight. This coincides with the period
when the florets are open. Prepare in advance
to make an application between 1) when 75
per cent of the wheat heads on the main stem
are fully emerged and 2) when 50 per cent of
the heads on the main stem are in flower.
Protecting the entire wheat head is key.
Fusarium has the ability to infect grains that
haven’t been sprayed directly, even if neighbouring grains have. Be sure to select the right
spray nozzle, adjust it properly, use a generous
water volume (I suggest 15 gal./ac.) and drive
slowly for thorough coverage.
Weather Lore
Sticky doors
E
Should you be spraying for fusarium this
year? If your cereal crops have suffered from a
FHB outbreak in recent years and the weather
is set to be warm, windy and wet or humid at
flowering, a fusarium fungicide application is a
smart idea. †
This agronomy tip is brought to you by Aaron Bouchard,
Agronomic Service Representative for Syngenta Canada Inc.
Aaron, who farms in Saskatchewan, is a Certified Crop
Adviser and a P.Ag.
You might be from the Prairies if...
By Carson Demmans and Jason Sylvestre
ver notice how some windows and doors seem to be a bit
harder to open and close just before a rain?
When doors and windows start to stick,
Rain will soon our shingles lick.
A wooden door or window frame has tiny veins that once, when
the door or the window frame was in the tree stage, carried nutrients up and down its trunk. During periods of high relative humidity, water condenses in these veins, causing the wood to swell. The
door or window is now slightly larger and thus a little more difficult
to open or close. †
Shirley Byers’ book, “Never Sell Your Hen on a Rainy Day” explores over 100 weather
rhymes and sayings. It is available from McNally Robinson at: www.mcnallyrobinson.com.
You consider a half ton truck to be a fuel efficient compact.
Photo contest
GIVE US YOUR BEST SHOT
This photo was taken by Dean Smith. Dean and her husband Glen farm near
Sanctuary, Sask., with their son Riley, Riley’s wife Amber and their children.
Mealtimes in the field were getting crowded — Dean’s farming family had outgrown
the front of the truck. Then they found the trailer in this photo (they call her Josey),
and now the Smiths are eating in style. Dean says, “This is the third spring we have
used her. She came to the farm as ‘Grossey Josey,’ but with some hot water and TLC
she cleaned up pretty good. After being mouse free all this time, I have dropped the
‘Grossey.’ She is just Josey now and I don’t know what we would do without her.”
This trailer is a comfortable place for the family to eat meals in the field during
busy times. “It makes things a lot better with two kids,” Dean says. “They get to
bug their dad and grandpa for 15 minutes then go up top and play with their toys.”
Dean, we’re sending you a cheque for $25. Thanks for sharing!
Send your best shot to [email protected]. Please send only
one or two photos at a time and include your name and address, the names of
anyone in the photo, where the photo was taken and a bit about what was going
on that day. A little write-up about your farm is welcome, too. Please ensure that
images are of high resolution (1 MB is preferred), and if the image includes a
person, we need to be able to see their face clearly.
Leeann
the movie
G
rainews has a new
time-lapse camera. My husband
helped me set it up
in the field just north of our
house on May 27.
We’ve seeded this field
with 4.5 pounds per acre of
LibertyLink canola. When we
set up the camera, the plants
had just come up.
Ideally, the camera will take a
photo of the crop every morning around 10:30 for the next
few weeks. Each photo will be
taken from the same angle. I’ll
have to move the post when
it’s time to spray. If the crop is
higher then, I might change
the angle of the camera.
In mid-June, when I take the
chip out of the camera, hopefully I will be able to stitch
those photos together into a
short video of the growing
crop. Then, the plan is to put
the video on the Grainews website for everyone to see.
A lot of things could go
wrong with this plan. I might
not have the camera set right.
A bug might work its way into
the (supposedly) water-tight
camera case. A gigantic weed
might grow right in front of the
camera and block our view of
the canola plants. The orange
flag on the post might attract
a moose, who might decide
to eat the shiny green camera.
Anything could happen. Stay
tuned for the movie. †
Leeann Minogue.
4
/ grainews.ca
JUNE 10, 2014
Cover Stories
Crop nutrition
» CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Fertilizer toxicity
can kill a seed
moisture needs to be assessed
every year.”
Consider rates carefully in
soils with low organic matter. Organic matter holds onto
moisture and can be helpful
in reducing both ammonium
and salt toxicity of fertilizers
to seeds. Light textured sandy
soils don’t hold moisture as well
as heavy clay soils, which offer
more protection against ammonium toxicity.
“Seed mortality due to fertilizer toxicity is a huge issue,”
says Mooleki. “It is something I
try to raise awareness of in my
work with farmers.” In fact, questions about fertilizer toxicity are
some of the most frequently asked
at Saskatchewan Agriculture’s
Agriculture Knowledge Centre.
Saskatchewan Agriculture demonstrated what happens with high
fertilizer rates at its Crop Diagnostic
Schools in 2013.
“We had plots in Swift Current
and Indian Head to show that
this damage can be significant,
and how side-banding and the
use of ESN can help reduce the
damage when high rates are
used,” says Mooleki. “In 2014 we
are planning to include information on fertilizer rates at our Crop
Diagnostic Schools (CDS) to be
held at Scott and Melfort, Sask.,
but we won’t be focusing on fertilizer toxicity. Instead, for the soils
segment of the CDS, we will be
focusing on nutrient deficiencies
and soil factors that limit crop
productivity such as salinity and
sodicity.”
1 6 6 6 D u b l i n Av e n u e ,
W i n n i p e g , MB R 3 H 0 H 1
w w w. g r a i n e w s . c a
PUBLI SH ER
Lynda Tityk
Associate Publisher/
Editorial director John Morriss
Edi tor
Leeann Minogue
fiel d Ed ito r
Lisa Guenther
Cattleman’s Corner Editor
Lee Hart
Farm life Edito r
Sue Armstrong
Machinery EDITOR
Scott Garvey
photo: patrick mooleki, saskatchewan agriculture
This image shows hot spots (gaps) in the rows and not so hot areas with better-looking plants.
In addition to nitrogen fertilizer toxicity, farmers should also
be aware of toxicities that can be
caused by phosphorus, potassium
and sulphur fertilizers.
Polymer-coated fertilizers
“ESN is a polymer-coated urea
granule,” says Ray Dowbenko, senior specialist, agronomic services at
Agrium. “The coating acts to slow
the reaction of the urea granule
with moisture in the soil and in
doing that, it diminishes the free
ammonia and salt problems that
can damage seed. Additionally, the
slow release of nitrogen coincides
better with the growing seedlings’
demand for nitrogen — the seed
has on-board stores to power germination. As those stores run out,
nitrogen from the ESN granule
has, and is slowly becoming available. There is much less risk of
damage to the seed or the concern
of nitrogen getting washed away if
ESN is used.”
ESN has more than 15 years
of peer reviewed, vetted seed
safety research behind it. “The first
research trials were conducted in
1997, and it was commercialized in
Canada in 2005,” says Dowbenko.
“The guidelines that Agrium recommends for ESN applied with the
seed are very conservative. Farmers
can be assured that at the rates we
provide guidance on, while they
may seem high if one was thinking of straight urea, are well and
truly tested and established in peer
reviewed research.”
With uncoated, regular urea,
seed safety is further compromised when soil is dry. ESN in
dry soil, on the other hand, does
not compete with the seed for
what little moisture there may
be in the same way. “The coating on the granule separates the
seed from the fertilizer, and also
reduces urea from reacting with
moisture in the soil directly,
acting as a barrier,” explains
Dowbenko. Only when moisture crosses that barrier will the
urea be able to react and release
nitrogen.”
According to Dowbenko’s work
with Agriculture and Agri-Food
Canada and Alberta Agriculture,
if growers use 100 per cent ESN
fertilizer as their nitrogen source,
they are able to exceed their provincial safe rate guidelines up
to three times, and up to 1.5
times in a 50:50 ESN:urea blend.
Dowbenko also advises growers
to understand limitations in their
own operations such as row spacing, row width, soil texture and
soil moisture, as well as individual
crop sensitivities. †
Andrea Hilderman has her master’s degree
in weed science and is a member of the
Manitoba Institute of Agrologists. She writes
from Winnipeg, Man.
Weed management
Find out what you need to know about new reports
of glyphosate resistance across the Prairies
K
ochia is not the first glyphosateresistant weed in Canada but it is
the first in the West. Giant ragweed
was the first weed confirmed with
glyphosate resistance in Canada. It was discovered in 2008 near Windsor, Ontario. Giant
ragweed is an extremely competitive weed — if
herbicide control options for giant ragweed are
diminished, it can cause significant yield losses.
The second glyphosate-resistant weed discovered in Canada was also in Ontario —
Canada fleabane.
Now the first glyphosate-resistant weed
has been discovered in the West. Glyphosateresistant kochia was discovered in 2011 in
Alberta, 2013 in Saskatchewan and, to no
weed expert’s surprise, in 2014 in Manitoba.
Manitoba resistance
“The only odd thing about finding glyphosate-resistant kochia in Manitoba was where
we found it,” says Nasir Shaikh, provincial
Shawna Gibson
Des igne r
Steven Cote
MARKETING/CI RCUL ATION
Dir ector Lynda Tityk
Circul at ion manag er Heather Anderson
president
Glacier farmmedia
Bob Willcox
H e ad O f f i c e
1666 Dublin Avenue,
Winnipeg, Man. R3H 0H1
Phone: (204) 944-5568
Fax: (204) 944-5562
Ad ve rtis ing Sa le s
Andrew Winkels
Phone: (204) 954-1414
Fax: (204) 944-5562
Email: [email protected]
Ad ve rtis ing Ser vice s
Co-o rdin ato r
Arlene Bomback
Phone: (204) 944-5765
Fax: (204) 944-5562
Email: [email protected]
Printed in Canada by
Transcontinental LGM-Coronet
Winnipeg, Man.
Grainews is published by Farm Business
Communications, 1666 Dublin Avenue,
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3H 0H1.
Glyphosate-resistant
kochia in Manitoba
By Andrea Hilderman
Pro duction Di recto r
weed specialist with Manitoba Agriculture,
Food and Rural Development. “We expected
to find it in the western part of the province
where kochia populations are more plentiful,
but we found it close to the U.S. border in the
Red River Valley where it is not as common.”
In the Alberta and Saskatchewan situations,
the glyphosate-resistant kochia was found
in chemical fallow fields. In Manitoba it was
found in fields under annual crops, one in
corn and one in soybeans in 2013.
“In the case of the soybean field, the grower
sprayed glyphosate on his Roundup Ready
soybeans and shortly afterwards noticed
kochia was not controlled,” says Shaikh. “He
then contacted his local Manitoba Ag rep
and he was advised to remove the remaining
weeds by hand, which he did.” Shaikh will
be working extensively this season to work
with and educate growers about glyphosate
resistance, glyphosate-resistant kochia and
strategies farmers can use now to reduce the
likelihood of the problem spreading. He will
also be monitoring for spread of the resistant
weed with surveys in 2014.
“Farmers will have to increase their attention to utilizing integrated weed management strategies,” says Shaikh. “This means
increased attention to herbicide tank mixing,
tillage operations, crop and herbicide rotations and field scouting for escapes or uncontrolled patches after spraying.”
Identifying resistance
How will farmers know if glyphosate-resistant kochia is present? “Glyphosate-resistant
kochia will present with a range of symptoms,” says Shaikh. “There will be some
stunted or roasted plants, some will be curled
up, but not dying off and some will just yellow. None will die completely and if seeds
are set, they will be glyphosate resistant.” It
is therefore very important that farmers scout
fields diligently to find patches of kochia that
might survive and then get rid of those plants
before seed is set.
“Farmers could try another herbicide application with a different herbicide group, but
that is dependent on the stage of the crop
and the weed,” says Shaikh. “The best and
surest bet is to use a tillage operation or hand
weed the surviving plants.”
There is a good chance that this is a problem that will spread given the nature of
kochia. “I can’t emphasise enough the importance of vigilance,” says Shaikh. “If farmers
lose glyphosate as an herbicide option, weed
control options are diminished greatly.” †
Andrea Hilderman has her master’s degree in weed science
and is a member of the Manitoba Institute of Agrologists.
She writes from Winnipeg, Man.
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5
Features
Crop production
Crop trials show profit-raising products
Field trials give farmers a chance to see a product’s real in-field results
By Lisa Guenther
F
armers have a plethora of inputs to choose
from these days, but one
ag retailer hopes to help
farmers sort through their options
by running field-scale trials in
northwestern Saskatchewan.
And those trials focus not only
on yield, but how likely that
product is to provide a return-oninvestment (ROI) for local farmers.
“Just because a product works
well in a certain soil zone doesn’t
mean it will work well in a different soil zone. So we really want to
know — here at home, do these
products work or not,” Greg Frey
told farmers gathered at Cavalier
Agrow’s agPROVE forum in
North Battleford. Frey is the location manager for Agrow’s Meota
branch.
Cavalier Agrow’s field trials were
distributed around the company’s trading area, which includes
Meota, Medstead, Meadow Lake
and Spiritwood, Saskatchewan.
Yields from each strip are weighed
and compared to a check.
Running several trials in different locations cuts the likelihood
of false positives (a trial generates
positive results, but it’s not because
of the product) and false negatives
(the product actually works, but
for some reason the single trial
didn’t yield a good result).
Fungicide paid in 2013
Cavalier Agrow staff and farmers
ran 13 trials at Spiritwood, Meota
and Medstead. They also set up
a trial in Meadow Lake, but the
untreated check was flooded.
The trials looked at how wheat
r e s p o n d e d t o Tw i n l i n e a n d
Caramba fungicide applications,
compared to an untreated check.
Twinline was applied at the standard rate at flag leaf and Caramba
at the heading stage, prior to
flowering.
Cavalier Agrow applied a single application of Twinline or
Caramba to some strips, while others received a single application of
both fungicides. Applications were
between 12 and 18 days apart.
Wheat treated with both
Twinline and Caramba yielded
best, on average, across locations, weighing in 16.19 bushels per acre over the untreated
check. Caramba alone topped the
untreated check by 12.86 bushels
per acre, on average, and Twinline
nosed ahead of the check by 11.71
bushels, Frey said.
Based on $6 wheat and a $5
sprayer cost, a combination of
Twinline and Caramba provided
a $61.90 per acre ROI. Caramba
alone returned $56 per acre and
Twinline $55.63.
But looking at soft wheat prices
of $3.50, Twinline alone provided the best ROI ($26), followed
by Caramba alone ($24.40). A
joint application still provided a
$21.43 ROI.
Frey said as long as wheat prices
are greater than $2.20 per bushel,
all treatments at all locations gave
a positive ROI.
But treated wheat at Meota
showed a much slimmer yield gain
than other sites. Frey told farmers
Meota’s smaller yields likely came
down to variety. Hard Red Spring
wheat was grown in Meota and
it was also the responsive to fungicides.
Last year’s fungicide trial results
gave Frey a new perspective on
a trial Agrow ran a couple years
ago looking at different wheat
varieties.
“When we grew CPS wheat
seven, eight years ago against our
Hard Red Spring wheat varieties,
we said ‘Why does our CPS not
yield more than our hard red spring
wheat?’” Frey said. “Depending on
the year, I think we were leaving a
lot of the extra yield on the table
by not applying a fungicide.”
Cavalier Agrow also broke down
results into response by individual
wheat variety, but Frey cautioned
the data sets were small.
But, with that caveat, Canada
Prairie Spring Red yielded 42.4 bushels per acre more than the untreated
check with applications of both
fungicides. Canada Prairie Spring
White saw a 20 bushel bump with
two doses, and Canada Western
Soft Wheat 14.5 bushels. Canada
Western Red Spring only increased
by 6.4 bushel with both treatments.
Not all products a win
Cavalier Agrow and cooperating farmers also took a look at
ATP’s ReLeaf on canola last year,
running 12 trials at all four locations. ReLeaf is an N-P-K product
designed to “provide early season
stress relief when ‘seedling stall’
can occur,” according to ATP’s
website. It’s applied at the same
time as herbicide.
“Overall, the trend in 2013 was
ReLeaf canola was not an advantage,” said Frey.
In Spiritwood, ReLeaf averaged a
two bushel gain over the untreated
check. In Medstead, ReLeaf was up
0.6 bushels. But at Meadow Lake,
ReLeaf was down 0.6 bushels and
it dropped 2.5 bushels at Meota.
Frey said field variance probably
played into the small differences
between sites.
Since ReLeaf is designed to counter stress, 2013’s ideal growing conditions may have played into the
product’s performance, Frey said.
“Those plants were pretty
Wheat field at Cavalier Agrow’s Meota location (2012).
WHEAT YIELD GAINS FOUND BY CAVALIER AGROW
This table shoes the yield gain in bushels per acre at three sites
when these three treatments were used, compared
to the untreated check.
Treatment
Medstead
Meota
Spiritwood
Twinline
18.1
6.71
8.03
Caramba
19.86
7.99
20.03
Twinline + Caramba
21.99
7.99
25.33
healthy. I don’t think there was a
lot of stress to alleviate,” he said.
ReLeaf is part of ATP’s larger
agronomic package, known as R3.
The package also includes PreCede,
a micronutrient seed primer, and
Fortify, which syncs with fungicide application. Cavalier Agrow
will test the entire R3 platform
this year.
Canola treated with fungicides
also bore disappointing results
at most of Cavalier’s locations in
2013. At most locations, any yield
gained from applying Proline and
Serenade was negligible and provided a negative ROI.
“At a lot of the trials, we
found no disease incidents in
our untreated check,” said Frey.
Since fungicides prevent disease,
“if the disease isn’t present, we’re
not going to see the benefit.”
Hitting canola with Proline did
pay at Meadow Lake, boosting
yields by upwards of six bushels per
acre over the untreated check. †
Lisa Guenther is a field editor with Grainews
based at Livelong, Sask. Contact her at Lisa.
[email protected].
Farm management
Make sure
you get paid
You’ve grown a great crop and booked a good
price. Now make sure you actually get paid
By Lisa Guenther
B
efore you shop a truckload of
grain, it’s worth knowing a bit
about who you’re selling to and
what you’ve got in the bin. Doing
your homework could make the difference
between getting paid fairly and perhaps not
getting paid at all.
Under the Canada Grain Act, grain dealers
and elevators, including primary and terminal elevators and processors, need to renew
their licences with the Canadian Grain
Commission (CGC) each year.
Along with applying for licences and providing year-end financial statements, dealers
and elevators have to tender security, says
Fred Hodgkinson, head of licensing with the
CGC. All licensees file a monthly liability
report with the commission so they can be
sure the companies are in compliance.
If farmers aren’t paid before a licensed
company goes bankrupt, they can file a
claim to be paid out of that tendered security, Hodgkinson explains.
“If you deal with a company that isn’t
(licensed) don’t come a-callin’ if you can’t
get paid because we haven’t got security.
But phone in advance, confirm if the company’s licensed,” says Hodgkinson.
Licensed grain dealers and elevators are
listed on the commission’s website, at www.
grainscanada.gc.ca, under “licensed companies.” Companies also need to post current licences in their office or elevator,
Hodgkinson says.
If farmers are unsure about whether a
company is, or should be, licensed, they
can also phone him, says Hodgkinson.
Farmers should make sure they get
a delivery receipt on the day grain is
unloaded, which includes specs from the
unload, says Hodgkinson. Cash purchase
tickets are also acceptable for filing a
claim. Scale tickets are not.
And although farmers may want to
amortize income for income tax purposes,
“the sooner you get payment the better,” says Hodgkinson. Farmers are only
eligible to claim their share of the tendered security for 90 days after delivery,
Hodgkinson explains.
Once a settlement is issued, the farmer’s
initial receipt is no longer eligible against
security, says Hodgkinson. Farmers will
only have 30 days to make a claim on the
settlement document. Otherwise a company’s liabilities would climb, particularly
in the fall, as it carried forward deferred
producer payments.
“By cutting that window down to 30
days, then that eliminates that excessive
carryover of possible deferred settlements,”
says Hodgkinson.
If farmers sit on their initial receipt for 80
days before seeking a cash purchase ticket,
that cash purchase ticket is only eligible for
11 days against security, Hodgkinson says,
assuming it’s dated that day.
Farmers who accept post-dated cheques
from licensed companies will only be covered for 30 days from the date the cheque
is issued, no matter what the date is on the
cheque, the commission’s website states.
Hodgkinson says he also gets questions about delivery contracts, particularly
when farmers aren’t able to deliver on
time because of weather or road bans. “We
always stress that until the delivery is made,
we have no ability to get involved in the
scenario.”
Making the grade
Farmers who disagree with the grade
a licensed primary elevator assigns
can also appeal to the Canadian Grain
Commission.
“However the Grain Commission grades
that sample, that is binding. So the elevator must pay according to the CGC
grade,” says Daryl Beswitherick, manager
of quality assurance at the Commission.
The Commission will also rule on dockage,
moisture and protein.
Both the farmer and elevator staff must
agree the sample is representative of the
truck load in question. And farmers wanting to appeal to the commission should act
as quickly as possible, he adds.
“We do get calls from producers who’ve
waited too long. Then we can’t do anything
about it. So it needs to be timely,” says
Beswitherick.
More information on the Canadian Grain
Commission programs is available at www.
grainscanada.gc.ca. †
Lisa Guenther is a field editor with Grainews based
at Livelong, Sask. Contact her at Lisa.Guenther@
fbcpublishing.com.
6
/ grainews.ca
JUNE 10, 2014
Features
HARVEST
Straight talk
on straight cutting
The best time
to swath canola
It’s not for everyone, but some farmers are seeing
benefits from straight cutting their canola
The Canola Council’s recommendations
on timing have changed. Keep up to date
with the latest swathing guidelines
BY ANDREA HILDERMAN
S
teve Larocque of
Beyond Agronomy in
Three Hills, Alberta,
has been straight cutting canola for the last four
years. “The main reason we
switched to straight cutting
was because we couldn’t
find a swather with a 30-foot
knife that would work in
our controlled traffic system,” explains Larocque.
“Using a John Deer 9750
with a 30-foot knife we are
able to straight cut the exact
width of the tramlines. And
in the four years since, we’ve
learned a lot about straight
cutting canola in our area.”
One thing growers need
to know right off the bat
is that straight cutting may
not be an option on every
farm, but it certainly is
worth looking into.
STRAIGHT CUT TIMING
Larocque uses a pre-harvest glyphosate application
in the first two weeks of
September to get the crop
to finish ripening and dry
down slowly. “We’ve found
spraying glyphosate at the
30 to 40 per cent seed colour change stage works best
for us,” he explains. “There
needs to be some green material for the glyphosate to
work.” The crop will generally be ready for straight cutting about three weeks after
this pre-harvest operation.
“If you swath and then
combine, you will have
your crop in the bin about a
week earlier than pre-harvest
glyphosate and straight cutting,” says Larocque. “That’s
been our experience.”
ADVANTAGES
There are situations where
straight cutting is advantageous. “If your area is
prone to high winds in the
fall, straight cutting offers
advantages,” says Larocque.
How much
labour and
equipment
is available?
“One year, we had 113
kilometer per hour winds
when the crop was one to
two days away from harvest. Yes, we had shattering
losses, but we still harvested
30 bushels per acre. But that
was a lot better than trying
to harvest swaths that had
been blown asunder and
into the ditches and fence
lines. Average yields in our
area were about 15 bushels
per acre after that wind tore
through.”
Larocque
also
finds
seed size is increased with
straight cutting. “We are
leaving the crop to ripen
longer whereas swathing
stops the ripening process,” he says. Cost-wise, if a
farmer is using a pre-harvest
glyphosate application and
then straight cutting, there
are probably no savings.
However, if the pre-harvest
application is not required,
there will be reduced costs
and one less field operation. This can also help
with overall harvest management and timing.
Additionally, Larocque
says he finds seed losses
with straight cutting are
equal or less than compared
to swathing and combining.
“When the crop is swathed,
it’s cut lower and there is
a lot of volume to combine,” he explains. “When
we straight cut, we are leaving taller stubble, taking in
less material and find the
combine can do a better job
of separating the seed from
straw and chaff.”
Larocque says many farmers perceive canola to be a
riskier crop to straight cut,
but so far, his experience
has been that there have
been no greater seed losses
with straight cutting than
with swathing.
“The decision to swath or
straight cut comes down to
each individual grower’s situation,” explains Larocque.
“How much labour and
equipment is available?
Can all the canola acres be
swathed at the ideal seed
colour change? My experience has been very positive
on my farm with straight
cutting. There are lots of
resources out there to help
analyze each method and
determine what may work
better on the farm.” †
Andrea Hilderman has her master’s
degree in weed science and is a member
of the Manitoba Institute of Agrologists.
She writes from Winnipeg, Man.
CROP PRODUCTION
Diagnose your own problem
The Canola Council’s online diagnostic tool is
there to help farmers identify problems themselves
BY LEEANN MINOGUE
M
aybe it’s after work hours, or the long weekend. Or maybe you need to
make a quick decision. It’s probably not going to replace your favourite local
agrologist anytime soon, but the Canola Council of Canada’s website can be
very useful when you need a little help.
All you need to do is gather as much information as you can about your field, its
history, your seeding practices and what you’re seeing in the field that’s causing you
concerns.
Then, get to the Internet and go to www.canoladiagnostictool.ca.
This website will walk you through questions about your problem, step by step. There
are questions about everything from stage of plant growth, to the part of the plant where
you see a problem. Some of the questions are fairly detailed; you’ll need to be observant.
Once it’s taken a stab at identifying your problem, the website gives you advice about
what to do, or a list of labs you could use to verify the diagnosis.
The “good old days” must have involved a lot of stumbling around in the dark, waiting
for the Internet to be invented. When my great grandfather moved here from Newcastle
with no farming experience, he had to rely on neighbours’ advice and wild guesses. I don’t
know what he would have paid for access to an online tool line this, but for us, it’s free
(thanks to funding from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada). †
Leeann Minogue is the editor of Grainews.
BY ANDREA HILDERMAN
T
“
here is a lot of evidence
that the best time to swath
canola is at the 50 to 60 per
cent seed colour change
stage, but every year assessing seed
colour change and actually swathing
at that ideal time can pose quite a
challenge,” says Angela Brackenreed,
Manitoba agronomy specialist for
the Canola Council of Canada.
While most farmers can seed a
tremendous number of acres in
spring really quickly, getting those
same acres harvested takes a lot
longer. Not every acre is likely to be
swathed at just the right time.
THE BEST TIME TO SWATH
“Personally, I prefer swathing
as late as possible without risking inducing shattering losses,”
says Brackenreed. “In practise,
that means starting to swath
around the 50 per cent seed colour change (SCC) and targeting
being completed at about 75 per
cent SCC. There is about a 10 per
cent change in seed colour every
two to three days, so this gives
you about a week to complete
swathing.”
But farmers can start planning
for swathing canola long ahead
at seeding. “Planning for swathing canola should start before ever
entering the field to seed,” says
Brackenreed. “Choosing varieties
with different days to maturity and
possibly breaking up canola seeding operations are considerations,
however, the latter is not always
feasible given a particular farm’s
manpower and equipment, and the
type of seeding window we have to
work with.”
Up until fairly recently it was
recommended to swath canola
at the 30 to 40 per cent SCC.
“Now the recommendation is
to swath at 50 to 60 per cent
seed colour change ideally,” says
Brackenreed. “However, if you
have a lot of canola to swath
you may have to start a bit earlier.” Every year, there are many
farmers that don’t swath at the
ideal time usually because of
time, equipment or labour constraints. There will also be fields
that do not mature evenly and it
becomes a necessity to swath at a
less than ideal time.
The SCC recommendations are
made based on seeds on the main
stem. “This has been brought into
question lately as a lot of farmers are comfortable with thinner
stands where there is much more
branching happening,” explains
Brackenreed. “Typically most of
the yield comes from the main
stem, but when there is a lot
of branching, that may not hold
true. In low plant populations
where there is significant branching I recommend consider the
SCC on the whole plant, not just
the main stem.”
Brackenreed also points out that
canola ripens from the bottom up
and the inside out, so a plant with
a lot of branches will take longer to
mature.
Brackenreed is an advocate of
straight cutting canola, and advises
that a mix of both straight cutting and swathing can alleviate the
problem of swathing at improper
times. †
Andrea Hilderman has her master’s degree
in weed science and is a member of the
Manitoba Institute of Agrologists. She writes
from Winnipeg, Man.
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/ grainews.ca
JUNE 10, 2014
Features
Crop production
Crop Advisor’s casebook
By Jeneen Ewen
R
ob, a mixed grain and
cattle farmer east of Swift
Current, Sask., went on a
week-long fishing trip in
mid-July. Upon returning to his
3,000-acre farm where he grows
canola, lentils, durum and barley,
Rob noticed the plants in one
of his lentil fields were turning
brown and appeared to be dying.
He called me immediately.
“I’m not sure what’s wrong
with that lentil field,” Rob said.
“All my other fields of lentils
look as healthy as can be. And we
sprayed all of our lentils for disease just before I left for my trip.”
When I drove out to visit, Rob
took me to look at the affected
field, which was relatively flat
with a couple of low spots. Right
away, I could see bronzing of the
leaves and dead-looking plants
in some areas of the lentil crop.
Some plants in the low spots
were already starting to lose their
leaves, even though the stems
were still green.
In general, the lentils were very
bushy with a lot of plant material
present. A closer look at the most
severely affected plants revealed
that some of them didn’t have
many pods. The leaves of affected
plants had small lesions that were
light brown in colour, although
we couldn’t spot any lesions or
wounds on the stems. We pulled
up a few plants to examine the
roots and they looked healthy,
with good nodulation.
The bronzing within the crop
wasn’t occurring just in the low
areas, but was happening on
slopes and in higher areas of
the field as well. According to
Rob, the affected areas seemed to
be spreading, getting larger and
larger every day.
My immediate thought was
that it could be ascochyta or
anthracnose, both common lentil
diseases. I knew a few farmers in
the area had been spraying for
both diseases, but I couldn’t see
physical evidence of either ascochyta or anthracnose on these
lentil plants and Rob had indicated he’d already sprayed the
crop for both diseases.
My second thought was that
perhaps the lentils in the low areas
Crop Advisor’s Solution
By Amy Heather
J
im is a grain and cattle producer
who rotates cereal, oilseeds and pulse
crops on 3,000 acres of farmland near
Warner, Alta. He had called me in midAugust to talk about some trouble he
was having with his canola crop.
Jim wanted to avoid yield loss due to green
seed or shattering at harvest, but he wasn’t
sure when to swath his canola due to some
very uneven ripening occurring throughout the
field. He thought a hailstorm a couple of weeks
previously might be to blame, and he asked me
to come out to his farm to have a look.
Jim’s canola crop did exhibit obvious signs
of hail damage, such as broken branches and
plant stems. It was also clear that while some
plants appeared fully ripened, others right
beside them looked to be far from ready for
swathing. Hail damage can cause parts of
a plant to ripen early, but the fact that the
uneven ripening in Jim’s canola crop was
THE CASE OF THE BRONZING LENTILS
Jeneen Ewen is a sales agronomist
with Richardson Pioneer Ltd. at
Reed Lake, Sask.
The bronzing within the crop wasn’t occurring just in the low areas, but
was happening on slopes and in higher areas of the field as well.
of the field were suffering from the
effects of recent heavy rainfalls.
However, the symptoms weren’t
just isolated to plants in low spots
— they were all over the field.
There had to be an explanation, but what? If you think you
know what’s behind Rob’s brown-
ing lentils, send your diagnosis to
Grainews, Box 9800, Winnipeg,
Man., R3C 3K7; email leeann.
[email protected]
or fax 204-944-95416 c/o Crop
Advisor’s Casebook. Best suggestions will be pooled and one winner will be drawn for a chance to
BLACKLEG CULPRIT IN PREMATURE RIPENING
even more apparent in areas of the field less
affected by hail led me to suspect a more probable cause.
A close inspection of some individual plants
revealed some lesions and cankers on the
stems, as well as round, irregular-sized lesions
on some plant leaves that were greyish-white
in colour. Further examination turned up
some black pycnidia fungal structures on the
exterior of the affected stems. Cutting into the
base of these stems also revealed some interior
blackening; this appeared as an obvious black
ring in some cases and was less distinct in
others, although still having a girdling effect
within the plant stem.
All of these findings were symptoms of
blackleg, a common fungal disease in canola
that can cause premature ripening. While the
recent hailstorm might have exacerbated the
problem by damaging the canola and making
it easier for the pathogens to enter the plants,
clearly the disease had been present in the
crop for some time.
At this stage, there wasn’t much Jim
could do to rectify the effects of blackleg
on his crop. Both the hail damage and the
disease took a toll on Jim’s canola yield.
There was also some shelling during swathing, but thanks to some careful timing,
this did not result in any downgrading
in the quality of the canola crop that was
being harvested.
I urged Jim to take a proactive approach
in the future, since growing conditions had
been favourable for the development of
blackleg pressure and some careful scouting
at earlier growth stages in his field would
have revealed the disease sooner. Applying
fungicides earlier in the growing season could
have helped to reduce the blackleg infection.
Jim could also choose to plant a blacklegresistant canola variety in future years, now
that he knows the pathogen is present in his
fields. †
Amy Heather is an Area Marketing Representative for
Richardson Pioneer Ltd. at Stirling, Alta.
win a Grainews cap and a one-year
subscription to the magazine. The
answer, along with reasoning that
solved the mystery, will appear in
the next Crop Advisor’s Solution
File. †
Jeneen Ewen is a sales agronomist with
Richardson Pioneer Ltd. in Reed Lake, Sask.
Casebook
winner
T
his issue’s winner is Ron Krahn.
Ron
Krahn
is
part of his family
farm — Providence Farms
near Rivers, Manitoba.
Along with his diagnosis, Ron said he knew the
answer because he’d seen
the problem in his own
field. I’m sorry you had
the problem, but I’m glad
Casebook was relevant.
Thanks for entering, Ron!
We’ll renew your Grainews
subscription for a year and
send you a Grainews cap.
Leeann Minogue
Fresh cravings at
the farmers market
W
ith three young kids, a veterinary-consulting business and
a full time gig as “wife” on a
busy southeast Saskatchewan
grain farm, you might think Leigh Rosengren
would have enough to do. Apparently not.
Leigh and Colin Rosengren have built
two greenhouses on their family grain and
cattle farm and are now producing a full
line of cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes and
micro-greens. They are happy to have a
project they can work on outdoors with
their children, and they’re very optimistic
about the future of farming.
Leigh, her kids, and some locally hired
staff are selling vegetables in farmers markets and mall parking lots from Estevan to
Regina. Apparently, her eight-year old son
is already becoming a very good salesman.
Learn more on their website: www.freshcravings.ca. †
Leeann Minogue
photos: leeann minogue
The two greenhouse buildings were finished this winter. The first
crop was seeded in January.
This summer, Fresh Cravings produce is available at the
Estevan farmers market, the Regina Wednesday farmers
market and in Weyburn on Wednesday afternoons.
JUNE 10, 2014
grainews.ca /
9
Features
Harvest
How to harvest pulse crops
If you’re new to pulses or want a refresher, here are four harvest factors
By Melanie Epp
ith pulse crops, a
successful harvest starts not
long after seed
goes into the ground, says Dale
Risula, provincial crop specialist
with the Saskatchewan Ministry of
Agriculture. Knowing when to use
land rollers, choosing a desiccant
and knowing the best ways to harvest and store the crops are all key
to succeeding with pulses.
Weather can also damage and
downgrade pulse crops, he says.
Peas, in particular, are quite vulnerable to damage, green peas,
especially.
“Colour is an important factor
in determining the quality of the
pea,” says Risula. “If there’s any
degree of bleaching, then it’s downgraded. Bleaching occurs when the
swathed crop is exposed to combinations of bright sunlight and rain
showers. It seems to worsen the
affect of bleaching on green peas.”
1. Using land rollers
3. When to combine
Pulses, particularly lentils, are
fairly short crops, says Risula, and
the machinery that’s used to cut
them is often very close to the
ground. Rollers are used to flatten
out any grooves that the seeder
may have caused and also to push
stones back into the soil so that
they’re no longer an obstruction to
the combine operation.
Rollers should be used after
seeding, following emergence and
between the five- to seven-node
stage in lentils and the five-node
stage in peas, says Risula. Beyond
that, land rolling can damage
plants, reduce yields and spread
foliar diseases, so it is not recommended.
In chickpeas, land rollers are less
beneficial since they don’t usually
lodge and they have higher stubble. Post-emergent land rolling is
not recommended, especially since
it can spread disease, like ascochyta
blight, which is always a potentially
devastating problem in chickpeas.
When rolling, the best results are
obtained when soils are not wet,
says Neil Whatley, crop specialist
with Alberta Ag-Info Centre. Under
wet conditions, the roller could
build up mud, damage seedlings
and not pack correctly.
Rolling when crops are damp is
also not recommended since it can
spread disease. Avoid rolling if the
seedlings have been under stress
— extreme heat, frost or herbicide
application. Whatley recommends
leaving three days between herbicide application or frost and rolling.
Finally, it’s best not to roll first
thing in the morning when plants
have more turgor pressure, he says.
Stems are stiffer and more apt to
break. For best results, wait until 10
a.m. or noon to begin rolling.
Pulse crops will reach the maturity stage at around 30 per cent
moisture content. At that point in
time, they’re ready for either swathing or pre-harvest applications of
W
herbicide. They then need to dry
so they can be threshed or combined. The best time to combine
is at around 18 per cent moisture
content. Some growers, says Risula,
prefer to wait until the crop is at 15
per cent moisture content.
“I guess it depends on how
experienced they are and what
kind of machinery they have,” he
says. “Pulse crops, if they’re too
dry, tend to chip and downgrade
in value. If they’re very dry, the
seed coat will chip and crack.
That’s why a lot of producers will
begin harvesting around 18 per
cent moisture content.”
Seed coats are also prone to
damage if they’re handled at
high speeds, too. “Basically, the
machinery that’s being utilized
for threshing the pulse crops
need to be operated at slower
speeds.” Great care should be
taken when transferring grain
through augers and into bins so
that it is not subjected to high
speeds or lengthy falls.
4. Storing pulse crops
Often, conditioning is required
very soon after freshly harvested
pulses are binned, Risula says. If
the crop was harvested on a hot
day, it will need to be cooled to
an acceptable level in an aeration bin. Risula says that 15 C or
cooler is ideal because crops will
sweat after they’re harvested.
“Some of that moisture is emitted as a gas and accumulates
within the bin around the seed,”
he says. “Then it’s subject to all
sorts of movement and gathering points within the bin where
hot spots and deterioration of the
grain could occur.”
Similarly, if the crop is harvested
when the moisture content is too
high, it needs to be dried as well.
“Generally, somewhere around 14
per cent, or in the case of red lentils,
a lot of processors require that it be
stored at around 13 per cent.”
It’s not a good idea to store new
crop on old crop, says Risula. It
tends to reduce the quality of the
crop, especially lentils, which can
turn brown and lose value quickly.
“New crop should be stored by
itself,” he concludes. †
Melanie Epp is a freelance writer who
specializes in writing web copy for small
businesses. She is based in Guelph, Ont., and
can be found online at melanierepp.com.
With Fuse fungicide, it doesn’t stand a chance.
2. Using a desiccant
As harvest approaches, pulse
crops are nearing the end of their
maturity. Pulse crops have an
indeterminate growing nature, so
their time to mature can vary, says
Risula. To help break that vegetative growth and initiate the maturity process, some sort of stress is
needed.
As that maturity date approaches,
it’s really important that the weather cooperates. Until the crop is ripe,
frost needs to be avoided.
“Also, just as the time approaches
when you want to either desiccate
or apply some pre-harvest herbicide
to the crop or swath it before harvesting — that the weather be dry
and not rainy,” he says. “Warm, dry
days are in order when it comes to
harvesting pulse crops.”
If the crop is treated with glyphosate, notes Risula, it shouldn’t be
used for seed.
And let’s face it, Fusarium head blight (FHB) is nothing to take chances on. If you grow spring, winter
or durum wheat you know that protection during head emergence – before the disease takes hold –
is crucial. Don’t let FHB affect your yield, grade, quality or rotations. Light the Fuse® before it starts.
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®
6254-1E_SYN_FUSEAd_2013_8.125x10.indd 1
13-11-07 10:15 AM
10
/ grainews.ca
JUNE 10, 2014
Features
Grain storage
Storing higher-oil canola
It’s worth more, but it’s also more fragile. Know how to keep
your specialty canola safe in the bin
By Melanie Epp
S
ince higher oil content
canola has less dry matter
content in each kernel than
lower oil content canola, it
is prone to spoiling more quickly.
On top of that, last year’s record
harvest, coupled with nationwide
transportation issues, means that
crops are sitting in storage longer
than usual and causing great concern to growers.
Dr. Digvir Jayas, vice-president
(research and international) and
distinguished professor at the
University of Manitoba, has conducted a number of studies whose
results should help mitigate loss
to spoilage.
“Oil can’t hold water, says Jayas,
“which is why, with high oil crops,
you have to store them at a much
lower moisture content than you
would store lower content crops.”
While the recommended safe
moisture content level for wheat is
somewhere around 13 per cent, it’s
much lower in canola, around eight
to 8.5 per cent, says Jayas. Storing at
these lower moisture levels, he says,
“will give you longer storage life.”
of canola at 12 per cent moisture content stored in silo bags.
The first bags were unsealed
as early as March, where it
was found that canola maintained grade. Bags opened five
to six weeks later in mid-April,
on average, lost a grade. Bags
opened as late as August could
only be sold as feed.
Based on the results of his
study, Jayas recommends storing
canola at moisture content levels
no higher than eight per cent,
especially if the goal is to store
it for more than the usual 10
months. Even at eight per cent
moisture, though, canola should
still be monitored, he says, but
probably not as often as you
would monitor canola stored at
a higher moisture content level.
Warm it slowly
Joy Agnew, Project Manager at
Prairie Agricultural Machinery
Institute agrees. Last year’s record
harvest, combined with nationwide transportation issues, means
that grain has been stored far
longer than usual in Western
Canada. This has caused growers
great concern.
Cool grain is likely going to
experience spoilage as bins warm
in the sun, says Agnew. “Anytime
you have temperature variations,
there are going to be moisture
variations and moisture migration, which can potentially lead
to spoilage,” she says.
As the warm air outside warms
the grain closest to the bin wall,
convection currents are formed.
When cool grain comes in contact
with warn grain, condensation can
form, which can result in spoilage.
To avoid this, growers should
warm their grain slowly, says
Agnew, who recommends gradually running fans when the outside air is less than 10 degrees
warmer than the grain itself. The
Melanie Epp is a freelance writer who
specializes in writing web copy for small
businesses. She is based in Guelph, Ont., and
can be found online at melanierepp.com.
Quality meets quantity.
Canola storage research
In recent years, Jayas conducted
a study comparing high oil content canola to lower oil content
canola. As expected, the study
found that the high oil content
canola was subject to spoilage
slightly faster than the lower oil
content canola.
“Statistically, the difference
wasn’t that significant, but you
can see the trend,” says Jayas. “As
the oil content of canola keeps
increasing, eventually it would
start showing that the higher the
oil content, the lower the moisture content required for safe
storage.”
In another study, Jayas tested
three high canola hybrids — NX4105 (45.4 per cent), InVigor 5540
(47.1 per cent), and 45H29 (45.4
per cent) — at four moisture content levels: eight, 10, 12 and 14
per cent.
The hybrids were stored in smallscale chambers where both temperature and humidity could be
controlled. Contents were tested at
10 C, 20 C, 30 C and 40 C.
The higher oil content canola
showed a decrease in germination.
Similarly, increases in free fatty
acid values also started happening
sooner in high oil canola than in
lower content canola.
“So it’s showing the trend that
higher oil content is initiating that
spoilage sooner than the lower oil
content canola under the same
conditions,” says Jayas.
Finally, Jayas also tested storage at different moisture content levels in silo bags. Not surprisingly, canola stored at 14 per
cent moisture content was more
likely to spoil. At 10 per cent,
they were able to store it safely
for up to 10 months with some
drop in grade. At eight per cent
per cent, no grade loss was experienced and the quality of the
grain did not change.
Jayas also tested the lifespan
time it will take to equalize temperatures will depend on the size
of the bin and the fan size.
“The lower the temperature difference between the air and the
grain at the end of the warming
process, the better,” says Agnew.
“But you don’t want to increase
the grain temperature above 15 C.
Maintaining a grain temperature
of 15 C throughout the summer
should minimize the risk of convection currents and condensation on the bin walls.” †
BayerCropScience.ca/Prosaro or 1 888-283-6847 or contact your Bayer CropScience representative.
Always read and follow label directions. Prosaro® is a registered trademark of the Bayer Group. Bayer CropScience is a member of CropLife Canada.
FS:8.325”
F:8.7”
T:17.4”
T:17.4”
JUNE 10, 2014
grainews.ca /
11
Features
Grain storage
Three ways to sample
If you don’t want any nasty surprises later, make sure your
sample is a good representative of the grain you plan to sell
By Andrea Hilderman
T
aking representative
samples is a critical step
to understanding the
quality or other characteristics of anything that is tested
in some way. Rarely, if ever, is an
entire organism, crop or object
tested for quality, consistency,
disease, protein, etc. A sample is
generally taken and the results
of the tests on the sample are
presumed to represent the whole.
Farmers are used to hearing
that the grain sample results they
get are only as good as the sample tested. Holly Gelech, busi-
ness development manager at
BioVision Seed Labs, echoes the
need for representative samples
and points to the issues that can
come up if the sample is not good.
“There are two main problems
that could arise from tests on samples that are not representative
of the lot,” Gelech says. “First, a
quality issue could be inflated or
secondly, a quality issue that exists
in the lot could be minimized or
not even identified.”
Either scenario is very undesirable to farmers who produce large
volumes of grain and need to
have quality results that reliably
predict the quality of the lot that
is either for sale or will be used as
seed in the following year.
“In order to ensure accurate
results about a seed or grain lot,”
says Gelech, “farmers need to
understand how to get a representative sample and be prepared
ahead of harvest to gather it. In
that way, the sampling process
will be seamless and not interfere with or slow down harvesting
operations.” It’s one thing to get
the grain off the field and into
the bin, and another to know
exactly what you have in that
bin. The quality of grain harvested
from a single field can vary quite
widely. High spots or drowned out
spots, areas in the lee of a shelter
belt, salinity, and other issues will
impact grain quality.
Bin sampling
“Static sampling from a bin
or bag is fairly commonplace
today,” says Gelech. “What farmers have to watch here is not
taking samples from the bottom
of the bin or just from the door.”
In both cases, these two spots
will not produce a representative sample for different reasons.
In the case of the floor, smaller
grains and weed seeds tend to
accumulate there. In the case of
photo: courtesy of dimo labtronics, winnipeg
This 38 inch grain scoop is suitable
for stream sampling.
the door, there can be moisture
infiltration from outside or other
environmental changes that are
not happening throughout the
rest of the bin. Bin probes are an
absolute requirement for getting
a representative sample from a
bin. “The problem with bins and
bin probes today is that bins are
getting really big,” says Gelech.
“It’s becoming more difficult to
get a representative sample out
of some of them.”
Stream sampling
PROSARO
T:10”
Which could make good stream
sampling even more valuable to
a farmer. “Harvest is the best
time to do this,” explains Gelech.
“When the grain is being transferred from the truck or grain
cart to the bin.” For the majority of farmers, this will involve
taking manual samples from the
flow of grain from the truck to
the auger. There are automated
stream samplers that are used in
more commercial situations, but
manual will do the job as well.
Key to stream sampling is to take
a high number of samples from
all places in the stream at a regular interval you’ve determined in
advance. At the end of the process, the sample will be mixed,
divided and reduced to a reasonable amount to facilitate grain
grading and other testing as well
as having sufficient volume to
provide samples to buyers if
needed. The equipment required
to get a representative sample
does not have to be sophisticated. Generally a good number
of clean 20-litre pails and a scoop
or sampling ladle is all that is
required.
The Canadian Grain
Commission has an excellent
guide on its website on how
to take a representative sample and later divide and reduce
it. At http://www.grainscanada.
gc.ca, choose “producers” from
the choices on the left side, then
choose “sampling grain” from
the list of options.
In addition to providing an exceptional yield increase, Prosaro®
fungicide protects the high quality of your cereals and helps
ensure a better grade.
With two powerful actives, Prosaro provides long-lasting
preventative and curative activity, resulting in superior protection
against fusarium head blight, effective DON reduction and
unmatched leaf disease control.
With Prosaro you’ll never have to settle for second-best again.
For more information, please visit BayerCropScience.ca/Prosaro
Composite samples
C-53-05/14-10181845-E
If a field or type of grain is
binned together and comes from
a number of fields or occupies
a number of bins, a composite
sample can be created to represent that lot or variety or field.
The Canadian Grain Commission
defines a composite sample as
being composed of a number of
distinct portions, each obtained
in a prescribed manner from consecutive samples. Those portions
are then blended to make the
composite. †
Andrea Hilderman has her master’s degree
in weed science and is a member of the
Manitoba Institute of Agrologists. She writes
from Winnipeg, Man.
F:8.7”
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/ grainews.ca
JUNE 10, 2014
Features
Crop disease
Root rot can be diagnosed, but
confirmation may come too late
Root rot caused by aphanomyces can cause yield problems in peas.
There’s no easy treatment, but farmers can still take preventative steps
By Lisa Guenther
I
t was early in the 2012
growing season when Bernie
McClean realized something
was wrong with one of his
pea fields.
The field had been seeded
to peas several times over the
years, but in 2012 the crop was
“going backwards,” McClean,
a Medstead-area farmer, said in
an interview. Patches of plants
were stunted. As the season
progressed, they would yellow
from lack of nitrogen, seemingly
caused by root rot.
McClean and his agronomist,
Errin Tollefson of Cavalier Agrow,
scouted the field and pulled
plants to send to a lab in Regina.
The initial diagnosis was aphanomyces, a disease that causes root
rot in peas. By fall, DNA analysis
would confirm the pathogen.
But that diagnosis wasn’t
enough to save McClean’s field.
“Nobody had answers for me,”
said McClean. “Do I go out, do
I spray with Headline or some
type of fungicide to try to protect
what I still have left?”
“But the root was gone. There
was no saving it. Nodulation was
gone. It was horrible.”
In the end, McClean still
pulled an average of 20 bushels per acre from the infected
field, partly because one area
that hadn’t been seeded in the
past yielded very well.
McClean said about “70 per
cent of those acres were just a
complete write-off.”
“I was happy to get anything
out of that (poor) field. You
know, in all honesty that summer I thought, ‘It’s going to be
a wreck. I’m not going to get
anything.’ But in the end, where
it was good, it was very good.”
In comparison, McClean’s
other green pea field, which saw
peas for the first time in 2012,
produced 67 bushels per acre,
he said.
FIELD SCHOOL
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Instructors: Dr. Bob Blackshaw, Dr. Mike Harding & Ken Coles
• ON-FARM RESEARCH
Instructors: Blaine Metzger, Joel Hubert, Ken Coles, Dr. Adil Akbar & Lewis Baarda
• CORN AGRONOMY 101
Instructors: Nicole Rasmussen & Doug Moisey
* This is a one day event repeated three times, starting at 8:00 am each day
* CCA, CCSC & pesticide applicator credits available
Farming Smarter Field School will take place at
the R&D site 2.6 km east of 43 St. S (Lethbridge)
on Hwy 512/Jail Rd.
THE
FIELDPREMIER
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Register online today!
www.farmingsmarter.com
2012: year of the fungus
Speaking at a recent farm conference, Peter Walsh, an agricultural
instructor at Vermilion’s Lakeland
College, pegged 2012 as “the year of
the fungus.”
Aphanomyces zoospores have
tails, known as flagella, which
propel zoospores short distances
through soil, allowing them to
infect roots. The pathogen thrives
when there’s plenty of moisture
early in the growing season, and
so 2012 was a rough year for
farmers with infected fields.
Ed Seidle and his family have
been in the pedigreed seed business for 70 years in the Medstead
area. He likes to dig into problems
not being investigated by other
researchers, studying fields where
farmers have kept good records
and applying information from
his research library.
“My laboratory is the whole
country,” he said in an interview.
Seidle said the disease spread very
rapidly in 2012. He marked diseased
patches in each field he visited.
“And every time I went to
them, they were bigger in every
direction. And considerably bigger,” said Seidle.
The first symptoms of aphanomyces will be patches of stunted
plants, with yellowing on the older
leaves, said Seidle.
In a patch, “every plant is
affected. Every plant. There isn’t
anything missed,” he said. As the
season wears on, the plants will
yellow and die off. Nodulation
might not occur at all, or nodules
may be destroyed.
“In real severe cases the plants
don’t get very big and they’ll be
knocked right out before they ever
get to the podding stage,” said
Seidle. “And if it’s not as severe
or comes on… later, there may
be some pods formed. Sometimes
only one pea in a pod.”
Seidle has found signs of it in
most fields he’s surveyed, ranging
from trace levels to severe infestations. Yields have plunged as low
as one bushel per acre.
“Even some of the fields that
were first-time peas, as the season went along, I could find little patches here and there which
could very well be the aphanomyces,” said Seidle.
Dr. Sabine Banniza, researcher with
the University of Saskatchewan,
started getting calls from growers
about root rot problems in 2012.
Banniza and her colleagues collected samples and tried to isolate
the pathogen.
They were able to detect aphanomyces in samples, including
McClean’s, using molecular testing.
But success in isolating aphanomyces depends on how much of
it is in the root compared to other
stuff, said Banniza in an interview.
“And obviously the longer you
wait, the less is there.”
Once aphanomyces infects roots,
it opens the door to other diseases,
such as fusarium. Wait too long to
send samples and secondary infec-
JUNE 10, 2014
grainews.ca /
13
Features
tions will have over-run the sample,
making diagnosis tricky.
In 2013, Banniza and her colleagues collected contaminated soil,
planted peas, and then tested for
aphanomyces when the pea seedlings were very young.
“And even with our indoor
tests we noticed that first you
seem to have aphanomyces and
then eventually fusarium comes
in there as well. But it’s really secondary,” she said.
MANAGING APHANOMYCES
There are no seed treatments or
other chemical controls available
for aphanomyces right now.
But farmers shouldn’t strike peas
from their rotations altogether,
Seidle said. “Just because they had a
bad crop on one field, why discontinue (entirely)? Only because they
may think that this root rot, it’s
something like a flu... It’s going to
hit every field. Well, the pathogen’s
got to be there.”
Seidle suggested tracking pea
Testing for
aphanomyces
D
iscovery Seed
Labs in Saskatoon
offers DNA testing for aphanomyces. Farmers should send
either soil or plant samples.
“As soon as you start to
notice symptoms, you can
start pulling plants. And we
can have a look at it and
see what it is,” said Bruce
Carriere, owner of Discovery.
Carriere suggested sampling from areas where
water was sitting for seven
to 10 days as well as around
waterways.
BDS Laboratories in
Qu’Appelle, Sask, also tests
for aphanomyces. John
Blachford, chemistry services
manager, said they don’t use
DNA testing, but look for the
organism itself.
Blachford said farmers can
send samples once the crop
hits three inches. The lab
needs a portion from the
top of the plant and roots.
“We discourage people from
cleaning the roots off,” said
Blachford.
Samples also need to be
kept cool, Blachford said.
BDS’s tests will simply
tell farmers whether or not
aphanomyces is present
in the sample, Blachford
said. And DNA tests will
also provide a yes or no,
Carriere said.
“So I can tell you that it’s
there, but I can’t tell you
how much is there, nor can
I tell you what kind of problems you’re going to run
into,” Carriere said.
BDS has already tested
a half dozen samples for
aphanomyces this spring,
Blachford said. A farmer
scooped soil from a suspect
field, put it in tubs, planted
peas and lentils, and sent
BDS samples.
“As pulse crops become
more frequent, we see
things like this more often,”
Blachford said. †
Lisa Guenther
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
yields and avoiding fields that the soil was too wet, likely worsenhave yielded poorly in previous ing compaction.
Seidle suggested trying cultivayears. “If the last crop was a 45
bushel crop and you’ve had at tion before seeding to reduce comleast four years in between, might paction. Banniza said cultivating
would help if it improved drainage,
as well go ahead with it.”
McClean said he’s very careful in but she advised farmers to talk to
how he selects fields now. “I was a specialist, as plowing “may not
fortunate to have some land that
I’d just bought that never had peas
before. So I can keep peas in my
rotation at a smaller acreage.”
Because the pathogen thrives in
soggy soil, farmers should avoid
planting peas in flood-prone
fields. Banniza’s research shows
peas will do poorly in water-logged
soil even if it’s been sterilized. But
flooding and pathogens are a double whammy. “Both will contribute to poor establishment of pea alleviate the problem. It has to be
plants,” said Banniza.
very site-specific, what you can and
Aphanomyces also thrives in can’t do.”
Seidle also suggested avoiding
compacted soil, and Seidle said
it tends to show up in wheel rolling peas when soil is wet, as wet
tracks and high-traffic areas such soil is more likely to stick to equipas field entrances. Banniza said ment, spreading the disease.
In general, farmers should also
growers with
root rot issues have
ABIC2014_Grainews-Junior.pdf 1 25/02/2014 4:04:55 PM
told her they’d seeded early, when try to minimize plant stress as
There was no
saving it.
Nodulation
was gone
much as possible. “Cold soils
and soil residual herbicides create stresses. And as soon as the
plants are stressed, they’re subject
to invasion,” said Seidle.
Starting out with “top-notch
seed” also helps, said Walsh. He suggested cold vigour and germ tests,
along with certified seed. “Start with
a healthy, vigorous plant. And don’t
put it into zero-degree soil.”
Research out of France and
Germany has found aphanomyces
spores can survive for up to 10
years in the soil without a host. But
researchers don’t know whether, for
example, a couple of dry Prairie
years drop spore numbers, said
Banniza.
Regardless of exactly how long
spores last, longer rotations are an
important management strategy.
Seidle said anything short of a fouryear rotation is bad, and he knows
farmers using six or seven year rotations who have had fewer problems.
And farmers should keep in
mind aphanomyces infects other
legumes. Chickpeas are relatively
tolerant, Banniza said. Some fababean varieties have resistance, she
said, and researchers will be identifying resistant Western Canadian
varieties this year.
Dr. Robert Conner of Agriculture
and Agri-Food Canada has been
researching aphanomyces tolerance in field peas and is leading a new research project, funded by the Pulse Science Cluster.
Scientists from France and the U.S.
have also discovered disease resistance in a garden pea variety, and
Banniza said plant breeders are
now working to bring that resistance into field pea varieties. “But
that’s on the longer horizon,” she
said. Seidle said the root rot problem isn’t going away. Whatever
bit of management we can use is
important, he added.
“This philosophy that, ‘well, I
had a problem, I’m going to discontinue growing peas,’ that’s not a
scientific approach at all.” †
Lisa Guenther is a field editor with Grainews
based at Livelong, Sask. Contact her at Lisa.
[email protected].
14
/ grainews.ca
JUNE 10, 2014
Columns
SOILS AND CROPS
Nitrate down the water well
Nitrate has been a problem for more than 50 years. Low levels are not unsafe
LES
HENRY
N
itrate in groundwater
has been a recognized
problem since a “bluebaby” was related to a
nitrate-contaminated farm well in
Iowa in the 1940s. A farmer took a
sick baby to hospital. The baby was
okay soon, but got sick again as soon
as it was returned to the farm. On
the third visit, the farmer brought
along sample of the water and said,
“Test it. Our food is okay, it must be
the water.” The water was found to
be highly nitrate contaminated and
also had microbiology problems.
That resulted in the discovery of
the same problem in many parts of
the world, including Saskatchewan
and Manitoba. (It isn’t found as
often in Alberta — they have fewer
shallow-dug or bored wells).
A 1948 survey of 2,000
Saskatchewan farm wells found
31 per cent to have nitrates above
the accepted limit. That was before
any significant nitrogen fertilizer
was used and before intensive livestock operations.
SAMPLING FOR NITRATES IN
SASKATCHEWAN
My first experience with soil
nitrate was in 1970. We rigged
up a soil coring truck to retrieve
cores to a depth of 6.1 metres
(20 feet). We sampled ordinary
farmland, grassland and irrigated
land that had higher nitrogen
rates for only a few years. We also
sampled continuous fallow land
between the rows of trees at the
Forestry Farm then located just
east of Saskatoon (it is now the
Forestry Farm Park and Zoo).
Grassland had almost no nitrate,
farmland a bit more and the irrigated land was too “new” to have
accumulated much. But the continuous fallow at the Forestry Farm
had considerable nitrate below the
root zone of crops.
The nitrate topic seems to
come back in the spotlight about
every 20 years or so and is now
much in the news. “Johnnie
come latelies” do a water well
survey and find 20 to 30 per cent
of wells to have nitrate above 10
ppm nitrate-nitrogen and declare
a problem: “All that fertilizer we
are pouring on is polluting our
groundwater.”
Sorry folks, but 31 per cent of 2,000
wells sampled in Saskatchewan in
1948 were above the limit.
If you enter the words “nitrate
groundwater” into Google it
takes 0.26 seconds to return 2.8
million hits. Mind boggling to
this old fossil.
To be honest, agriculture must
admit that a lot of nitrate in the
environment is due to farming, including organic farming,
especially if the organic farming
involves a lot of manure and summerfallow. In native Prairie condition a nitrate molecule was a rare
beast. As soon as organic nitrogen
was mineralized to nitrate, a plant
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root was sitting in wait to suck
it up. Just breaking the prairie
sod was enough to change the
nitrogen cycle. Before farming,
the only nitrate would have been
associated with buffalo concentrations or very small areas that had
been inhabited by humans for an
extended time.
In 1993 hydrogeologist Bill
Meneley (1933 to 2000) and
I did an extensive literature
search on groundwater nitrate
and gathered up all available
data on the topic in Western
Canada — all the way from the
Manitoba/Ontario border to the
west coast of B.C. It was done
for the then Western Canada
Fertilizer Association, now the
Canadian Fertilizer Institute. The
report is long since out of print
but a PDF is still available at
the Canadian Fertilizer Institute
website. Find it at www.cfi.ca
(click on “elibrary” then “publications,” then look for “Fertilizer
Groundwater Nitrate”).
>
>
>
Ag tools from
Available for iPhone and Android Mobile Phones.
Let’s look at seriously nitratecontaminated wells versus slightly
contaminated aquifers.
The last baby death from a
nitrate contaminated well that I
know of was in South Dakota in
1987. The account of that death
in the medical literature was as
chilling as the 1948 account of
an example near Regina, Sask.
But the South Dakota well had
150 ppm nitrate-nitrate and the
Saskatchewan example had 275
ppm. Both had bacteria contamination as well.
Most of the highly contaminated farm wells were shallow
dug or bored wells — often in
the barnyard — and always with
a poor or no well seal at the surface. Nitrate was literally pouring down the side of the well
casing.
There is a growing body of
evidence that shows that slightly
elevated nitrate levels in water
are not a problem. In the past
couple of years I have read two
books that suggest that the 10
ppm nitrate-nitrogen limit is not
right.
In the meantime, society
is spending huge amounts of
money to strip out small quantities of nitrate.
Nitrate is a well problem, not an
aquifer problem. Individual wells
can be contaminated at a level to
be lethal but aquifers are contaminated at a very much lower level.
England used 20 ppm nitratenitrogen as the limit for many
years with no problems recorded.
They reverted back to the 10 ppm
limit presumably based on political pressure from the European
Union rather than facts.
It seems to me to be another
case of “the emperor has no
clothes.” Nobody wants to blow
the whistle. †
J.L.(Les) Henry is a former professor and
extension specialist at the University of
Saskatchewan. He farms at Dundurn, Sask. He
recently finished a second printing of “Henry’s
Handbook of Soil and Water,” a book that mixes
the basics and practical aspects of soil, fertilizer
and farming. Les will cover the shipping and
GST for “Grainews” readers. Simply send a
cheque for $50 to Henry Perspectives, 143
Tucker Cres, Saskatoon, Sask., S7H 3H7, and he
will dispatch a signed book.
JUNE 10, 2014
grainews.ca /
15
Columns
FARM FINANCIAL PLANNER
Young Manitoba farmers plan their lives
By planning early and including an off-farm pension,
this young couple will have a secure retirement
BY ANDREW ALLENTUCK
A
couple we’ll call Roger
and
Martha,
both
29, farm in southern
Manitoba. They have
combined income of $160,000 a
year based on Martha’s town job,
which pays $90,000 a year, and
Roger’s work on his family farm
and his own part-time farm operation for which he draws $70,000
a year. Life is good for the couple, but they are looking ahead
to financial independence on
their own farm and, eventually,
a secure retirement income. For
now, they rent an older home in
town at a very reasonable rate, but
they know it is not a permanent
arrangement. They are currently
saving for a new home on their
farmland.
Farm Financial Planner asked
Don Forbes and Erik Forbes of
Don Forbes Associates/Armstrong
& Quaile in Carberry, Man., to
work with Roger and Martha.
Roger and Martha farm 320 acres
which they own with a $330,000
mortgage. The mortgage requires
payments of $20,360 annually, of
which the first $12,360 — interest
— is deductible as a cost of their
business.
If they expand by buying additional farmland, it would be useful for them to form an operating company to do the actual
farming, but they should retain
the land outside of the operating
company in order to be eligible for the Qualified Farmland
Capital Gains Tax Credit, Don
Forbes says. That will be $800,000
per person, up from $750,000,
beginning in 2014.
Martha’s off-farm job is secure,
but lenders often require mortgage life coverage. If they borrow funds to expand their farm,
banks may insist on it. However,
mortgage life coverage purchased
from chartered banks and other
lenders tends to be expensive
and disadvantageous. The insurance covers the lender’s interest yet allows in most cases no
remainder for the insured’s surviving family after the lender’s
interest is paid. If the couple
decide to build a home of their
own and use mortgage financing, it is all the more likely that
the lender would insist they have
mortgage term life insurance.
Banks have a record of doing
their underwriting after a claim
BY DAN PIRARO
Bizarro
— that is, a death — and in some
cases denying payment, claiming that the insured misstated
a fact about his or her health.
Questions are complex and, say
critics, they induce misstatements. Roger and Martha can
compare the cost of mortgage
life with a policy of similar value
purchased from an independent insurer and agent outside of
the bank. The cost and coverage
differences may be astonishing,
Don Forbes says.
With adequate insurance
coverage in hand, the lender
may also perceive lower risk in
the mortgage and adjust the
rate accordingly. It’s a bargaining point at the least. Roger
should be able to get a one million dollar, nonsmoking 10-year
level term policy from an independent agent for $46 a month,
Martha for $33 a month for
similar coverage.
FUTURE CASH FLOW
Investment projections suggest
that Roger and Martha will be
able to grow their net worth
in off-farm investments from
$333,900 this year at a rate of 12
to 15 per cent based on three per
cent inflation and the remainder
from contributions to taxable,
RRSP and TFSA accounts and
returns.
Assuming that these projections work out, at age 63, when
Roger and Martha figure they
may retire, they would have their
farming business, their house,
and financial assets of approximately $6 million in future dollars — that is, present dollars
inflated to higher value in 2049.
That capital, generating five
per cent per year, including three
per cent inflation, would provide a constant income stream of
$300,000 a year. They could add
Canada Pension Plan benefits,
currently a maximum of $12,460
a year at age 65, inflated to levels
in 36 years, which would then
total $36,110. Old Age Security,
currently $6,620 a year — which,
inflating at three per cent a year,
will be $20,400 when each is 67
— would probably be lost to the
clawback, which is now triggered
at taxable income of $71,592.
That would produce total annual
non-farm income of $336,110 in
future dollars at their age 67.
If Roger and Martha maintain
BY DAN PIRARO
Bizarro
their mortgage and its payments,
their equity in their present farm
would grow to 100 per cent by
time the mortgage is paid off at
the couple’s age 54. Allowing for
three per cent annual increase
in price, essentially an inflation
adjustment, at the couple’s age
63 at the beginning of retirement the property would have a
value of $1.55 million. Were they
to sell at that time and obtain
a three return after inflation,
the farm capital would generate
$46,500 a year.
Lenders often
require mortgage
life coverage
If Martha retains her town job
and gets two per cent annual pay
increases for the next 34 years,
she would have final job income
of about $130,000. If her defined
benefit pension is set at two per
cent of her final income, $2,600,
times her years of service, which
would be about 40, she would
have annual pension income of
$104,000.
Adding up all income from
their farm capital, Martha’s job,
off-farm investments, and government pensions, the couple
would have a total of $486,600
before tax or $292,000 after
income splits and 40 per cent
average tax. The couple’s present
budget for living and savings,
a total of $84,900, consists of
$48,000 expenses and $36,900
in their TFSA and RRSP accounts.
At retirement in future dollars
and with no further retirement
savings, their annual cost of living would decline to $139,100
a year. Farm income could add
to this sum, but if generated
within a farming corporation, it
could be retained by the company or paid out as dividends as
required. However, even without that income, their expenses
would be covered. Moreover,
mortgages with terms as long
as 30 years incurred before their
mid-30s would probably be paid
off. Their disposable income in
retirement would be likely to
rise, Erik Forbes says.
Projections are just that. There
is no guarantee that Martha will
keep her job, that the farm will
prosper, or even that inflation
will remain at or below three per
cent for the next three to four
decades. However, to create a
buffer for the winds of change,
the couple should diversify their
non-farm assets.
It is a common rule of thumb
that people’s portfolios should
include a share of bonds equal to
their age. Thus at 63, when their
retirement will begin, they would
have 37 per cent stocks and the
remaining 63 per cent in government and corporate bonds. They
should invert the allocations to
63 per cent stocks and 37 per
cent bonds. If inflation were to
rise appreciably from today’s low
single digit levels to a mid-single
digit level, many bonds would lose
substantial value. Stocks would
presumably gain value, for inflation is a driver of the prices businesses charge and ultimately of
their earnings.
Mutual funds with fees of no
more than 1.5 per cent for their
stocks and 0.6 per cent for the
bonds they should have as a backstop for their portfolios would be
suitable investments. If they elect
to learn about capital markets,
they could migrate to exchange
traded funds which, typically, are
replicas of various indices such
as the S&P/TSX Composite, the
American S&P 500 Composite,
and various global indices. That
move would cut their fees dramatically, though they might still
need professional guidance.
“Roger and Martha can look forward to a prosperous future,” Don
Forbes says. “If they pay down
their mortgages faithfully, grow
their farm and off-farm investments, maintain life insurance for
their debts and diversified nonfinancial assets, then our projections should work out.“ †
Andrew Allentuck’s latest book, “When Can I
Retire? Planning Your Financial Life After Work,”
was published in 2011 by Penguin Canada.
click your
crops
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/ grainews.ca
JUNE 10, 2014
Columns
UNDERSTANDING MARKET BULLS AND BEARS
An end to the price panic
Six months ago, panic made many farmers jump and sell
low-priced grain at historically wide basis levels
F
CHANGES IN THE MARKET
Tight supplies of old crop U.S.
soybeans, aggressive Chinese
buying and disruptions in the
logistics are improving and basis
levels have narrowed; farm prices
are substantially higher than they
were five months ago.
But where would prices be if
these market-changing events
hadn’t happened? We can count
ourselves fortunate that we had
such a good crop and that the
markets have rebounded.
I hope we all take the events
of the last year as a sign and
realize that we are at the genesis of a new marketing era in
Western Canada. Markets will
respond swiftly and aggressively to change. When they react
they will most often overreact
because of the players involved,
the money they have and the
technology they use to play in
the markets.
As a primary producer you are
fully exposed to these market
swings and fluctuations. You
need to be prepared to react
quickly to protect your bottom
line. It is critical to have a marketing and pricing plan in place
to protect yourself when futures
or basis shift dramatically. Know
your numbers and when profits
are available, secure them. †
Brian Wittal has 30 years of grain industry
experience, and currently offers market
planning and marketing advice to farmers
through his company Pro Com Marketing Ltd.
(www.procommarketingltd.com).
TO SPRAY
EAF TIM
I
AD TIMING
E
H
No visible
disease present
No visible
disease present
No visible
disease present
No visible
disease present
Leaf disease on upper
leaves and/or flag leaf
–
Leaf disease on upper
leaves and/or flag leaf
–
L
AG
NG
irst, let’s review what was
happening six months ago.
Cold snowy weather
backlogged logistics, but
problems started months before
that, in late summer and early fall.
World buyers were buying little
grain from Canada. They saw the
big crop coming and waited for
prices to fall. We lost two to three
months of potential shipping
opportunities that would have
helped move our bumper crop.
When cold and snow arrived to
slow down railway services, things
went from bad to worse.
The grain industry’s response
was, from a business perspective, the appropriate reaction
to stop the flow of grain into
a blocked handling system.
Widening basis levels told farmers it was not a good time to try
to move grain.
Now let’s look at last fall from
the farmers’ perspective. Prices
from the previous crop year were
very good and the current crop
looked as if it would be above
average, so farmers were not worried about pricing grain for fall
delivery. World buyers were stepping to the sidelines, not buying, as they assumed the big
crop would cause prices would
fall. This made it difficult for
grain companies to make significant sales early in the crop year.
We lost two to three months
of opportunities to export grain
from Canada. That would have
been critical in alleviating logistical problems that arose later in
the winter.
To make sales, the prices of our
grains had to fall, and so they did
so rather quickly. As prices fell
many farmers became reluctant to
sell, hoping for prices to rebound.
As harvest concluded it was evident that yields were above average. Buyers held off, looking for
cheaper prices. Grain companies
widened their basis levels as facilities become congested.
Then winter hit with a vengeance and the logistical nightmare
began. Our inability to get grain to
port impacted our reputation as a
reliable grain supplier. Buyers went
elsewhere because they could not
be sure they could get the grain
from Canada.
This caused a back up of vessels
at port. Demurrage costs would
have to be paid. This forced the
grain companies to widen their
basis levels even more. Some even
stopped buying specific grains for
a while.
Now, not only had the futures
prices been falling, but basis levels doubled or quadrupled leaving
farmers facing the lowest prices
they had seen in years.
With buyers backing away,
grain companies who were buying
weren’t buying for nearby delivery
but instead three to five months
forward. They didn’t know how
long it may take to resolve logistics
issues. Farmers selling grain would
South American harvest have
pushed beans to new highs.
A hard winter damaging the
U.S. winter wheat crop, calls for
hot dry weather across the southern U.S this summer and unrest
in the Ukraine have helped push
wheat to new 12-month highs.
The PED-V virus and low cattle numbers have pushed livestock prices to new highs, pushing corn and feed grains higher.
The federal government has
proposed rail legislation with performance targets and penalties to
try to alleviate the grain backlog.
These and other factors have
pushed futures values higher the
past three months. Sales and
FL
BRIAN
WITTAL
sell at low prices and wouldn’t
move it until spring.
Many farmers started looking to
other options. Cash advances were
taken out in record numbers. Some
farmers reworked their operating
lines of credit with their bankers
to get them through spring seeding. Others sold cattle. Farmers
with no other options sold grain
bring in cash to keep operating.
You do what you have to and
make the best decisions you can.
When scouting your crop, starting at flag
leaf stage, please consider the following
steps to determine whether to spray or not.
The only time you shouldn’t spray is when
you have a poor looking crop and you are not
in an area where fusarium head blight (FHB)
is present.
If your crop doesn’t look good, but there is
FHB present, a fungicide application can still
pay and safeguard the yield and quality of
your grain. Do some calculations and if your
potential disease risk and expected return
exceed the cost of application – you should
protect your crop with a fungicide.
S PR AY
S PR AY
If your crop looks good, you will definitely
want to protect your investment with a
fungicide application. Which product will
provide the most bang for your buck?
It depends on crop staging, current disease
pressure and potential disease risks. Here
is a quick chart to help make your fungicide
decision easier.
Leaf disease only
(lower to mid leaves)
Leaf disease only
Leaf disease only
(lower to mid leaves)
Leaf disease only
S PR AY
S PR AY
To see how It Pays to Spray in your area visit BayerCropScience.ca/ItPaystoSpray
BayerCropScience.ca/ItPaystoSpray or 1 888-283-6847
or contact your Bayer CropScience representative.
Always read and follow label directions. Folicur® and Prosaro® are registered trademarks of the Bayer Group.
Bayer CropScience is a member of CropLife Canada.
FS:8.45”
F:8.7”
T:17.4”
grainews.ca /
17
Columns
MANAGEMENT MINUTE
Minimize ownership issues
Farm businesses that transition successfully make sure to
take ownership issues into consideration
ANDREW
DERUYCK
MARK
SLOANE
T
his is part five of our
series on succession.
After identifying successes and messes we’ve
seen in business transition over
the past 10 years, we came up
with five key areas that will make
a transition successful or cause it
to go off the rails. Because none
of these five components operate
independently, we liken a successful business transition to an
operating planetary gear. Our aim
is to share the successful traits
and habits in each of these components.
The next gear we want to examine closely for any signs of wear
is the ownership gear. Changing
ownership is often a very hard
gear to keep turning. If the rest of
the gears in the planetary are turning smoothly, this one will almost
turn effortlessly but this is also an
area where transition can stall out
or completely break down.
We see this gear grinding in
three common situations:
1. Completely inequitable distribution of wealth. Sometimes
families get in this situation thinking they will figure out a way to
deal with it later.
2. Equal distribution of assets,
without concern for what the
business can support or what it
may need to survive.
3. No distribution of wealth,
then death, then war.
Success with the ownership gear
can be defined as the fair distribution of asset value such that
Common
Shares
Land
WHAT SHOULD YOU SPRAY?
the equity doesn’t leave the farm
business faster than cash flow will
allow. Pay attention to this last sentence — this is a common problem
that a lot of families have without
realizing they have it. Realizing this
was a common problem was an
“oh wow” moment for us. It summarized many half hour conversations we’ve had with clients.
Another instant recipe for an
ownerhip mess is marital problems. Consider the following statistics:
• The average age at which
Canadians are getting married
now is 28 to 30.
• 38 per cent of Canadian marriages end in divorce.
• Risk of divorce increases during the first three years of marriage
The next generation returning
to a farm business is often within
this very high risk group.
Don’t dwell on the risk, but be
aware of it and mitigate it when
possible, sooner rather than later.
Family businesses that develop and maintain a culture that
emphasizes the business/equity
continuity generally have fewer
problems discussing issues around
divorce mitigation. Remember,
you aren’t just trying to lower the
risk of lowing equity, but more
importantly mitigating against the
breakdown of a relationship.
†
GAIN IN YIELD*
SPRING WHEAT
+ 4.7 bu./ac.
NO
Even when you can’t see disease symptoms, there is no such thing as a
disease-free crop. A good crop is worth protecting – consider spraying
an application of Folicur® EW or Prosaro® applied at head timing to help
ensure top grade, quality and yield.
Folicur EW 3/4 rate, flag leaf
OR
+ 5.7 bu./ac.
Folicur EW full rate, head
OR
+ 8.4 bu./ac.
Prosaro, head
+ 2.4 bu./ac.
There is no such thing as a disease-free crop. Even in the absence of
disease symptoms, the mere fact that you are in an FHB area means you
need to protect your crop. Apply Prosaro or Folicur EW at head timing.
Folicur EW 3/4 rate, flag leaf
OR
+ 3.0 bu./ac.
Folicur EW full rate, head
OR
+ 4.2 bu./ac.
Prosaro, head
NO
Leaf disease damage to upper leaves or the flag leaf can cause irreparable
injury to your crop and immediate action is required. Spray Folicur EW and reassess at head timing to determine whether a Prosaro application is required.
YES
Spray Folicur EW and re-assess at head timing to determine whether a
Prosaro application is required. Consider following up with an application
of Prosaro at head timing to help ensure top grade, quality and yield.
NO
When leaf disease is limited to lower/mid leaves at flag leaf timing,
Bayer CropScience would suggest re-assessing at head timing and as
disease pressure warrants, protect both your flag leaf and your head
by spraying either Folicur EW or Prosaro.
+ 9.5 bu./ac.
Folicur EW 3/4 rate, flag leaf
+ 4.5 bu./ac.
Folicur EW 3/4 rate, flag leaf
+ 7.0 bu./ac.
Folicur EW 3/4 rate, flag leaf
OR
+ 7.0 bu./ac.
Folicur EW full rate, head
OR
+ 10.0 bu./ac.
Prosaro full rate, head
+ 5.2 bu./ac.
YES
Whenever you are in an FHB area, you should spray Prosaro or Folicur EW
at head timing. However, if leaf disease is limited to the lower/mid leaves
you have the ability to make your Prosaro or Folicur EW application at head
timing to protect against both leaf disease and FHB.
Folicur EW 3/4 rate, flag leaf
OR
+ 5.5 bu./ac.
Folicur EW full rate, head
OR
+ 8.2 bu./ac.
Prosaro, head
C-51-06/14-10191928-W
F:8.7”
ASSET DISTRIBUTION
We often use the illustration on
this page to show the distribution
of assets associated with a typical
corporate farm.
Farm businesses that keep the
ownership and control of assets
integral to farm operations (the
left box) with the successive generation that is managing the business are most successful. Nonfarming children should be given
life insurance proceeds and investments (the right box).
If life insurance proceeds and
investments are not sufficient,
the middle circle must be used to
create an equitable estate. Assets
in the middle box can be owned
by non-farming and farming
children jointly with the least
amount of problems. Unanimous
shareholder agreements can be
used to clearly spell out how
these assets will be used to minimize the impact on the farm
operation while still giving nonfarming siblings access to equity
or cash.
The impact of ownership issues
on farm transition should never
be underestimated. Take time to
consider these issues now, and you
may avoid some problems that will
destroy your entire planetary. †
T:10”
YES
Life
Insurance
Investments
Non Farming children
NOT TO SPRAY
POTENTIAL
FOR FHB?
Preferred
Shares
Notes Payable
Shareholder’s
Loans
Farming children
*Gain in yield based on multi-year wheat Demonstration Strip Trial (DST) results in Western Canada, 107 replicated trials, 2008-2013. Results compared to yield of untreated check.
†Yes FHB means yield data is derived from DST trials where both %FDK and DON ppm levels were greater than zero, indicating FHB was present within the trial.
†No FHB means yield data is derived from DST trials where both %FDK and DON ppm were zero, indicating that no FHB was present within the trial.
T:17.4”
JUNE 10, 2014
Andrew DeRuyck and Mark Sloane manage two
farming operations in southern Manitoba and are
partners in Right Choice Management Consulting.
With over 25 years of cumulative experience,
they offer support in farm management, financial
management, strategic planning and mediation
services. They can be reached at andrewd@
goinet.ca and [email protected] or 204825-7392 and 204-825-8443.
18
/ grainews.ca
JUNE 10, 2014
Columns
FARM TALK
Duelling personalities
Different approaches to business management lead to wildly different
outcomes. Your choices will guide your business
BY KIM ALTHOUSE
J
ohn and Tom were friends through
high school and into early adulthood, but they eventually grew
apart.
Their two fathers ran businesses
about the same size. Both fathers’
businesses had undergone hard times
when there was no demand for their
production, but also good times when
demand was high and prices were excellent. Both fathers had thought about
expanding their businesses but were
limited by capital requirements.
The fathers were happy their sons had
chosen to gain educations that would
benefit the family businesses, but initially, their farms didn’t yield enough
profits to hire the sons. The boys found
work for others.
As their fathers aged, the sons began
to help the family businesses, at first
part time while they held down other
jobs. Soon both businesses generate
enough revenue to hire John and Tom
full time, until they could take over
the businesses and while their fathers
retired. The boys, now in their late 30s,
became rivals for business resources.
Tom and John had different interests.
John was content to produce enough
to maintain the lifestyle his family had
become accustomed to, and he managed his business the way it has always
been managed. Tom worked to excel.
He joined businesses peers at seminars
and meetings to increase his knowledge and become a better manager. He
kept complete records, learned to calculate his production costs and sold his
production when he could profit. He
matched his sales plans to obligations
to creditors.
One day, an opportunity for expansion
arose. John was upset when Tom outbid
him for production equipment and even
bought property adjacent to his own,
property John had wanted for years.
When they met again, after the usual
pleasantries, John brought up the issue
of the property. Tom explained that
using calculations to prove the expansion would lower his unit cost of production, he had been able to get credit
from a lender to bid the winning price.
John was too embarrassed to tell Tom
he hadn’t been able to get credit approval.
But John attempted to keep the conversation going, asking why nearly every time
he drove by Tom’s place he saw local suppliers’ vehicles. How did Tom find time to
deal with all of them?
Tom explained that the vehicles
belonged to his production and marketing partners.
John didn’t understand. He felt anyone attempting to make money from
his production was dishonest and possibly evil.
Tom explained that the people he
worked with were professionals whose
motivation was to make Tom more
money. He said working with partners
gave him time to manage his business
and become more efficient. He had
access to people who knew how to
maximize production, market profitably
and manage records.
John was incredulous. “You let strangers make your business decisions?” he
asked.
“Never,” Tom replied. “I’m too close
to my business, I have trouble detaching
myself. My production and marketing
partners are removed from the emotions. Their recommendations are based
on logic and backed up by data. But I
make the decisions.”
“They’re trained and educated and
see many businesses similar to mine.”
Tom explained. “I can draw from their
knowledge and experience. The profit I
gain is well above the amount I pay to
access their expertise.”
SAME START,
DIFFERENT ENDING
If you replaced the word “farm” with
“business” throughout this page, you
would have the story of many Johns and
Toms. Each started down the same path,
but they ended up in different places.
How is it possible?
OFF FARM INVESTMENT
“John,” Tom said, “When we started
farming, things were tough. I realized
that if I was going to stay in this business I needed help, not more debt. My
first decision was to get help to increase
my production and lower my per bushels costs.”
“How does spending more money to
grow bushels more lower your costs per
acre?” asked John.
“That,” said Tom, “is probably the
biggest misconception in farming. I look
at my costs on a per bushel basis, not a
per acre basis. Throwing inputs at a crop
will not always make money. Managing
the crop to maximize total profit rather
than per acre yield is a better option.
I’ve learned that planning starts long
before the growing cycle begins. Now
when I start seeding I have a higher
level of confidence that my crop will
turn a profit,” said Tom.
John clung to the beliefs of the past.
Tom grew to realize that one person had
neither the time nor the competence to
manage every aspect of a modern farm.
In accepting help from trained professionals, Tom proved to be the better
manager.
This is not a story of right or wrong,
just two different approaches. Your decisions will decide your place. †
Kim Althouse is a market coach with Agri-Trend at
Tisdale, Saskatchewan. He is also the president of
www.eGrainCanada.com.
KELLY’S AGEXPERT TIPS AND HINTS
Two groups of stocks Producing
Andy Sirski has grouped his stock portfolio
into two different types of stocks
ANDY
SIRSKI
W
hile I might
change the
allocation from
time to time,
my overall portfolio has two
groups of stocks. One group
includes Microsoft, Alcoa, First
Majestic and Silver Wheaton
and is the hub of my portfolio.
The second group has a lot less
money, and holds stocks I often
buy and sell according to the
seasons or signals. This year, this
group holds stocks like Bonavista
(BNP), Dryship (DRYS), Western
Forest Products (WEF), Delphie
(DEE) and others.
I try to own these stocks
as they come into season but
sell them according to what
the price is doing, not the calendar. My main sell signal is
when the daily price of a stock
drops through its 10-day moving average.
THE PORTFOLIO HUB
I own shares of Microsoft,
Alcoa, Barrick Gold and Silver
Wheaton for two reasons. One
is that I can sell U.S weekly calls
on each of these stocks. Each
stock also has a spot in our portfolio for its own special reason.
Microsoft (MSFT) broke out
of a 13-year base at about $38.
Lately, when shares drop to
around $38.50 they go right
back up again. I’ve been collecting $200 to $300 a week selling
calls on my 1,000 shares. I also
collect a small dividend.
Alcoa (AA)
has a wonderful
looking chart
Alcoa (AA) has a wonderful
looking chart. This company
produces aluminum as its main
business but has lately started to
make rims for semis and aluminum parts for airplanes. Alcoa
recently cut back its production
of aluminum in Brazil. Brazil
has had a severe drought and
water supplies for generating
electricity have really shrunk.
Alcoa plans to use less electricity so it can sell the extra power.
This will also reduce the supply
of aluminum in the market,
which should help raise prices.
Alcoa just signed a five-year
labour contract. The risk is that
China keeps expanding its aluminum production.
Barrick Gold (ABX) is a
huge mining conglomerate.
Recently, its management
bought too much gold in the
ground and ran into financial
grief. The long-time CEO has
been removed and now it looks
like ABX could be working on
a stronger financial plan that
should lead to higher profits.
Silver Wheaton (SLW) is one
of my very favourite stocks but
it needs to be managed. Over
the past three years or so the
stock has moved up and down
so much that if a person bought
when the daily price crossed the
10 or 20 dma going up and sold
when the daily price crossed
the 10 dma going down, the
profits would be more than the
shares are worth now. However,
anyone who paid over $30 per
share and did not manage the
ups and downs has lost considerable cash. †
Andy is mostly retired. He plays with
grandchildren, has a tax business,
gardens, travels with his wife and
manages his family’s investments. Andy
also publishes an electronic newsletter
called StocksTalk where he tells what
he does with his stocks. You can read it
free for a month by sending an email to
Andy at [email protected].
invoices, statements
and cheques
KELLY
AIREY
E
very farmer can save time
by producing invoices,
statements and cheques
with Farm Credit Canada’s
AgExpert Analyst accounting software.
In one easy entry, you can enter
the transaction through the point
of sale entry screen, and produce
an invoice for the sale of commodities, such as livestock or grain. It
can also be done for services, such
as grain hauling or custom seeding.
As you enter the transaction,
you can select if the customer
paid by cash or cheque, and select
which bank account the money
was deposited to. Or, if the customer still owes you, then you
may set it up as a receivable in the
system.
Once you record the transaction, the software will print out
the corresponding invoice to send
to your customer. At the end of
every month the software allows
you to generate statements for
any outstanding invoices. Once
the customer pays you, you simply
apply the payment against the outstanding invoice in the system. It’s
a great way to keep track of your
receivables.
AgExpert can also produce
cheques. As you enter your
expenses, such as fertilizer or fuel
through the transaction entry
screen, you can select the option
to print a cheque to pay your
supplier. This can save you time,
allowing you to record and pay
your bills all at once. Payroll
cheques can also be created with
your employee’s pay period information on the paystub.
Contact FCC Management
Software for a list of recommended
companies that supply cheques
and forms that are compatible
with the software. Stay tuned —
next month I will be giving you
some great tips on the AgExpert
Mobile App. †
Kelly Airey is a farmer and ag consultant in
Western Manitoba. If you’re interested in purchasing AgExpert software, she can help you
receive $25 off your purchase. Contact Kelly at
[email protected] or (204) 365-2442.
JUNE 10, 2014
grainews.ca /
Machinery & Shop
GRAINEWS CONTEST
What the judges thought
Finalists have been chosen for the All-Time Favourite Machine competition.
Choose the winners at the Farm Progress Show
SCOTT GARVEY
N
ominations have
closed on the Farmer’s
A l l - Ti m e F a v o u r i t e
Machine competition.
Your submissions were handed over
to the judges, who were charged
with the task of selecting three finalists in each category. Picking those
finalists was no easy task.
We said at the start of this
competition that the judges
would take a few of things into
account when making their selections. Namely, how many times
each machine was nominated.
Second, what kind of reputation
the machine had. And lastly, how
each machine advanced ag engineering design.
Some of those things may be a
little subjective, but the judges finished their deliberations and their
list is out. Here are the choices
and an explanation of why each
machine was picked.
GENERAL MACHINERY
In the general machinery category, a couple of different models
of skid-steer loaders were nominated. When the judges looked at
all these nominations, they decided to broaden the actual winner
description and name the basic
skid steer, itself, as a finalist, all
brands included.
The Spra-Coupe was one of the
most unique machines to hit the
market in its day, and it is an early
forerunner of the current self-propelled, high-clearance sprayer. It
proved to farmers that SP sprayers
had a place on prairie farms.
Lastly, the judges felt they had to
include an air seeder. This machine
revolutionized dry-land seeding. But
which one? Again, the decision was
made to simply name the machine
type and include all brands.
We wished we could have listed
all the nominees and let everyone vote on them, but that just
wasn’t feasible. So, we hope you
see a favourite or two in the list
of finalists.
Be sure to stop by the Grainews
booth at Canada’s Farm Progress
Show in Regina in June and cast
your ballot. Thanks to everyone who shared their favourites
with us. †
Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews.
Contact him at [email protected].
THE TRACTORS
In the tractor category, we
received more nominations
than any other. The three choices were the 9030 New Holland
bi-directional, the entire
Generation II line (30 Series)
John Deeres and the Versatile
835 and 875.
The 9030 has long been a favourite of livestock producers and is
still in demand as a used machine.
Its design is unique, making it
a capable machine around barnyards and feedlots.
So many John Deere models in
the 30, 40, 50 and 55 Series were
nominated, we decided to pick
the line that formed the basis of
all those models, the Generation
II 30 Series. These tractors first
introduced the Sound Guard
cabs, making operator comfort
and safety a key component of
their design.
The big Versatiles were serious contenders in the marketplace during their time, and there
seems little doubt this brand
helped shape the face of fourwheel drive tractors in all brands.
The basic driveline components
of these models have stood up
remarkably well over time and
were carried on into the later New
Holland models.
THE COMBINES
For combines, the MF 410, a
radical new design when it was
introduced, helped drive Massey’s
fortunes forward in the 1960s. The
410 and the later 510 dominated
sales in the west and although
they debuted in the mid 1960s,
there are still a few around.
The N Series Gleaner introduced
the unique transverse rotary
design that no other brand has
yet copied. This type of thresher
has gained a good reputation for
putting a clean sample in the tank,
and current Gleaners are advancements on that original design.
The IHC 1482 brought axial
rotary technology to the pull-type
segment. By far the most popular
pull-type rotary, the 1482 was a
common sight across the Prairies.
Think fast.
Simply the fastest, most durable, and easy to use augers you can buy.
In an independent, side-by-side comparison, Brandt Swing Away augers moved up to 60%* more material
than our competitors, in the same amount of time. But speed isn’t our only advantage. Premium features like our low
profile, self-leveling hopper and heavy-duty scissor lift provide maximum reach and safety while easy access cleanout doors
and our patented chain couplers deliver industry-leading convenience and product longevity too. Think durability,
ease of use, and premium quality. Think fast. Think Brandt.
That’s powerful value, delivered.
* Based on an independent side-by-side comparison
by Meyers Norris Penny LLP.
300
$
Visit thanksabillion.ca for rebate details and
other offers. For product details and a dealer near you,
call 1-866-4BRANDT or visit www.brandt.ca
Rebate on Swing Away Augers
On Models 1060XL, 1070XL, 1080XL, 1370XL, 1380XL, 1390XL, 1370HP,
1380HP, 1390HP, 13110HP. Some restrictions apply.
Offer valid until June 30, 2014
Thanks a
Billion!
19
20
/ grainews.ca
JUNE 10, 2014
Machinery & Shop
Project CJ3A
How to fix a bullet hole
We encounter still more unusual damage as we work on our long-term Jeep restoration project
W
orking through
the rebuild phase
of Project CJ3A,
our on-going Jeep
restoration series, we keep finding unexpected problems. After
uncovering all kinds of unusual
damage, we’ve found ourselves
repeatedly asking, “How the
heck could that have happened”.
Much of it seemed to be the
result of abuse and previous substandard mechanical repairs. This
time as we began prepping the
windshield frame for new paint,
we had to ask that question yet
again when we found what looks
like an old bullet hole. We didn’t
expect to have to fix a battle scar
on a civilian-model Jeep.
By the way, the “CJ” in the
Jeep’s CJ3A model number stands
for “Civilian Jeep,” which makes
it slightly different than the military models Willy’s Overland produced during this era.
Fortunately, taking care of
this kind of damage is a pretty
straight-forward process. Here’s
how we did it.
The first step is to get all the
deformed metal around the hole
back into position. It looked like
the bullet was shot from the front
of the Jeep, pushing the metal
backward around the edges of the
hole. Hopefully, nobody was sitting in the seats when the bullet
whizzed through.
Using a body hammer and dolly
we lightly tapped the deformed
metal edges back into position.
Holding the dolly under the low
side of the deformation and tapping with the hammer on the high
side, we gradually worked everything flat again. (We used a proper
automotive body dolly, but any
heavy piece of solid metal with a
smooth surface would work almost
as well).
The concept here is the dolly
supports the surrounding metal
on the opposite side of the hammer blows, preventing the force
from just pushing the deformity
1
out in the opposite direction. Just
use very light hammer taps when
doing this, gently working the
metal back to where it should be.
After that step, we were still
left with a jagged-edged hole
in the metal. It was impractical
to try and fit a patch into that
small, irregular shape. So, using
a step bit we drilled out the damaged area to create a smooth,
almost round hole surrounded
by good, straight metal. In this
case the damaged area was very
close to another overlapping
layer of steel. It wasn’t possible
to drill out a perfectly round
hole without cutting into that
top layer and creating even more
work for ourselves. Instead, we
elongated the hole to remove all
the material we needed to.
Once the damaged metal was
drilled out, we placed a piece of
thin cardboard underneath the
hole and traced the shape onto it.
That gave us a pattern to overlay
on some new metal and cut out a
patch. We then put the patch into
the hole and held it in place for
welding with a piece of masking
tape on the underside. You could
also use a welding magnet to do
the same thing.
Get out the welder
Using a MIG welder with .023
gauge welding wire, we butt
welded the patch into place. That
butt-welding method is key to
creating a repair that is undetectable from either side of the windshield frame. Remember, welding
thin-gauge sheet metal requires
a go-slow approach. Burning a
series of tacks with short arc
bursts around the entire patch
is the easiest way to get the job
done. Continue making short
tack welds until the edges of the
patch are entirely welded to the
surrounding metal.
An angle grinder with a 40-grit
flap disc was used to grind the
weld bead smooth with the sur-
rounding surface, leaving the
patched area as one solid piece of
steel again. But this process often
leaves a few small irregularities on
the metal surface that would mar
a good paint job, so a skim coat
of body filler was applied over the
repair to fix that. When applying
it, we layered it on slightly thicker
than we needed for the finished
job, because it will shrink slightly
as it cures.
Hitting the cured filler with
120-grit sand paper, we sanded
it smooth with the surrounding metal, leaving only a waferthin layer to even out the low
spots. A high-build primer was
sprayed over the repair, which
further improves the surface finish
by filling in any pinholes in the
filler. The repair is now completely
invisible and the windshield frame
is ready for full primer and paint.
But, there is still a lot of work left
to do on the rest of the body. †
Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews.
Contact him at [email protected].
2
3
4
5
6
photos: scott garvey
1: The windshield frame on Project CJ3A had a surprise for us we hadn’t noticed, a bullet hole that had to be repaired before the part could be painted. 2: Once all the deformed metal was
worked back into place, we were left with a jagged hole, and fitting a patch into this is impractical. 3: Using a step bit, we drilled out the damaged area, being careful not to cut into the
overlapping metal layer of the windshield surround. 4: The regular shape left by the drill bit allowed us to make a patch and fit it into the hole for butt welding to the surrounding metal, leaving
a repair invisible from both sides. 5: Using body filler to smoothen out the small imperfections left on the surface after the weld bead was ground down will make the repair invisible under a
coat of paint. 6: After applying a coat of primer over the repair, it is impossible to see where the damage was. And with a metal patch welded in place, the part is as strong as it was before.
JUNE 10, 2014
grainews.ca /
21
Machinery & Shop
Keep it going
How to install an 855 Cummins
in a Series II Versatile
Herb Hallman of Fosston, Saskatchewan, wrote to tell us how he re-powered his
700 Versatile with an updated 855 Cummins. Here’s what he had to say
By Herb Hallman
T
he writing was on the
wall in 2006. We knew
we probably wouldn’t be
seeding in the spring if we
didn’t get a four-wheel drive tractor. At the salvage yard we ran back
then we had a nice, clean, low-hour
Versatile 700, Series II that needed a
new engine. We decided to install a
new engine in it and put it to work
instead of buying a new tractor.
But the original 555 cubic-inch
Cummins V-8 diesel used in these
tractors was notorious for having a short life. So, we opted to
drop in a six-cylinder, 855 cubicinch Cummins instead. It was
the obvious replacement choice.
Versatile used them in their larger
tractors and the engine has a stellar reputation.
We discovered we could buy a
used highway truck powered by
an 855 for about the same price as
an engine alone, so we picked up
a suitable Ford LT9000 at an auction. Its 855 had a factory setting
of 350 horsepower, but this one
was uprated to 400. We removed
the engine and sold the other truck
parts and chasis to help reduce our
investment.
Two important features we needed from the 855 were a front-sump
oil pan — which is essential for an
ag tractor — and a bell housing that
would bolt to the Versatile clutch
cover. With the LT9000’s engine, we
lucked out on both.
Rigging the clutch was probably
our biggest challenge. The truck’s
clutch was larger than the original in the tractor. Our first choice
was to use the truck clutch but
the splines on the discs were for
a larger-diameter output shaft. We
couldn’t use the original tractor
clutch because the bolt pattern on
the 555 flywheel it was meant to
mate to was different. We found a
flywheel from a wrecked Versatile
with a six-cylinder engine, but it
was a smaller diameter, and the
starter wouldn’t engage it. Using it
would have required changing the
bell housing as well, which wasn’t
an option.
I discovered the 4586 IH tractor
used the same clutch as a Versatile
and it mated to a flat flywheel,
which is what the engine was
equipped with. We had a machine
shop drill new bolt holes in the flywheel and that solved the problem.
At the front of the engine we had
to find a used fan hub. We also had
to switch the serpentine accessory
belt system back to a V-belt arrangement. On the 855 ag engine, the
hydraulic pump drives off the front.
The truck engine didn’t have the
necessary opening for the pump,
nor the internal gears, so we had to
change the timing cover.
Changing the front timing
cover also forced us to buy a different front motor mount, because
the change meant the existing one
couldn’t be used.
When we looked at the fuel system, we found we had to install a
governor, because the truck engine
didn’t have one. We couldn’t re-use
the pump from the 555, because it
rotated the wrong way. After finding
a pump at a wrecker, we had it and
the injectors serviced at Cummins
and rated them for 280 horsepower.
During the installation, dealing
with the longer six-cylinder engine
meant we had to reposition the
radiator forward to make enough
room for it, but that wasn’t a problem. And there was at least two feet
of room behind the old V-8 and the
cab, so space wasn’t a problem. No
frame modifications were required.
After lowering the new engine in
and getting it square and level,
we simply welded the new motor
mounts to the 700’s frame.
For the finishing touches, we salvaged an exhaust system off an
8870 John Deere and used an air
breather system we pulled off a New
Holland TR96 combine. Of course,
we had to fit new control cables
and install a compatible tachometer
inside the cab.
To run an airseeder fan, we
installed a separate hydraulic system. We used the existing reservoir on the tractor and it has
worked well, even without an
extra oil cooler.
The downside to replacing the
original V-8 engine with a six cylinder is you lose road gear speed.
Six cylinders pull best around 1,800
to 1,900 r.p.m., whereas the V-8s
worked best at about 2,800. That
means you lose about 30 per cent of
your top-end speed.
I don’t think I’d put this much
time and money into a project
again. However, it’s hard to put
a price on the satisfaction of running a machine you built yourself,
especially when it works as flawlessly as this one has.
Editor’s note: Do you have a classic
farm machine or truck that you’ve modified or just kept running over the years?
If so, tell us about it. Send an email
to [email protected], and
we’ll try to feature it in a future issue of
Grainews. Be sure to include some goodquality photos. †
Herb Hallman
photos: herb hallman
The original 555 ci Cummins V-8 engine this Versatile 700, Series II tractor was originally equipped with
has been replaced by a bigger, six-cylinder 855ci Cummins.
Fitting the longer 855 engine into the tractor meant repositioning the
radiator forward and welding new engine mounts to the tractor frame.
The exhaust and air intake systems were salvaged from an 8870 John
Deere tractor and a TR96 New Holland combine.
22
/ grainews.ca
JUNE 10, 2014
Machinery & Shop
Grain handling
GSI’s TopDry system recycles
heat to improve efficiency
System blends grain dryer with temporary storage capacity
By Scott Garvey
A
lthough GSI’s TopDry
grain drying and storage system has been on
the market since 1986,
the features it offers have recently been gaining popularity with
North American corn and small
grains growers, according to
Gary Woodruff, GSI’s conditioning products marketing specialist. Adding computerized controls to the system significantly
increased its appeal, he says.
“In the past five to seven years
it went from just one of the
alternatives we offer to the fastest growing product at GSI,” he
says. “This is being driven by
several factors, number one is
economics. It equals the efficiency of our tower dryer. And
the quality is good enough that
we actually recommend this
dryer for use with white food
grade (corn).”
“In the past, the demand
for dryers primarily centred
around capacity,” he continues.
“Efficiency was second. Today,
we’re seeing the strongest drive
being efficiency.”
“It’s not a new thing in the
industry, for sure,” adds Collin
Horst of Earl Horst Systems Ltd.,
a GSI retailer in Elmira, Ontario.
“But probably efficiency is the
key thing for our customers.
Reusing the heat from the hot
corn is where you gain the efficiency. As you are cooling the
corn the heat is reused.”
The TopDry system houses a
dryer in the top part of a 24-, 30or 36-foot diameter bin, where
grain is held in a layer no more
than 32 inches deep while it’s
dried. When the drying process
is completed, the grain drops
down to the aeration floor in the
bin below. As it cools, the hot air
it gives off is recycled and blown
back up into the dryer.
“It has a limited grain depth
of only 32 inches (while drying),” says Woodruff. “What this
does is give you a much lower
resistance to air flow and we
can use a higher-efficiency 1,750
r.p.m. fan and deliver a lot of air
with a relatively low amount of
horsepower.”
“The more air (flow) you can
get, the higher your drying
capacity. Normally, in a grain
bin you have six to 21 feet of
grain depth, so you have very
high static pressures with one
to two CFM per bushel of air
flow. So you have very low
capacities. With a TopDry, you
can get as much as 20, up to as
high as 60 CFM per bushel, so
we can dramatically improve
that capacity level compared to
a standard bin.”
“In addition to that we drop
that warm, dry grain onto the
bottom, normal aeration floor
of the bin. We aerate and cool
that grain and reuse that (warm)
aeration air in the drying process (for the next batch). We wind
up with a very high capacity, a
very high efficiency and a very
high quality dry.”
Currently GSI offers two
TopDry models. One is batch
system, where each dryer batch
must be manually loaded after
the previous one is completed.
The other is the computerized
AutoFlow version, which automatically keeps the dryer full,
allowing farmers to press on with
other harvesting work while the
dryer looks after itself.
“With that one (AutoFlow),
you are going to run between
eight and 15 times the amount
of capacity of a conventional
bin dryer,” says Woodruff. “It’s a
rather dramatic improvement.”
“In a typical bin dryer, we’re
lucky to dry 100 to 200 bushels
per hour at 10-point removal,”
he continues. “Over 24 hours
that turns into 2,400 to 4,800
bushels per day. With a 36-foot
TopDry, we can dry six or seven
batches, which is 10,000 to
12,000 bushels per day. It’s a factor of at least three times more
capacity per day in the same
diameter bin.”
“When we go to the AutoFlow,
the automated version, we
reduce the depth of the grain
as it moves to the outside of the
floor. We don’t have any loading
time. At 10 points, that dryer
can easily do 35,000 to 40,000
bushels per day.”
The TopDry system is available in bin sizes of 24-, 30- and
36-foot diameters with 20,000
to 32,000 bushel storage capacity, providing a lot of temporary
storage in the drying bin.
“This dryer, cost-wise, is very
similar to a column dryer, but
you get storage below the drying floor, says Horst. “The other
luxury it gives you is we can do
this system with one elevator,
because you can dry until the
bottom (aeration bin) is full.
Then when you stop combining
in the evening, you can transfer
(dried grain) using the same leg
you use to fill it.”
According to Woodruff, the
TopDry system retails between
20 and 25 per cent less than a
typical stack tower dryer, and
that includes the cost of the bottom aeration bin. †
Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews.
Contact him at [email protected].
Left: Warm air is blown through a 32-inch layer of damp grain at
the roof of the bin. Right: After a batch is dried, it is dropped to the
bottom of the bin. Aeration carries the heat it gives off back up to help
dry additional batches of damp grain.
photo: agco
GSI’s TopDry system dries grain in a shallow layer at the top of a 24-, 30or 36-foot diameter aeration bin, and it recycles the heat given off during
later aeration to reduce heat requirements for drying subsequent batches.
JUNE 10, 2014
grainews.ca /
23
Machinery & Shop
READER FEEDBACK
You named
your favourite
penetrating
fluids
BY SCOTT GARVEY
I
n the February 4 issue
of Grainews we published our penetrating
fluids comparison, then
we asked for your feedback,
and we got it. Many of you
wrote in to let us know which
product you preferred. Here’s a
look at which brands some of
our readers trust in their own
workshops.
Tim Clarke let us know he
likes a product called Aerokroil.
“It comes in an orange aerosol
can and is expensive, over $20
per can,” he wrote. “It is amazing stuff but don’t breathe the
vapours.”
Ron Krahn mentioned he
has heard of using a 50:50
blend of acetone and automatic transmission fluid. “It
apparently works amazing,”
he explained. “But is difficult to store for some reason,
so it needs to mixed up as
needed.”
Pat Barkman told us about
his preference. “As an independent repair shop specializing in Ag equipment repair,
we have found the Wynn’s
X-Tend #5 Foam Spray “The
Nut buster” to be the most
effective penetrating fluid,”
he wrote. “We have used the
Loctite Freeze and Release as
well as the JD Penetrating fluid
and both work reasonably
well, but we keep going back
to the Wynn’s product. It is
generally a little more costly,
but the effectiveness is worth
the extra coin.”
“It is also very effective as a
carburetor cleaner, as it seems
to melt the sludge and deposits left behind by ethanolblend gas.”
John Oystryk used good
old Canada Post to send in
his comments. He remembers having very good luck
using a brand called Carbon
X, although it’s no longer
available under that name. “At
present, for the past 12 to 15
years, it is known as AC Delco
Penetrating Fluid #992955,”
he explained.
And Neil Olstad had this to
say: “My favourite is MOOVIT
sold by Snap On and also
Princess Auto. It is an excellent
lubricant, best I’ve tried.”
Finally, Rick Orser, territory sales manager for
Milligan Biofuels in Foam
Lake, Saskatchewan, noticed
our penetrating fluid test and
challenged us to put that company’s product to the test.
We accepted his challenge,
so we’ll be doing it all over
again this summer with a
new collection of contenders,
including Milligan’s. So watch
for the results in a future issue
of Grainews sometime in late
summer or early fall.
Thank you to everyone
who took the time to share
their comments. †
Scott Garvey
Deere introduces SeedStar Mobile
BY SCOTT GARVEY
I
n conjunction with the launch of its
new planter row units, John Deere also
announced the pending release of the
SeedStar Mobile app for iPads, which
is designed to allow operators to better visualize, document, and access their planting
data in real time. The company expects it
to be available in time for the 2015 planting season.
According to Mike Brandert, senior product manager at John Deere Intelligent
Solutions Group, SeedStar Mobile feeds
real-time, row-by-row performance data
wirelessly to an iPad that can be located
inside the tractor cab, in the farm office,
or anywhere else. “With SeedStar Mobile,
producers can instantly monitor planter
performance,” he says.
Depending on the configuration of the
planter, the system collects data and
monitors population, singulation, seed
spacing, downforce, variety, and ground
speed, on a row-by-row basis. SeedStar
Mobile captures this information and
stores it on an iPad by working in conjunction with the GreenStar 3 2630
Display and SeedStar XP or SeedStar 3 HP
on the planter. This information can be
used to help optimize planter settings,
diagnose potential problems, scout fields,
and provide decision support in other
areas of the farming operation. SeedStar
Mobile also transfers the planting data to
the Operations Center in MyJohnDeere
directly from the field while planting or
from the producer’s office using WiFi or a
cellular connection.
“By utilizing SeedStar Mobile on an
iPad, it gives producers easy access to their
planting data and provides the mobility
they need to view the data at any time or
place,” adds Brandert. “Also, by sending
the data to MyJohnDeere, it gives producers the ability to synchronize information
PHOTO: JOHN DEERE
SeedStar Mobile will allow farmers to monitor
planter performance in real time from any
place Internet access is available.
between mobile devices and share data
with trusted agronomic service providers.
All of this enables the producer to improve
planting performance, increase productivity, and maximize the yield potential of
their crops.”
Watch for Deere to release more information about SeedStar later this year. †
Scott Garvey
www.farm-king.com
Crucial details connecting
your combine to the market
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Grain Vac - Diesel Model
Backsaver Auger 10/13/16
Backsaver Auger - Feterl Original 12/14
Backsaver Auger - Feterl Original 12
Conventional Auger
Conventional Auger - Feterl Original
Drive-over Hopper
Utility Auger / Unloading Auger
Rollermill / Hammermill
Grain Cleaner
Grain Cart - 1060/1360
Higher input costs and tighter margins require a complete grain management
system to make your operation as profitable as possible. The complete line of
Farm King grain handling equipment ensures you get top dollar for your crop.
With decades of grain handling experience, Farm King offers everything you
need to get your grain to market after it leaves the combine.
Visit www.farm-king.com to find a
dealer near you.
©2014 Buhler Trading Inc. | [email protected] | www.farm-king.com
24
/ grainews.ca
JUNE 10, 2014
Machinery & Shop
Tillage equipment
Lemken showcases new implements
At an International Press Day in Germany, Lemken introduced its 2014
equipment, including models that will be available here
By Scott Garvey
L
emken may not yet be
a household name in
Western Canada, but
management at the
German company’s head office is
working hard on changing that.
Since opening its Canadian subsidiary in 2005, Canada has grown
to become the company’s fourth
largest export market, with sales
hitting 15.4 million Euros (more
than CDN$22.9 million).
“We started in Canada in
2005,” says Christian Jungmann,
Lemken’s export sales manager.
“Canada, from a history point
of view (for us), is quite a young
market.
The company initially targeted Eastern Canada, where many
Quebec farms have a lot in common with farms in Europe. But
a little to its own surprise, the
brand has found strong demand
for its one-pass tillage tools across
the Prairies.
“That’s a step we had not
planned in the beginning to be
honest about that,” explains
Jungmann. “We thought ‘we’ll go
into the East.’ After two or three
years there was an explosion of
sales (across the Prairies). And it’s
still going on. We now have 17
dealers (with multiple locations)
taking care of our products in that
part of Canada.”
In early May, Lemken held it’s
bi-annual International Press Day
in Germany, inviting members of
the farm media to gather in a field
and see what the new machines
it debuted at the Agritechnica
machinery show last November
can really do.
Although many of its implements are designed with features
directly aimed at farming needs
in the company’s home market
in Germany, the brand’s managers have spent time in Canada
evaluating the needs and practices
An 500-year-old farmyard in central Germany was the venue for Lemken’s 2014 International Press Day in May.
of farmers all across this country.
That, they say, has allowed them
fine tune — or in some cases significantly change — the engineering on implements destined for
the Prairie, which allows them to
exactly meet the needs of producers here.
“The good thing was before we
went to North America, we were
successful in Eastern Europe where
there are also big farms,” explains
Jungmann. “Russian people are
very tough (on equipment). They
just put it behind the tractor and
go. So we had experience with
designing heavy machines for
high horsepower tractors. From a
quality point of view, we were well
prepared for the North American
market, and we also have bigger
machines available.”
For the Canadian Prairie market,
the brand expects three implements will form the core of its
sales. The Rubin 12 compact disc,
the Karat 9 tine cultivator and
the Compact Solitair seed drill.
The two tillage tools are one-pass
systems designed to turn standing
stubble into a firm, even seedbed
with just one pass, which is ideal
photo: lemken
for dealing with fields that have
been rutted up during wet harvests
or have high residues from crops
such as corn. In fact, one-pass
systems have become the brand’s
hallmark.
And while both tillage implements are designed to work at
high speeds, the Rubin 12, with
what Lemken claims are the largest diameter discs in the industry,
can work as deep as eight inches.
The Karat 9 tine cultivator, which
can work as deep as 12 inches,
also includes an electronic sensing system that maintains a precise
photo: scott garvey
working depth over uneven terrain
and transfers weight to the tractor
drawbar to help minimize wheel
slip during hard pulling.
The Compact Solitair seed
drill, Lemken’s newest machine
to be offered in Canada, has yet
to prove it has appeal to Prairie
farmers. Canadian sales manager,
Laurent Letzter, says he intends
to introduce it to Prairie growers
this season. It may actually find
a strong niche in the West with
its ability to accurate place smallseeded crops into fields left in
poor condition from the previous
photo: scott garvey
Left: The Rubin 12 is available in working widths up to six meters (20 feet) and can work as deep as eight inches. Right: The Rubin 12 uses 736 mm (29 inch) diameter discs, which the
company claims are the largest in the industry.
JUNE 10, 2014
grainews.ca /
25
Machinery & Shop
season. It combines the brand’s
one-pass tillage philosophy with
one-pass seeding, using a design
that is intended specifically for
crops like canola that need precise
seed placement.
“It’s a unique system that allows
you to do tillage with fertilizer
placement and it doesn’t create
compaction because the weight is
distributed across the entire width
of the machine,” says Letzter.
“Then we have (soil) re-consolidation and seed placement.”
“With the reconsolidation
before seed placement, we create
capillary zones, which means
we can seed very shallow and
get very quick emergence. That
emergence will be very even,
providing a full stand and even
maturity. With seedbed preparation at the time of seeding you
get the benefit of all the available moisture.”
All Lemken implements bound
for Canada are built at the company’s factory in the village of
Alpen, Germany, which allows
the brand to point to the same
“made in Germany” label that
has helped create a reputation
for quality in other products like
Mercedes and BMW. “We look at
our factory as a marketing tool,”
says Jungmann. “Once people see
how we build machines, people
will see the quality.”
The company has recently completed construction of new facilities
at the plant to accommodate group
visits, and it’s now arranging tours
for Canadians every March.
But Jungmann acknowledges
that same built-in-Germany label
also creates a concern about parts
availability in the minds of some
prairie farmers.
“That’s one of the major concerns of farmers in Canada when
you sell an implement coming from Europe,” he explains.
“What about parts? It was one
of the first questions I got from
the farmers when I went to the
country. We have basically two
strategies. On one side we overfill the parts locations as much as
possible. In addition to that we
always put one or two machines
in the corner. They have all the
options on them and are not for
sale. If a part is not available, we
take if off the machine.”
“That’s really helped a lot,”
adds Letzter. “Sometimes it’s a
tire and you don’t have all the
sizes. Sometimes it’s a frame piece
because someone hit a hydro pole.
There are so many things that you
cannot plan for.”
Lemken now has three Canadian
parts distribution facilities. One
in B.C. that serves that province
and Alberta and another near
Winnipeg to handle Manitoba
and Saskatchewan. The remaining
facility serves the East.
The brand will also have
a strong presence at Canadian
farms shows going forward, showing equipment at Canada’s Farm
Progress Show in Regina this
month and at Canada’s Outdoor
Farm Show in Woodstock,
Ontario, in September.
“The personal contact that goes
on at a farm show is irreplaceable,” says Letzter. “That’s why
we try to go to all of them and
do demonstrations at the shows
when we can.”
For a video look at the Lemken
press day event, check out the
new E-Quip TV episode by clicking on the videos link at www.
grainews.ca. †
PHOTO: LEMKEN
PHOTO: LEMKEN
PHOTO: SCOTT GARVEY
Top Left: The Karat tine cultivator is available in working widths
up to five metres (16 feet) and features an electronic system
that maintains even and consistent depth control in uneven
terrain. Bottom Right: The Karat 9 tine cultivator uses quick
change shovels, and it’s capable of working up to 12 inches
deep. Top Right: The Compact Solitair drill incorporates onepass tillage with one-pass seeding. Brand managers claim it
can accurately place small-seeded crops into a fully prepared
seedbed in a single operation.
IF ALL YOU SEE IS A BIN...
You’re only seeing half the picture.
When storing and managing grain, fertilizer and liquid products, look to a
name you trust. Westeel supplies a full line of farm management products, all
manufactured to the same industry leading standards our bins are famous for.
See everything we can bring to your farm. Talk to your Westeel dealer today.
888-WESTEEL (937-8335) [email protected] WESTEEL.COM
Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews.
Contact him at [email protected].
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JUNE 10, 2014
Machinery & Shop
Technology
Trimble takes to the air
The technology company introduces a new unmanned aerial drone for ag applications
By Scott Garvey
I
n January, Trimble announced it was adding the
UX5 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to its ag products
division. This small drone comes
equipped with a camera that can
capture geo-referenced photographs, near-infrared images for
NDVI (Normalized Difference
Vegetation Index) analysis as
well as topographical information, making it a handy tool for
anything from locating cattle in
a pasture to creating prescription
field maps.
“In 2011 we acquired a company out of Belgium called
gatewing, explains Stephanie
Spiller, technical solutions manager at Trimble. “Originally, the
X100 (the company’s first UAV)
was introduced to our geospatial division. One of the biggest
requests that came in from that
industry was can we do this
for farming. Hence, our agriculture group has adopted the same
technology with the UX5.”
Interest in using UAVs in precision farming has been growing
because of the goldmine of data
they can capture to enhance farm
management.
“You’d be able to measure your
crop health as well as the nitrogen
content with the NDVI index,”
Spiller adds. “You would also be
able to monitor crop height or
how well a crop is growing in a
specific area and from that you’d
be able to make a specific prescription (map).”
Overhead mapping
“It would also be useful if you
have a large area and just want to
have a topographic map. You could
know where depressions and high
points are and eventually use that
for land levelling or drainage.”
Importing images captured by
the UX5 into Trimble’s Business
Centre software, producers can
create a variety of different maps.
“Once you’ve stitched all your
images together you could export
it and overlay it onto Google
Earth or something like that,”
notes Spiller.
Flying at altitudes between 75
and 750 metres, the UX5 is capable
of taking high resolution images
with a position accuracy of five
centimetres (two inches).
“The accuracy of the plane is
dependent on a couple of factors,”
says Spiller. “How high you’re flying the plane is one factor, also
the overlap of the pictures you’re
taking and the area you want to
cover. All those things factor into
the accuracy of the data you’re
collecting.”
“If, let’s take, you have a grain
silo in your field and you want
to know its precise location. If
you have that silo located in four
overlapping photos, that’s going
to give you four reference points.
However, if you have it in, say,
10 or 15 different images, that’s
going to give you even more
reference points to lock down its
location.”
“We do a minimum of 60 per
cent overlap. Overlap can be used
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to have more reference points, or
it can also be used if you’re flying
in windy conditions in case one or
two images are unusable, so you
can be sure you have some redundancy in your operation.”
Putting it to work
When you open the box of a
UX5 kit, you’ll find everything you
need to take to the skies.
“You get the actual plane, the
vehicle itself,” says Spiller. “With
that comes all the electronics.
To control the plane you get a
ground control station, which is
essentially a Windows 7 ruggedized tablet. You get the launcher
that is used to put the UX5 into
flight and all the software components. You get spare parts, the
radio for communications and
the camera as well.”
The camera that comes with the
plane is a standard, off-the-shelf
16 megapixel Sony. It’s available
with an additional near-infrared
lens that captures the NDVI data.
The price tag for all this equipment comes in at US$50,999.
Included with that is five days of
training, enough to turn anyone
into a competent UX5 pilot.
“It’s actually quite an extensive
training,” says Spiller. “You do two
days of theoretical knowledge in
the classroom, then you do three
days out in the field practicing for
different scenarios.”
To fly a UX5, operators pre-program a flight plan into the tablet
and launch the plane. The UX5
then follows a GPS-guided path,
which is fully automated from
takeoff to landing.
“When you’re in flight, you do
have a real-time display on the
tablet, so you’ll be able to see
all standardized flight information such as plane speed and GPS
location as well as how many photos you’ve taken,” she continues.
“There are safety maneuvers you
can do with the plane, but you
can’t alter the flight plan at all.
You can move it left or right, you
can also put the plane in a holding pattern or you can initiate an
emergency landing.”
The UX5 is powered by an electric motor and uses a 14.5 volt
onboard lithium battery, giving it
a 50 minute flight time. At an airspeed of 80 km/h., the plane can
cover about two square kilometres
in a single flight.
“In Canada you are required
to have authorization to fly the
plane,” Spiller explains. “That is
the proof of training that you
receive from your retailer. You’re
also required to submit a flight
plan to your local aviation authority. That is the same flight plan
you would pre-program on your
tablet. They would then give you
permission to fly for that day in
that time frame.”
Although the UX5 already has a
wide range of data collection capabilities, the future uses of aerial
drones in agriculture will likely
continue to grow.
“We recognize this product has
great potential for more applications,” says Spiller. “I’m sure as
the industry picks up this new
technology there’ll be lots [more]
suggestions.” †
Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews.
Contact him at [email protected].
canada’S farm progreSS Show
June 18 - 20, 2014, regina, SK
Special event Section
NSC
Moosomin
RR2Y
NSC
Reston
RR2Y
NSC
Anola
RR2Y
Vito
NSC
RR2Y
At NorthStar Genetics, we have four of the highest performing and earliest maturing
soybean varieties for Saskatchewan!
At NorthStar Genetics, we know beans!
www.weknowbeans.com
© NorthStar Genetics 2013
© NorthStar Genetics 2013
ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS. Roundup Ready® crops contain genes that confer tolerance to glyphosate, the active ingredient in
Roundup® brand agricultural herbicides. Roundup® brand agricultural herbicides will kill crops that are not tolerant to glyphosate. Genuity and Design®, Genuity Icons,
Genuity®, Roundup Ready 2 Yield®, Roundup Ready®, Roundup WeatherMAX®, and Roundup® are trademarks of Monsanto Technology LLC, Monsanto Canada, Inc.
licensee. Respect the Refuge and Design is a registered trademark of the Canadian Seed Trade Association. Used under license. ©2012 Monsanto Canada, Inc.
PRACTICAL PRODUCTION TIPS FOR THE PRAIRIE FARMER
www.grainews.ca
Grainews Editorial
Meet & Greet at the
Farm Progress Show
June 19 to June 21, 2014
The meet and greet will be at the Grainews booth #70610 Credit Union Eventplex
Thursday June 19th - 1:30 – 3pm
Stop by and visit with Leeann Minogue – Editor Grainews,
Lee Hart – Editor of Cattlemen’s Corner and Field Editor for Grainews
Scott Garvey – Machinery Editor Grainews
Lisa Guenther – Field Editor, Grainews and Country Guide
Leeann
Lee
Scott
Lisa
farm_progress_gn_meet_ad14
28
/ grainews.ca
JUNE 10, 2014
Special event Section
canada’S farm progreSS Show
June 18 - 20, 2014, regina, SK
About Canada’s Farm Progress Show
O
rganizations have many more marketing tools to choose from today than
they did 10 years ago. The increasing growth of direct mail marketing
channeled through the Internet can easily make
a salesperson complacent. However, the power of
face-to-face communication is still one of the top
sales tools, and this is why trade shows, such as
Canada’s Farm Progress Show, will always attract
exhibitors and buyers.
For three days in June, agricultural buyers
and sellers from around the world come together
to do business. More than 45,000 people from
over 50 countries come to Regina each year to see
what’s new in agriculture. Canada’s Farm Progress
Show has established itself as the largest dryland
farm technology and equipment show in Canada,
and one of the most important farm shows in
North America.
Canada’s Farm Progress Show is about much more
than just standard farm equipment. Tractors, livestock
handling equipment and other tools of the trade
do make up a large part of the Show, but the Farm
Show also provides the opportunity for producers to
market their products to an international audience,
learn more about the business side of agriculture, and
see the latest products and inventions that will make
their jobs easier. Of course, Canada’s Farm Progress
Show is a place for fun and entertainment too.
Exhibitors will have access to thousands of qualified buyers during the Show, and buyers will have
access to hundreds of products that range from the
smallest wheel lug to the largest tractors and equipment. Saskatchewan Trade & Export Partnership
estimates hundreds of million dollar business deals
occur at Canada’s Farm Progress Show each year,
while the City of Regina counts on about $30 million in economic spinoffs from the Show.
One of the most important farm shows
in North America
• 1.9 million square feet of dryland farming
technology (largest show of its kind in Canada)
• More than 700 exhibitors
• 45,000 qualified attendees from
50 different countries
• Modern Living — dedicated to country living
• International Business Centre
• FCC Innovations
• New production introduction
• Demonstration areas
• Livestock handling displays
• Education seminars
• Antique trucks and tractors
• Shuttle services — “Door to Door”
service is free and runs daily from
8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Exhibitor hospitality — providing the best
entertainment for exhibitors and consumers
MERIDIAN
5.1429X10.0000
000049785r1
4CFARM PROGRESS SHOW FEATURE
BUILT TO MOVE. BUILT TO STORE.
BUILT FOR YOUR FARM.
© 2014 Meridian Manufacturing Inc. Registered Trademarks Used Under License.
Need a Quick and Smooth Delivery?
canada’S farm progreSS Show
June 18 - 20, 2014, regina, SK
Special event Section
IF YOU GROW CANOLA, YOU NEED SEED SAVER!
Our exclusive patented hinged panel systems are the only units designed to virtually
eliminate the seed loss and dust created by the aggressive nature of the table auger
fingers. See us at Booth 911 in the Canada Centre at CFPS. Google Houston Seed Saver
and watch our You Tube videos. Order now to guarantee availability.
HOUSTON SEED SAVER
...will put money in your pocket rather than leaving it in the field.
• Universal mounting • Aluminum
frame • All SAVER
stainless steel hardware
HOUSTON
SEED
Easymoney
installation
Margardrather
Panels than
• Adjustable
...will•put
in your•pocket
leavingthroat
it in opening
the field.
• Universal mounting
• Easy installation
• Aluminum frame
• Margard Panels
St
Au
2
Sto
Auger
2 to
• All stainless steel hardware
• Adjustable throat opening
BILL HOUSTON 306-726-7977
[email protected]
“N
BILL HOUSTON
[email protected]
less du
P.O. Box 32
P.O.
Box 32, Southey, Sask
S0G
4P0
H
Southey,
Sask
S0G 4P0
306-726-7977
[email protected]
“No m
“No more losses over the header, less dust,
reversing when plugged.”
BILLfaster
HOUSTON
less dust,
P.O. Box 32
Harley Herman - Craven, Sask.
Harle
Southey, Sask S0G 4P0
306-726-7977
HOUSTON
SEED SAVER
HOUSTON
SEED SAVER
We’ve Got You Covered.
The Complete Storage Solution Under One Roof. With demand for on–farm grain storage at an all time high, Meridian can help.
To find an authorized Meridian dealer near you, visit www.MeridianMFG.com/locator.
DELTATRACK
» MOST ADVANCED TRACK UNDERCARRIAGE
IN THE INDUSTRY
» INTEGRATED TRACK SOLUTION,
INCORPORATED WITH THE TRACTOR FRAME
» SOLID CAST DRIVE WHEEL, BIGGER DRIVE
LUGS AND MORE LUGS ENGAGED
» TWO MIDROLLERS PROVIDE A BETTER RIDE
IN FIELD AND ON THE ROAD
» POLYEURTHANE-COATED MIDROLLERS
DESIGNED FOR LONGER LIFE
» DESIGNED FOR LOWER MAINTENANCE
MFWD 260-310
»
»
»
»
»
260-310 HP
CUMMINS QSL9 ENGINE
POWERSHIFT TRASMISSION
540/1000 RPM PTO
DOUBLE REDUCTION PLANETARY
DRIVE
» LARGEST CAB IN THE INDUSTRY
» V-PAS
FOUR-WHEEL
DRIVE
»
»
»
»
350 TO 550 HP
CUMMINS QSX11.9 AND QSX15 ENGINES
CAT® POWERSHIFT TRANSMISSIONS
12 X 4 MECHANICAL TRANSMISSIONS
(350-450)
» LARGEST CAB IN THE INDUSTRY
COME SEE US AT CANADA’S FARM PROGRESS SHOW BOOTH 7013, LOT C
©2014 BUHLER VERSATILE INC. | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. | [email protected] | WWW.VERSATILE-AG.COM
RT490 COMBINE
»
»
»
»
»
»
»
»
*$37,000 for a base RT490 with AWD underwritten by
Agricredit (DLL), see dealer for details.
CLASS VIII COMBINE
360° ROTATING CONCAVE ROTARY SYSTEM
4-STAGE FEEDER HOUSE
THREE-POINT THRESHING
SYSTEM
CUMMINS QSX11.9 ENGINE
340 BU. GRAIN TANK
INTEGRATED STRAW CHOPPER
AND SPREADER
ALL-WHEEL DRIVE AVAILABLE
LEASE PRICES FROM $37,000 / YEAR*
ML SERIES
AIR DRILL
» ALIVE TECHNOLOGY ENABLES YOU TO
EASILY SET THE FURROW PROFILE
» ACCURATE SEED DEPTH AND EVEN CROP
EMERGENCE
» AIR CARTS AVAILABLE FROM 300 - 600 BU
SELF-PROPELLED
SPRAYER
» AVAILABLE WITH 240 OR 280 HP
» 1000 GALLON POLY TANK OR 1200
GALLON STAINLESS STEEL
» AVAILABLE IN FIXED, MANUAL OR
HYDRAULIC AXLE TRACK WIDTHS
» LARGEST CAB IN THE INDUSTRY
PROVIDES EXCELLENT VISIBILITY AND
OPERATOR COMFORT
» NEW SPRAY CONTROL PANEL IS EASY TO
UNDERSTAND AND OPERATE
COME SEE US AT CANADA’S FARM PROGRESS SHOW BOOTH 7013, LOT C
©2014 BUHLER VERSATILE INC. | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. | [email protected] | WWW.VERSATILE-AG.COM
AG SHIELD
Quality and Innovation for
Over 30 Years!
CROSS AUGERS
Increase
Productivity
25% - 100%
Ÿ Combine 2 - 18ft Swaths into 1- 36ft Windrow
Ÿ Kits pay for them-selves in 35 hours or 400 acres
Ÿ Move Swaths Onto Dry Ground
all with a Draper Header
Ÿ Competitively priced kits for all headers
Ÿ Cut Your Drying Time 30% to 65%
Ÿ Completely Crush/Split Stems
Ÿ Canola, pulse crops, seed clover, or any bushy crop
Road Sprayer
MultiTrailer 3 in 1
5th Wheel BaleTrailer
Ÿ High Speed One Man System
Ÿ Bales, Machinery and All Your Loads!
Ÿ Call Factory for New Pricing
Ÿ Save 70% - 90% of Your Current Per Mile Costs
Ÿ Control Drift with a Shielded Sprayer
At Farm Progress: South of the Orange Hockey Rink
844-227 1833 or www.agshield.com
MANUFACTURERS OF:
PRE-CLEANERS
OAT CUTTERS
DEBEARDERS
ASPIRATORS
GRADERS
SCALPERS
THRESHERS
THE FOUNDERS
Theodore Kipp (1880-1941) Engineer
GRAVITY TABLES
Born at Peoria, Illinois in 1880, he was educated at public school and Bradley Polytechnic. He came
to Canada in 1908 and was Chief Engineer successively for the Tillson Company at Tillsonburg, Ontario,
Robin Hood Mills Limited, and Ogilvie Flour Mills Company. In 1913 he organized the Kipp-Kelly Company
in partnership with G. H. Kelly where he was Vice- President and Managing Director.
LENGTH GRADERS
George H. Kelly (1860-1940) Engineer
DESTONERS
ArrowCorp Inc.
61 Airport Road
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3H 0V5
Phone 204.632.1000
Fax 204.632.0643
Toll Free (CDA) 1.800.661.5500
Born at St. Germain, Cornwall, England on 29 August 1860, he immigrated to Canada at the age
of 7 and settled at Glencoe, Ontario. He worked in flour mills before coming to Manitoba in 1879, where
he operated an elevator at Brandon. He came to Winnipeg in 1881 and operated the Ogilvie Flour
Mills. In 1886 he joined the Lake of the Woods Milling Company at Keewatin, Ontario as General
Superintendent. He rejoined the Ogilvie Flour Mills in 1912 as General Superintendent. After building
a large mill at Medicine Hat, Alberta, he left the company in 1913 to establish the engineering firm
of Kipp-Kelly, in partnership with Theodore Kipp.
Kipp-Kelly started building relationships over 100 years ago. We are honored to continue that tradition today.
Premier Grain Cleaner Co.
50 Cleveland Avenue S.W.
New Brighton, Minnesota 55112
Phone 651.636.7323
Fax 651.636.8466
Toll Free (US) 1.877.336.7323
See us at the Canadian Farm Progress Show in Regina, June 18-20, 2014, Booth #80203,80205-Banner Hall
Come visit us at: www.arrowcorp-grain-cleaning.com
FERTILIZER
Cu sto me r sin Ce 1996
C u sto m er si n C
e 1984
Cu sto m er si n Cee 1997
Cu sto me r sin Ce 2009
Customer sinCe 2009
Cu stom er si nC e 1996
C u sto m er
si n C e 2008
“WE’RE CATCHING ON”
COME SEE US AT THE
FARM PROGRESS SHOW IN REGINA
WWW.POWERRICH.COM • 1-800-663-4769
BOOTH # 80207 & 80209
BANNER HALL
CP’s SPRAYER TURBOS
Multiple Flow Rates
 Stainless steel tanks
 Fast fill time
protecting what matters
to you most, you want to
compare fire extinguishers
and get the best
extinguisher available.
 Simple to operate
It is a solution to the farmers’
need for MORE POWER to
get the job done while using
LESS FUEL.
Other performance module
brands have come up short or
failed completely. Now you
have a REAL solution,
Agricultural Diesel Solutions.
 Spill proof
 Complete rinse
 Complete turnkey system
 Space saving, allowing you to
carry more product
 Quickly measure and transfer
chemical batches to your
sprayer
Droplet Sizes
When it comes to
 Accurate measuring every time
 No monthly or yearly service
required
 Spray in vicinity of fire & gas
expands
Exceptional Drift Control
CP's Sprayer Turbo Nozzles
have 18 possible setting
combinations. They produce
a tight spectrum of large
droplets with few
driftable fines.
 Lifetime no - hassle durability
guarantee
 Multi - shot
unit
 Non corrosive
 Compact &
lightweight
 No mess or
clean up
“Come visit our booth (#Outside Booth #8614-8615 – Lot D Inside
Booth # 70510, 70512 – Credit Union Event Plex) at the Farm Progress Show
& Enter To Win $10,000 towards Our Grain Management Package.”
STORAGE
SOLUTIONS
WHETHER IT’S STORAGE, HANDLING,
OR CONDITIONING, WALL GRAIN IS
READY TO HELP YOU BUILD THE GRAIN
HANDLING AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
THAT FITS YOUR NEEDS.
SPECIALIZING IN
NEW & USED SHORTLINE
AGRICULTURAL EQUIPMENT
#5 Great Plains Industrial Drive
Emerald Park, SK S4L 1C6
“Take 20 Minutes to sit down, enjoy some refreshments & make Thousands!
Our Grain Management Expert will be hosting a 20 min info session to
show you just a few ways that you can save & make more money.”
STORAGE
Our HIGH CAPACITY, low labour intensive grain storage systems will save you time and
headaches. Move your auger less, unload you bin faster, spend more time doing the things
you’d rather be doing!
HANDLING
Using the best components on the market, we can help you take your storage and handling
system to the next level. Our experienced team of estimators, drafters, and millwrights can
take the stress out of system design, giving you a hassle-free expansion experience.
CONDITIONING
From GRAIN DRYING to REHYDRATION, Wall Grain has the expertise and experience to help
you MAKE MORE MONEY. Whether building a new system or converting an existing one, we
can make it happen!
MB & SE SK – 204-269-7616
SK – 306-244-1144
S AB – 403-393-2662
N AB – 780-539-4344
www.wallgrain.com
Advertisement
Apache’s Plus II provides maximum
efficiency and power.
Apache’s highest horsepower. At a
staggering 275 horsepower, Plus II is
for growers who want the highest
horsepower available. You don’t need to
overcompensate with a clunky, heavy
hydrostatic sprayer to get maximum
efficiency with maximum power. The
Plus II Package from Apache Sprayers
provides the perfect combination of
power, traction, and efficiency, along
with the simplicity of a mechanical
drive transmission.
The Plus II features:
• Staggering 275 hp
• Heavy-duty JCB differential
• Increased Power-to-the-Ground™
The Apache difference:
Lighter weight, more power. The Plus
II option is available on the Apache
AS1020 and AS1220, with a commanding
275hp. The lighter weight of the Apache
Sprayer makes it easier to power
through extreme conditions. Crops
benefit from less compaction.
Power-to-the-Ground.™ With the added
power of the Power-to-the-Ground™
technology in the Plus II, steep grades
are no match for the Apache selfpropelled sprayer. Most hydrostat
machines deliver only about 70% of the
engine’s horsepower to the ground.
With Apache, a full 98% of the engine’s
horsepower is delivered to the ground.
Engine torque can be multiplied up to
200% through our torque-converted
mechanical drive.
Stability. To eliminate the “bounce
back effect” in those sharp turns, the
Apache is outfitted with nine nitrogen
accumulators. These work to keep the
booms stable when a diaphragm inside
the accumulator absorbs the motion.
Smooth ride. The constant jarring of a
rough field vanishes with the Apache’s
patented suspension system. The rear
suspension system is equipped with
automatic leveling adjusts, providing
the same excellent ride whether the
tank is full of product or completely
empty. The Apache’s patented
suspension system acts as a giant
shock absorber. The Plus II is a winning
combination of efficiency and power.
Boom options. The added length of the
120' or 132' Pommier Boom option is
popular with our Plus II customers.
• Industry-best fuel economy
• Industry-best 5-year warranty:
Includes Guardian first year
inspection
• Lower service costs
• Lower replacement parts cost
• Ergonomic cab design
BOOTH #8307
Visit us at
Canada’s Farm
Progress Show!
1.855.371.7479
www.ETsprayers.com/plusII
“Overall I’m very satisfied with the Apache. It’s very economical for fuel. We
did a lot of research before buying it. Our son went online and designed it. My
brother owns a Versatile and we like our sprayer better. This is the first selfpropelled sprayer we’ve bought. A lot of neighbors in the area have John Deere
and RoGaters and they are all fuel burners and always stuck.”
-Gerald Steffen, High Level, Alberta, Canada
CELEBRATING OVER 30 YEARS SINCE 1978
• MORE PURLINS WITH X-BRACING
• UP TO 30% MORE STEEL
• REPLACEMENT COVERS FOR ALL BRANDS
Northlands Building Systems
Curtiss Knight
Office : (306) 573-2121 Cell : (306) 858-7635
Email : [email protected] • www.winklercanvas.com
There’s
more to
see with
The Farm Progress
Show section of
Grainews contains
Augmented
Reality content!
(Pages 27 – 43)
What is Layar?
Layar is an industry-leading
company at the forefront
of the rapidly emerging
medium of augmented reality
(AR). AR is a way viewing
digital information which
has been superimposed – or
augmented – onto a live view
of the physical, real-world
environment around you.
How Can I See Layar
Content?
Simply download the free
Layar app and scan the Farm
Progress Show pages and
enjoy the interactive content!
What will I see?
Layar interactive content can
consist of any number of rich
media experiences including:
links to websites, video or
audio content, twitter feeds,
image carousels, direct email
or phone links – plus much
more!
Ag Growth International (AGI) is a leading manufacturer of portable and stationary grain handling, storage and
conditioning equipment. Batco (specialty crop belt conveyors), Wheatheart (grain handling and fencing equipment),
Westfield (portable grain augers), Grain Guard (grain drying and storage equipment), Twister (galvanized grain
bins), HSI (material handling and temporary storage equipment), Applegate (livestock equipment) and REM
(GrainVacs) are all leading brands, part of the AGI group.
VISIT US AT CAnAdA’S FArm ProgreSS Show JUne 18-20, 2014 For more InFormATIon
on oUr neweST InnoVATIonS And hIgh CAPACITY ProdUCTS InCLUdIng:
• The New Paddle Belt
• The REM GrainVac VRX
• The Highest Capacity 16” Auger
• AGI Bin Construction
• The Lowest 4.5” GULP Drive Over Hopper
aggrowth.com
Download the
app for your
smartphone and
experience Layar.
Pro Visit
gre us
at
ss
Eve Show Cana
d
ntp
lex, in the a’s Fa
Boo Cre rm
th 7 dit U
020 nio
n
3
ALPINE foliar fertilizer
keeps you on the path to
growing great crops
®
Norwich Optimist Corn Maze 2013
Call your local ALPINE representative to get your farm on
the right path with an efficient, effective, and economical
Phazed Nutrition Program today.
Aaron Fahselt
Southern Saskatchewan DSM
306.297.7595
Patrick Schultz
Eastern Saskatchewan DSM
306.327.7022
Keith Anderson
Southern Alberta DSM
403.589.1770
Blake Weatherald
Western Saskatchewan DSM
306.441.5779
Chris Cox
Southeastern Saskatchewan
& Western Manitoba DSM
204.851.5403
Neil Olsen
Central Alberta DSM
780.265.3650
Chad Wonchulanko
Central Saskatchewan DSM
306.570.9317
Leo Lutz
Northern Alberta DSM
403.393.0312
Shane Falk
Eastern Manitoba DSM
204.823.4667
© 2014. NACHURS ALPINE SOLUTIONS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ALPINE is a trademark of Nachurs Alpine Solutions.
|
www.alpinepfl.com
canada’S farm progreSS Show
June 18 - 20, 2014, regina, SK
Special event Section
SPECIAL EVENT SECTION
Commercial Grade
Steel Trussing
Heavy-Duty
A-Frame
Undercarriage
Precision Engineered
Flighting
CANADA’S FARM PROGRESS SHOW
June 18 - 20, 2014, Regina, SK
Tapered Boot
Extendable
Axles
Tapered Swing
Hopper
You told us that your grain auger has to be one thing: reliable. We listened – introducing the MKX Series with
over 75 proven performance enhancements.
The MKX 130 comes in 64' - 114' lengths.
The MKX 16" auger is available in 85', 105' and 125' lengths, making it the highest capacity auger ever made
by Westfield.
866.467.7207 | grainaugers.com
For Ideal Results On The Surface,
You Need Ideal Pipe
Underground
REDESIGNED AND
IMPROVED FOR 2014!
SEE US AT
CANADA’S FARM
PROGRESS SHOW
BOOTH # 209
CANADA CENTRE
Quality Pipe Manufactured in Carman Manitoba
Make Every Job An Ideal Installation Start With Ideal Pipe
Reliable Delivery
From farm fields to parking lots. From roadways to
golf courses and recreational turf, Ideal Pipe is your
ideal choice for complete sourcing of pipe and fittings.
With over 25 years as a Canadian
leader in plastic pipe, Ideal is the source
to depend on.
Fast, Easy Installation
A Flexible Partner
Ideal specializes in flexible, lightweight, easy to
handle HDPE pipe.
Talk to us today about the products
best suited to your Farm Business needs.
Box 970 • Carman, MB
Ph: (204) 745-6151 • Fax: (204) 745-6578 • www.idealpipe.ca • [email protected]
204-825-2000
www.seeddepot.ca
New “Straight Cut”
CARDALE
“More Wheat...Less Shatter” Less Fusarium
Visit Us
at Booth
# 90025
PATENT PENDING
Any Job, Any Size
204.825.7655 or 1.888.744.2077
WWW.ROTOMUDSCRAPERS.COM
We would like to
provide complimentary
cardale seed to CFGB
growing projects
JUNE 10, 2014
TAKE
THE
DEALS
WITH
YOU...
MOBILE
grainews.ca /
39
(888)
(888)
388-7759
388-7759
204-331-6014
Hwy Hwy
3 • Morden,
3 • Morden,
MB MB
www.friesenrental.com
www.friesenrental.com
Sales
& Rentals
Sales
& Rentals
® Dealer
® Dealer
Western
Western
Canada’s
Canada’s
SPEEDTILLER
SPEEDTILLER
ab73xi
ab73xi
ab73xg
ab73xg
2014 K-LINE
SPEEDSTILLER DISC
We are the Western Canada Dealer for
the K-Line Speedtiller. This is a aggressive high speed disk built with durability.
Call for prices and sizes available.
Call for Demo.
Serving Manitoba, Saskatchewan,
NW Ontario & Alberta....Since 1937
• Quality Commercial/Agricultural/Residential
Overhead Doors & Operators.
• Aluminum Polycarbonate Doors Available.
• Non-Insulated and Insulated Sectional Doors Available.
• Liftmaster Heavy Duty Operators.
• Mullion Slide Away Centre Posts.
• Commercial/Agricultural Steel Man Doors and Frames.
• Your washbay door specialists. • Quality Installation & Service.
• 24 Hour Service. • Replacement Springs & Cables.
Come see us at CANADA’S FARM PROGRESS SHOW
Booth #90103 – Ag-Ex Pavilion
Phone: 204-326-4556 Fax: 204-326-5013
Toll Free: 1-855-326-4556
www.reimeroverheaddoors.com
email: [email protected]
646700
646710
2013
HORSCH
JOKER
RT270,
NEW
NEW
20142014
K-LINE
K-LINE
SPEEDTILLERS
SPEEDTILLERS2013
HORSCH
JOKER
RT270,
27’, 27’,
Manual
Depth,
. .$71,500
Call For
CallSpecs,
For Specs,
Sizing
Sizing
& Pricing
& Pricing Manual
Depth,
5,0005,000
AcresAcres
. .$71,500
ab74nf
ab74nf
ab73xl
ab73xl
2013 Horsch Anderson Joker RT270 Disc, Excellent cond., 2 Units available both have 5000 acres.
2012 J&M 750-16 Grain Cart, Excellent cond., Like
New Used for only 1 Season, Tarp, Small 1000 PTO
$71,500
646740
$27,750
650476
WISHEK
WISHEK
STEEL
STEEL
842NT-30,
842NT-30,
30’, 26 .5”
30’, 26 .5”20092009
VERSATILE
VERSATILE
435, 435,
1183 1183
Hrs, 435
Hrs, 435
Front,Front,
27” Rear,
27” Rear,
3 Row
3 Row
Har . Har
. .$69,900
. . .$69,900
HP, Cat
HP,PS,
Cat 900
PS, Duals,
900 Duals,
GPSGPS
$179,500
$179,500
ab85qe
ab85qe
ab89hy
ab89hy
2006 Reynolds 20E12.5 Scraper, Comes with extra
parts,Rim,Cylinders,Blades,direct mount.
$58,000
J&M Speedtender
Call for pricing
J&MJ&M
875-18,
875-18,
875 Bu,
87518”
Bu,Unload
18” Unload
20052005
BUHLER
BUHLER
VERSATILE
VERSATILE
2360,2360, 20052005
Auger,
Auger,
New New
Flighting,
Flighting,
ScaleScale
. .$27,800
. .$27,800
40244024
Hrs, 360
Hrs, HP,
360Autosteer .
HP, Autosteer .
$85,500
$85,500
COME SEE US AT THE
FARM PROGRESS SHOW!
OVER
30,000
FULLY
SEARCHABLE
AG EQUIPMEnT
LISTInGS In
THE PALM OF
YOUR HAnD!!
Now you can find the ag equipment
you’re looking for quickly and
immediately on your iPhone
or Android Device.
WHY WAIT
AnD MISS
A DEAL!?
Start your search now!
Scan the code below to
download the app Or visit
agdealermobile.com
for download details.
Booth #900 Canada Centre
Special event section
SEE US IN LOT D, BOOTH 8304
Create and Maintain
Ditches in half the time!
The Wolverine Extreme scrapes and spreads the soil in a
single operation, creating and maintaining ditches faster
and more efficiently than a scraper!
• Eliminates the operation of levelling dirt piles left behind by a scraper.
• Creates smooth ditches that allow field equipment to pass through
with ease (no ridges or barrel cuts)
• Reduces field compaction compared to using a scraper.
• Works in all soil types including heavy clay soil. (not soils with rocks)
Paddles now sweep right
over the cutting blade!
Super HD
Reverser
New Slimmer
Chain Case
New Auto Clutch,
no more shear pins
Canada’s farm progress show
June 18 - 20, 2014, Regina, SK
TradiTion • celebraTion
now buying
red spring
wheat
Malt contracts available for 2014/2015
P.O. Box 238, Letellier, MB R0G 1C0
Phone 204-737-2000 Fax 204-737-2102
Email [email protected]
The Wolverine Extreme delivers:
Outstanding Quality, Durability and Performance!
MOVE UP TO 750 YARDS PER HOUR!
ATTENTION CANADIAN
CUSTOMERS
Take advantage of the strong dollar and
your u.s. buying power
• We hold three regularly scheduled equipment & truck auctions in nearby
Grand Forks, ND each year, in addition to numerous on-farm single
seller events annually
• Major auctions offer simulcast online bidding and most units move easily
across the border
Precision
Earth
Moving
made
easy
• We have qualified experience in handling large Canadian
equipment packages
• We have enjoyed many strong relationships with Canadian buyers and
sellers alike and welcome your future business
to buy or sell equipment or to join our direct mail program
find us on the web at www.resourceauction.com
when
GPS
Grade
Control
www.dynamicditchers.com
is used.
or e-mail us at [email protected]
For more information call Anthony at: 306-540-6968
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/ grainews.ca
JUNE 10, 2014
Cattleman’s Corner
OWNERSHIP ISSUE
Where’s the beef and who owns what?
BY ANDREW ALLENTUCK
O
ut on the northwestern Manitoba range
there’s a custody battle
between a farmer and
his former mistress in which ownership of 11 cows and their perhaps 22 calves is at stake. Manitoba
Family Court and the Court of
Appeal have been trying to determine ownership of the animals
and then to divvy up the farmer’s
herd so that the lady gets the cows
or the value of the cows she says
she owns. The problems in the
case are complex. Unfortunately,
given the numerous delays already
in the case, which has been running since 2012, and the probability that there will be more
delays, the cows themselves may
be rendered long before a court
decision is.
The case began with the ending of a relationship between Allan
Anderson, in his mid-60s, and his
lady, Chrystal Cottyn, in her late 30s.
According to a decision rendered by
the Court of Appeal, Anderson lived
a double life in two Manitoba towns
— part of the year on his farm in
The Pas, the rest of the year with
Ms. Cottyn in Minitonas. When
in Minitonas, the court said, he
tended his cattle. Sometimes they
grazed on a community pasture,
sometimes on a farm owned by Ms.
Cottyn. The arrangement lasted a
few years during which time she
put her brand on the cows. When
the relationship ended in discord,
Anderson took the entire herd back
to his farm but continued to allow
it to graze in summer on the community pasture.
Ms. Cottyn sought compensation when the relationship ended.
She saw herself in the position
of a common law spouse — a
tricky point given that Anderson
already had and, as far as can be
ascertained, still has another —
his wife. Ms. Cottyn asked for an
accounting and wanted her cows
back. The case deepens here.
Anderson, for his part, says
he has no obligations under
Manitoba’s Family Property Act
to account for the cows. There
is a separate action to determine
whether a common law relationship did exist under the Act.
A motion judge granted an
interim order under the Family
Property Act on the basis that,
even if there was no common
law relationship, Ms. Cottyn
is entitled to her cows, their
calves, and to an accounting for
them. An order for the accounting was made against the manager of the community pasture,
though no notice of the order
was provided to him, the Court
of Appeal noted.
Before Ms. Cottyn could fetch
her cattle, Anderson moved them
off the community pasture.
The Court of Appeal has stayed
the order of the motion judge,
saying Anderson should not have
transferred property (removed
cattle from community pasture)
given the dispute over ownership.
However, division of property or
the cattle themselves is not the
issue. The Court of Appeal prefers
that, if it is proven the cows and
calves do indeed belonged to Ms.
Cottyn, that she be provided with
compensation — the cows and
calves or money.
“If the (Family Property) Act
applies to the parties’ relationship, the issue will become one
simply of an equalization payment. Division of the cattle herd
is immaterial.” Taking the case
down the path of what amounts
to a division of the actual herd
thus amounts a bum steer, the
court ruled.
The stakes in the case are really
not that large. Counsel for Ms.
Cottyn suggests the cows may be
worth $1,000 each and that their
calves may be worth between $700
and $900 each. One suspects that
legal fees will far exceed the value
of the cattle. A cash cow this case
is not. †
Andrew Allentuck is a Grainew columnist
based in Winnipeg.
ANIMAL HEALTH
Strategies for reducing
parasite resistance
ROY
LEWIS
ANIMAL
HEALTH
W
e heard years ago
about insect resistance developing
with with fly tags. I
believe the first ones on the market
were called Bovaid. With no other
competing products, after a few
years researchers noticed resistance
developing in pests the tags were
supposed to repel.
Soon other companies were
making tags using different
chemical families as active ingredients, so producers could rotate
tags and chemicals to reduce the
risk of resistance developing.
Horn flies are visible on the
backs of animals as they continually feed, so if the tags or other
fly-control methods become
ineffective flies are immediately
noticeable. This is especially true
on bulls as they attract more flies
and hundreds to thousands will
be visibly feeding if control is
inadequate.
In the last several years a product called Cylence was developed
as a pour-on for flies. Its effectiveness lasts about two-thirds as
long as leading fly tags.
The pour-on product is used
lots because it was easy to apply
— cows didn’t have to caught
and held. Timing-wise it could be
applied when cattle were turned
out to pasture or later in the season if cattle were being processed
during the summer.
RESISTANCE DEVELOPING
But we are now starting to see
some resistance to Cylence. For
producers who have used it several years in a row, flies can now
be seen on the backs of cattle way
short of the 60-day effectiveness
window. We are not getting the
bang for the buck so to speak.
If producers do see flies present
much sooner than expected it
is time to change products. The
best remedy is to keep cycling
through the different tags and
other pour-on products such as
Saber or Boss and Cylence.
I am sure there are other products or trade names I am not
aware of and new ones are always
being worked on. Your veterinarian can advise which product
is best depending if lice, flies or
even ticks become the significant
parasite. Length of efficacy varies so timing is always critical in
applying these products.
This rotation prevents resistance
from developing and the products
are therefore more effective. Cattle
weight gains are improved, which
is one of the main reasons for
using the products. Next time you
are out in a pasture, use binoculars
and check on fly numbers.
When processing cattle flies are
very easy to spot surface feeding
over the backs of cattle especially on the herd sires. If you
do nothing else in a pest control
program, treat breeding bulls on
turnout.
INTERNAL PARASITES
With internal parasites
(worms), resistance to endectocides has been shown in the
U.S. in a few instances. Most
of that is in areas of the southern states where treatment for
internal parasites is administered
several times a year. However, we
are starting to see these similar
results in Canada as researchers
are finding resistance to a fair
degree. So what do we do as conscientious producers? There are
several things.
First, don’t over-treat. If cattle need treating treat them, but
that doesn’t mean everytime they
go through the chute a product
like Ivermectin is applied. Just
because it is cheaper now some
producers are treating more often
than they used to. At the same
time you don’t want to underdose either, as that under dose
in fact leads to resistant pests.
This may have been the case in
some instances before when the
endectocides were very pricey.
Producers apply product according to animal weight — some
ranches have scales so accuracy of
dosing is very good, while others
can estimate weight very well.
If you are not sure if treatment
is necessary, consult your herd veterinarian. He or she may perform
a few fecal tests to determine the
worm load. With fecals, some tests
such as the modified Wisconsin
are more accurate at detecting a
lighter worm load. If just worms
are the problem, changing to a
different class of dewormer is necessary. All the pour-ons belong to
the macrocytic lactones (a family
of dewormers). Another family
is the benzimidazoles of which
fenbendazole (SafeGuard) belongs
and a drench that contains albendazole (Valbazen).
SafeGuard comes in numerous formulations so cattle can be
drenched or the product added
into grain or the minerals by
prescription for treatment on pasture in mid-summer. Resistance
to SafeGuard does not appear to
develop in cattle because of the
speed with which the product
kills the parasite.
As with most parasitic condi-
FILE PHOTO
A silver lining in the event that a fly-repellent eartag is no longer
effective is that flies will quickly return to the back of their hosts. Bulls
are prime targets
tions, a very low level of infection
elicits some natural resistance in
the animal. I personally have
seen this with tapeworms. Young
bison may have a heavy load
and yet the adult bison are clean
and this was without treatment.
Tapeworms in cattle have not
been deemed significant at reducing production so if this species is
found in fecal matter it will also
be secondarily eliminated by the
SafeGuard treatment.
WINTER HELPS THE CAUSE
Fortunately in most of Canada,
winter puts parasite transmission
on hold making controlling them
a lot easier than in the more temperate climates.
But producers need to use
their diligence and not overuse the good products we have.
It is important to alternate or
use products in combination (a
combination of Ivermectin and
SafeGuard for example) to get a
complete kill and hopefully we an
avoid resistance from developing.
Checking fecals occasionally
on the group and especially the
poorest-doing animals will identify whether internal parasites are
a problem and what species or
group of worms are present.
Work with your veterinarian to
devise a treatment protocol and
proper timing to control both
internal and external parasites.
Removing these troublesome
parasites will lead to much better production and with today’s
higher cattle prices these treatments should yield a good economic return. †
Roy Lewis is an Alberta-based veterinarian
specializing in large-animal practice. He is
also a part-time technical services vet for
Merck Animal Health.
BUILDING TRUST IN CANADIAN BEEF
Avoid poisoning cattle on pasture
Limit risk through simple management steps
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of
cure. This has never been truer when it comes
to poisoning risk for cattle on pasture.
“Poisoning is a perennial problem that is
often underestimated,” says Dr. Barry Blakley, a
toxicologist at the Western College of Veterinary
Medicine. “It represents substantial dollars in
potential losses for producers. It can also pose
a serious food safety issue.”
Awareness and prevention
The good news is, poisoning on pasture is
very preventable, says Blakley, who supervises
the toxicology lab for Saskatchewan’s Prairie
Diagnostic Services. During peak times such as
May-June, the lab sees up to 50 cases per day
of problems due to poisoning or nutritional
deficiency — two issues that he says are often
interrelated.
Lead poisoning. Lead from old batteries
is the leading culprit, he says. “We see clear
spikes in confirmed cases during seeding and
harvesting times. Farmers are busy and may
forget and leave their used batteries in the field
without properly storing them. They may also
not check cattle or salt as often as they should.
Cattle are attracted to used batteries because of
the salty taste. They’ll lick it, chew it and even
eat the whole battery.”
Be mindful of the potential risk and remove
old batteries right away before there’s a chance
to forget, he says. “A good approach is to put
each used battery in your shed. When you’ve
got 10, take them all in to a proper recycling or
disposal facility.”
Producers should also keep in mind they can
inherit the problem, he says. “You may take
care of batteries properly today. But depending
on the field, there still could be batteries out
there from 25 years ago or longer. The cows
discover them eventually, so it’s important to
watch for these old batteries.”
Lead poisoning in cattle herds is not only a
Keep expired batteries away from livestock or lead poisoning may result.
short-term economic loss and food safety concern. It can also be a major blow to a producer’s
breeding program. “Treatment is not usually
economical or effective, so basically all animals
contaminated are a writeoff.”
Nutritional deficiency. Nutritional deficiencies are also a major factor that can leave
cattle more prone to poisoning risk, says
Blakley. “When cattle are mineral deficient
they are more attracted to other sources.
This can be a factor in making cattle that
much more prone to try old batteries or to
eat noxious weeds they normally wouldn’t be
attracted to, particularly during early spring
when pasture is sparse.”
Don’t put animals out until the pasture is
ready to be grazed, he says. “Cattle that have
high vitamin status in the fall will overwinter
OK but if they go into winter with a marginal
status by spring they’re deficient. ”
Product residues. These are another potential risk to keep in mind, he says. “Make sure
to properly dispose of all containers, and keep
cattle away from recently treated fields or
feed. Strictly observe the rules for pre-harvest
intervals.”
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REV-XS Grain News QSHere.indd 1
13-06-13 16:26
46
/ grainews.ca
JUNE 10, 2014
Cattleman’s Corner
FARM MANAGEMENT
Four tools to create information
BY SEAN MCGRATH
H
ere at our ranch, much
like most other farms,
we collect a lot of data
and are still learning
how to make use of it. We collect
financial data, pasture data, DNA
data, production data, data on our
labour, BIXS carcass data and then
we sort everything by enterprise.
The question then becomes what
to do with all of this data to make
it useful. The interrelated tools
described below can all be used
in the process of transferring data
into useful information.
INDICATORS
We use a lot of indicators when
we look at our data. Think of an
indicator as a flag or quick report
card. For example, we participate
in the AgriProfit$ program here
in Alberta and pay attention to
the GOLD indicators for our cow
herd. This includes “Growth,”
“Open Cows,” “Length of Calving
Period” and “Death Loss” of calves.
These are quick ways to assess how
good a job we are doing. A simpler
example would be a current bank
account balance as an indicator of
available cash. I think of indicators
as quick triggers for identifying
possible challenges. EBITDA is an
indicator that we use in our operation on the financial side (earnings
before interest, taxes, depreciation
and amortization) as a good indicator of whether our business is really
generating wealth.
RATIOS
Ratios are a form of indicator, but
they are worth mentioning sepa-
rately as they can be a very strong
indicator of business structure and
strengths. I love ratios. We may hear
the term debt-to-equity ratio, but
there are also a valuable set of financial ratios such as return on equity
and gross margin ratios. Things like
animal unit grazing days per acre,
or calves weaned per cow exposed
are good ratios to measure production levels. I also like to figure out
things such as various costs on a
per-cow basis, or production value
per machine ratio.
For example, what value of output does a tractor produce relative
to its cost? It is very important to
me to figure out costs and debt on
a per cow basis, since in our operation this is what is generating the
dollars to pay for all the “stuff”
and I have some personal beliefs
about the amount of debt each
cow should have to carry.
TRENDS
Trends are useful to see where
you have been and where you
might be headed. They used to
be more difficult to figure out,
but with modern computer software that can store and retrieve
records from an extended period,
it becomes much easier to see
changes. We use a couple of different tools here. We look at production and accounting trends,
but we also use photopoints to
rapidly show us biological trends
in our pastures. Nothing is quite
as direct as seeing the same set of
photographs taken over a series
of years.
It is also useful to look at trends
in your genetics. If you have a
record of bulls you have bought
over time, reviewing the current
EPD on those sires can give you
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a pretty good indication of the
direction in which you are purposely or inadvertently driving
your cow herd’s genetic makeup.
If you are noticing trends such
as changes in conception or production and can map this back
to the sires you have used over
time, it can be a very powerful
indicator of what type or range
of genetics you need to make
your herd successful.
BENCHMARKING
Benchmarking is probably the
most powerful tool for making
sense of your business. Obviously
every ranch or farm is unique
in terms of debt structure, location, environment, enterprise
mix, and other factors however
farms and ranches also have a
lot in common and some of the
key indicators of success are comparable across operations. The
ability to compare real information across operations, combined
with a competitive and co-operative spirit provides very valuable
insight for business management
and identifying areas where we
can do better or folks are doing
better than us. It sets a very realistic bar.
There are several good benchmarking programs. A few examples are AGriProfit$ in Alberta,
the Western Beef Development
Centre in Saskatchewan, AgriFood Management Excellence,
Holistic Management clubs and
the Ranching for Profit Executive
Link program. I also know a few
producers who meet with trusted
friends and neighbours to run their
own benchmarking programs.
COMMUNICATION OF
INFORMATION
All of these tools and
approaches help us to get
information out of our data.
It is very difficult and usually
pointless to communicate data.
Take for example the following series of numbers: 525, 423,
657, 750, 613, 622. This is data
and could be an example of
weaning weights from your cow
herd. It is relatively meaningless
data as it has no context. By
converting it to information we
may be able to cull the dam of
the 423-pound calf, talk to our
banker about our average herd
performance and gross margin,
examine profitability indicators
and potential production issues
and assess how our genetics are
working in our cowherd, or even
market our cattle.
Obviously ranches are complex organisms that involve
nature and people trying to get
along to produce a variety of
products. The need for information to manage this complex system in a complex marketplace
has never been more important. By working on collecting
important data (impacts costs
or returns) and then turning it
into information we can communicate with those involved in
our operations to improve our
management, our returns and
our lifestyles. †
Sean McGrath is a rancher and consultant
from Vermilion, Alta. He can be reached
at [email protected] or (780)8539673. For additional information visit www.
ranchingsystems.com
JUNE 10, 2014
grainews.ca /
47
Cattleman’s Corner
ANYONE CAN START FARMING
Minerals help correct many
animal health issues
DEBBIE
CHIKOUSKY
P
asture season is an opportunity to relax a little due
to a lessening of feeding
chores, but it is not time
to relax about our livestock’s nutrition. For most beef cattle this is
a time to replenish their vitamin
and mineral stores after a long
winter on dry feed. It is also a time
when the new production cycle is
beginning.
It is also the start of a new
production cycle for our grasses
— all that lush spring growth
just waiting for the livestock to
eat it. With spring taking so long
to come, accompanied by fast
growth of grasses, there is reason
to be watchful for grass tetany.
Grass tetany symptoms include
depressed appetite, reduced weight
gain, nervousness, staggering, stiff
gait, convulsions and paralysis,
usually in mature cattle. Tetany
is caused by low blood magnesium (Mg). Symptoms are similar
to milk fever, which is caused by a
low blood calcium level and both
conditions are often seen in mature
cows in late pregnancy (about six
weeks before calving) or soon after
calving. Either of these conditions
can occur anytime during lactation
if the circumstances are right.
WATCH FOR SIGNS
Often the first sign is a dead
animal. It can be difficult to tell
whether the cow died from milk
fever or tetany. Check around the
cow’s body for signs of struggling
(marks on the ground) or paddling
on the ground around her head
and legs. If these signs are present
the cow likely died from tetany.
Cows affected by the symptoms of
grass tetany are often excitable, or
“flighty,” appear unco-ordinated,
have a stiff gait, tremble, stagger
or may be down. Once an animal
is down their death is imminent.
Producers should contact their
veterinarian immediately if their
cattle show any of these symptoms.
There are several theories about
what triggers this condition. It
is thought that high levels of
potassium in forages can decrease
absorption of magnesium and
most lush, immature forages are
high in potassium. High levels
of nitrogen fertilization have also
been shown to increase the incidence of tetany although feeding protein supplements has not.
Other factors such as the presence
of certain organic acids in tetanycausing forages have been linked
with tetany.
SALT IS IMPORTANT’
Veterinary pathologist Thomas
Swerczek found that livestock simply must have access to a goodquality loose salt in order to maintain a proper balance. Without
adequate sodium in the blood, the
body grabs onto the most available cation, which would be magnesium, followed by calcium. This
is characterized by what happens
when livestock succumbs to grass
tetany after a frost. When the cow
consumes frost-damaged forage,
particularly alfalfa, and the spike
of nitrate occurs, her body accesses
magnesium in the blood to eliminate the nitrate. During cool, wet
conditions or regrowth after frost
or drought, sodium levels in certain forages plummet, while nitrogen and potassium levels spike. It
is likely that combinations of factors, all related to characteristics
of lush forage are involved. This
PHOTO: DEBBIE CHIKOUSKY
Research shows having plenty of salt available in the mineral mix is
important to reducing the risk of cases of grass tetany early in the season.
depletes the body and the cow
goes down.
There are other problems that
can occur due to a lack of nutritional balance. Grass tetany is an
example of a dramatic result. A
nutrient imbalance can lead to
less obvious conditions such as
sporadic calving. And a higher
than normal occurrence of illness
in young stock due to a lowerthan-optimal immune system can
also be linked to a poor nutritional
balance during pasture season.
What I hear from many producers though is that livestock
should only need to have salt
licks on pasture for the summer.
Cost of minerals is prohibitive.
If a beef cow eats four ounces
of mineral a day (which ours
never do) it would require two
» CONTINUED ON PAGE 48
THE MARKETS
Consumers balk at higher beef prices
JERRY
KLASSEN
MARKET
UPDATE
R
U.S. QUARTERLY BEEF PRODUCTION (MILLION POUNDS)
Quarter
2011
2012
2013
Est 2014
1
6,411
6,283
6,172
5,868
2
6,559
6,475
6,517
6,315
3
6,737
6,584
6,608
6,310
4
6,492
6,571
6,420
6,070
Total
26,199
25,913
25,717
24,563
Source: USDA
U.S. MONTHLY GROUND BEEF RETAIL PRICES $$/lb
4,000
Jan 2011 to April 2014
3,800
3,600
3,400
3,200
3,000
2,800
2,600
2,400
2,200
Mar-14
Jan-14
Nov-13
Sept-13
July-13
May-13
Mar-13
Jan-13
Nov-12
Sept-12
lower supply situation and stable
retail price structure should limit
the downside.
Alberta break-even prices for
pen closeouts during late summer and early fall are forecasted
at $144/cwt while current fed
cattle prices are near $148/cwt.
During May, barley prices have
surged, reaching $225 delivered
Lethbridge from under $200/
mt earlier in April. The cost per
pound gain will increase for
the summer and fall fed cattle.
July-12
May-12
Mar-12
Jan-12
Nov-11
Sept-11
July-11
May-11
March-11
tle futures have levelled off, the
deferred futures remain in an
upward trend. The U.S. year-todate beef production is actually
running 5.6 per cent below yearago levels for the week ending May
16. Second quarter pork production
was also fine tuned higher while
marginally lowering the third and
fourth quarter numbers.
Alberta and Saskatchewan feedlot inventories continue to run
eight to 10 per cent above last
year. The Canadian year-to-date
slaughter for the week ending May
10 was up four per cent while the
total beef output was only up one
per cent.
While feedlot inventories are
higher, feeder cattle exports to
the U.S. are running 43 per cent
above last year. This is interesting as it appears that there are
more feeder cattle coming on the
market sooner, which may result
in a tighter available feeder cattle
supplies later in the year. For the
week ending May 3, year-to-date
exports of steers and heifers for
slaughter (to the U.S.) were up
only one per cent over last year.
It appears that fed cattle exports
have slowed now that U.S. beef
production is increasing relative to
the first quarter. However, exports
of fresh/chilled cuts continue to
come in above last year keeping
the Canadian retail supplies at a
constant supply.
The fed cattle market is expected
to remain relatively stable at the
economy continues to expand and
consumer spending remains constant into the summer months.
Seasonally, fed cattle prices drift
lower in the second quarter but the
Jan-11
etail beef prices have
surged higher since
January, resulting in
softer beef consumption.
Average American at-home and
away-from-home food expenditures were running four and three
per cent, respectively, above yearago levels earlier in 2014. But since
March, at-home food spending is
now below year-ago levels by two
per cent while away-from-home
food spending is down 8.4 per
cent.
Beef prices are now at levels
where the market is rationing
demand as disposable income has
not increased at the same pace as
the beef market. U.S. beef production and feedlot inventories continue to run below year-ago levels,
which has resulted in the sharply
higher fed cattle prices.
Feedlots
in
Alberta
and
Saskatchewan continue to experience healthy margins resulting in
record-high prices for feeder cattle
and cow calf pairs. Feedlot operators in Western Canada have been
aggressive sellers into the higher price structure while carrying
inventories eight to 10 per cent
above year-ago levels. The main
question moving forward is how
long is this upward trend in the
cattle and beef complex going to
continue and what are the signals
to watch moving forward.
The overall economy has experi-
enced slow growth, which is actually a positive signal that beef
demand will remain relatively
constant. The U.S. unemployment
rate stood at 6.3 per cent in April
and 25 states reported the rate
under six per cent. There are now
145.7 million Americans working
compared to 143.5 during April
of 2013. This is a huge factor
for the beef complex as income
levels increase for the 2.2 million
Americans. Consumer confidence
continues to grow, reaching a rating of 82 for 2014 which compares to an average rating of 72
from 2008 through 2013. Over the
next year, consumer confidence
is expected to strengthen to a
level of 90, which will be a signal
the economy is once again firing
on all cylinders. Equity markets
have been trading near historical
highs and with consumer spending slowly increasing, the financial
markets are expected to remain in
expansion mode.
U.S. wholesale beef prices have
softened since spring. U.S. Choice
product levels touched $240/cwt
earlier in March but are currently
trading near $225/cwt. U.S. beef
production tends to increase in the
summer, resulting in weaker tone
for the wholesale market.
U.S cattle on feed for slaughter
as of May 1 were down one per
cent from year-ago levels while
April placements were down five
per cent from April of 2013. The
USDA marginally increased their
beef production estimate for the
second quarter while lowering projections for the third and fourth
quarter of 2014.
While the nearby live cat-
Western Canadian barley acres
are expected to be down 10 per
cent from 2013 and the year-overyear increase in domestic feed
usage has lowered the ending
stocks projection. Feeder cattle
prices could run into resistance
as the feeding margin structure
moves to break even. †
Gerald Klassen analyzes cattle and hog markets
in Winnipeg and also maintains an interest in the
family feedlot in Southern Alberta. For comments
or speaking engagements, he can be reached
at [email protected] or call 204 899 8268.
48
/ grainews.ca
JUNE 10, 2014
Cattleman’s Corner
RANCHER’S DIARY
Calving wraps up with auction
HEATHER
SMITH
THOMAS
MAY 10
F
riends from Oregon who
run a carriage business
(doing weddings and
funerals with their horses
and carriages/wagons) brought a
horse to our Amish neighbours to
be trained to drive, and stopped
to visit. They’ll pick up the horse
this fall.
Granddaughter Heather has
been working with our two-yearold filly (Willow), doing more
groundwork, and is starting to
ride her. She also rode Dottie a few
times for me, to get that young
mare going again after a winter
vacation. Dottie is doing really
well, picking up where we left off
in December.
Last week we had another calf,
leaving only three (one cow and
two heifers) to calve. The next
day Andrea and I rode Breezy and
Ed, and Andrea gently washed the
dust and dirt out of Breezy’s eye
socket. It has healed very well after
the eye removal in late December.
Andrea helped Lynn clean debris
out of the ditch above the house,
then took Emily to the doctor for a
checkup and X-rays to see if her leg
has healed enough to start putting
weight on it.
Last Friday Andrea and I made
a long, fast ride on Ed and Sprout,
for Sprout’s first ride this year.
She only tried to buck a couple of
times, but not nearly as hard as
she did last spring. Andrea rode
her several more days in a row,
and the mare settled back into
work. All the riding and cow-chasing last year paid off — Sprout is
more dependable.
With the nasty weather we are
still getting up at nights to check
the last three pregnant cows. The
older cow has had a big udder for
more than a month and will hopefully calve soon. The two heifers
look like they’ll be a bit later.
MAY 20
Last Sunday our last cow started
calving. By midnight there was a
wind blowing, and a bit of rain,
so we put her in the barn after she
calved, pulling the calf to the barn
in the calf sled.
We decided we didn’t want to
keep getting up at nights to check
on the two heifers (one will calve
soon but the other one probably
won’t calve for several weeks), so
we sent them to the sale at Butte,
Montana, with a young bull we
don’t need this year.
Carolyn and Nick brought their
trailer and we loaded the heifers and bull and hauled them to
Carmen (the other side of town) to
load on the semi. Rusty Hamilton
put a load together from ranchers around the valley, to go to
the sale. Our bull weighed 1,505
pounds and brought $1 per pound.
The two pregnant heifers brought
$1,775 apiece. Now we can sleep
again at night and not have to
check those heifers!
Tuesday Andrea and I made a
Good spring weather meant it was time to get the horses back into shape. From left, Dani and Heather follow
granddaughter Heather who is leading Willow on a ride across the lower range. Daughter Andrea, who made
up the foursome, was photographer for the day.
fast ride to check range gates and
shut some that had been left open
all winter. The next day Heather
gave Willow her first ponying lesson, leading her in the orchard.
Then Andrea and I rode Dottie and
Breezy to check gates again. Our
range neighbour turned his cows
out but hadn’t fixed the broken
gate post on the main gate into the
middle range, so we tied it up with
baling twines.
Yesterday morning when Andrea
and I fed the cows we noticed
one calf lying off by herself, with
scours. It was Rocket, named by
Dani after she and I watched her
birth, a month ago (she was born
quickly and Dani said she “came
out like a rocket”).
Lynn helped us bring the cow
and calf in from the field. The calf
was so weak and wobbly it took
two of us to get it up and standing.
Lynn went to get the calf sled and
we pulled her to the sick barn, with
mama following.
It’s unusual to have a monthold calf this weak, so suddenly.
She was going into toxic shock.
Her gums were purple instead
of healthy pink colour. She
needed IV fluids, because metabolic changes were shutting down
her organs. We called Michael,
who had just gotten home from
North Dakota the night before,
to come give the calf IV fluids.
While we waited, we gave the
calf an injection of Banamine
(to help ease the gut pain and
reduce inflammation) and tubed
her with fluids, electrolytes, and
castor oil (to help stimulate the
gut if it was shutting down, and
to absorb toxins).
Michael, Carolyn and Nick
arrived, and Michael was able to
hit the jugular vein first try, without having to shave the area. We
put three litres of IV fluids into
Rocket, and added baking soda
(bicarbonate to reverse acidosis) and dexamethasone (to help
reverse shock and keep fluid from
leaking out through the capillaries,
losing blood pressure). After the
third liter, the calf finally urinated.
This meant we had restored fluid
levels enough to prevent kidney
damage, and her kidneys were still
working and she could flush some
of the toxins from her system that
way.
We continued with treatment
through the day, giving more
fluids/electrolytes, and a kaolinpectin mixture, via stomach tube
every three to fie hours. She was
still too weak to walk, but by late
evening gave more protest when
we tubed her. When we went out
at 1 a.m. to tube her again, she
was stronger. This morning when
I checked her at 5:30 a.m., she had
nursed her mother (two quarters
on one side) so we didn’t give her
fluids — just more kaolin-pectin
via dose syringe.
She continues to improve.
Andrea and I treated her a few
times today with kaolin-pectin via
dose syringe — into the corner
of her mouth to the back of her
throat, a little at a time so she can
swallow it. Her bowel movements
are firming up, so we may not
need to continue treatment much
longer. †
» CONTINUED FROM PAGE 47
monia. Our veterinarian assured
us our best chance of combatting it was through immune
system support (vitamin therapy
of dam and baby). We are still
fighting with sporadic calving,
though our sheep and goats
have definitely responded with
tighter baby seasons. Mineral
mixes high in vitamin A can
also improve reproduction and
reduce cases of pinkeye and
ringworm. These conditions
have been almost eliminated on
our farm since we got aggressive
with minerals.
The biggest saving, which is
very hard to put a price on, is
human stress. There isn’t a farmer
out there that doesn’t find treating sick/dying stock very emotionally/physically hard. Add
financial strain to that and it is a
recipe for a very depressed place
to be.
Thomas Swerczek didn’t guarantee that constant supply of highquality livestock salt would be a
magic remedy, but his research
does show it is a very good start to
maintain good herd health. †
MINERALS HELP
CORRECT MANY
ANIMAL HEALTH ISSUES
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50-pound bags of mineral a year.
We buy mineral for approximately $35 a bag and mix it 50 per
cent with blue iodized cobalt salt,
which is about $10 a bag. So, we’d
be running about $80 per year
per cow for salt and minerals if
this high-consumption rate were
maintained.
On top of this we administer
selenium/vitamin E to our babies
at birth, as per veterinarian’s
instructions, for pennies an animal. The result of spending this
money has been a dramatic reduction in sick young stock. The hidden benefit to supplying salt/mineral to pasture animals is that it
provides motivation to visit them
more often. Many a health problem has been caught early during
these visits.
Before we started doing this
almost every calf born got pneumonia or scours. After two years
of this protocol we now only
treat sporadically. This year’s
biggest issue was a viral pneu-
Heather Smith Thomas ranches with her
husband Lynn near Salmon, Idaho. Contact
her at 208-756-2841.
Debbie Chikousky farms with her family at
Narcisse, Manitoba. Visitors are always welcome.
Contact Debbie at [email protected].
JUNE 10, 2014
grainews.ca /
49
The Dairy Corner
Mineral bioavailability is key
BY PETER VITTI
A
lthough trace minerals
make up a very small portion of the diets of highproducing dairy cows,
they have a tremendous impact
upon each animal’s health, reproduction and milk production status.
Minerals play vital roles in the
activation of enzyme systems that
drive almost every biochemical
reaction in the cow’s body. Of particular importance are trace minerals such as copper, zinc, manganese and selenium, which might
be contained at high levels in a
well-balanced dairy diet, but are
of no nutritional use to dairy cows
unless they have a high degree of
bioavailablity. Reliable sources of
these trace minerals with superior
bioavailability should be fed in
the dairy barn, so their natural
benefits are profited.
Bioavailability of trace minerals in dairy cows usually refers to
an essential trace mineral source
that is consumed, digested and
absorbed by dairy cow in a form
that can be metabolized and
finally utilized in order to meet
the dairy cow’s specific trace mineral requirements.
The feed industry has routinely
supplemented commercial dairy
feeds with different inorganic mineral salts with varying degrees of
“bioavailability.” These compounds
have different solubility, molecular
mass, electrical charge, pH properties and chemical reactive states
that affect the way and degree
in which they are absorbed and
retained in the cow. For instance,
dairy research shows the relative
bioavailabilities of “rock” sources
of dietary copper follows the rank
of highest to lowest absorption:
copper sulphate (bluestone), copper carbonate and copper oxide
(virtually unavailable).
Despite feeding a dairy diet with
a good suitable level of essential
trace minerals (often based on NRC
requirements), there are many
dietary factors that will adversely
reduce trace mineral bioavailability
and thus affect how much essential
mineral the dairy animal finally
receives or can utilize. Some of these
dietary factors bind ingested trace
minerals in the gut and make them
unavailable for absorption in the
small intestine. For example, high
levels of molybdenum in the dairy
diet combine with copper digested
from the feed in the rumen and
render it insoluble for absorption.
CHELATED TRACE MINERALS
In response to these biochemical obstacles to good trace mineral absorption and metabolism in
dairy cattle, the use of “chelated
organic” trace minerals in dairy
diets has become mainstream
nutrition.
Chelated/organic mineral compounds are positively charged trace
minerals chemically bound to
organic compound. They are produced by a specialized manufacturing process that takes a metal element (i.e. copper) from inorganic
rock sources and attaches it to an
organic molecule; often derivatives
of a protein molecule such as a
peptide or amino acid. Examples
include: zinc methionine, copper
lysine, and manganese methionine
as well as non-specific trace mineral
proteinates. It should be noted that
selenium cannot be truly chelated.
Rather, organic selenium is produced by feeding inorganic selenium to yeast, which incorporates
it into their body proteins.
Similar to these organic metalloproteins, a new category of chelates
known as hydroxyl trace minerals
have been introduced as a new
source of bioavailable copper, zinc
and manganese. They are welldefined crystalline structures held
together by covalent bonds (similar
to those found in proteinated trace
minerals), which render them nonhydroscopic (do not absorb water),
and non-oxidative (non-reactive
with other nutrients such as fats
and vitamins). Unlike organic trace
minerals, which contain between
10-15 per cent specific trace mineral, hydroxyl trace minerals are
available in higher trace mineral
concentrations such as: copper
chloride (54 per cent copper), zinc
hydrochloride (55 per cent zinc)
and manganese hydroxylchloride
(44 per cent manganese).
Regardless of chelated source,
some scientists think a trace mineral chelate’s superior bioavailablity has more to do with its reduced
electrical charge that makes it less
reactive with other molecules that
might otherwise make it unavailable for absorption. Organic mineral
compounds are also believed to be
less susceptible to possible changes
in pH, which tends to also affect
inorganic mineral absorption.
Studies aimed at demonstrating the visible benefits of feeding
chelated minerals with higher bio-
------
» CONTINUED ON PAGE 50
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ILC Beef 2014: Wednesday July 09, 2014
Deerfoot Inn & Casino, 1000, 11500-35 Street SE,
Calgary, Alberta
Cattle photo courtesy of Canada Beef Inc.
50
/ grainews.ca
JUNE 10, 2014
Cattleman’s Corner
BETTER BUNKS AND PASTURES
Copper deficiency
can hide in your herd
PETER
VITTI
B
efore the 1980s, copper
deficiencies were a real
problem for just about
anybody raising cattle
from Western Canada to Cape
Canaveral.
Extensive copper research in beef
cattle undertaken by Canadian and
a host of international universities
and governments, followed up by
practical copper supplementation
programs used by many producers
has made severe copper deficiencies on cow-calf operations, a thing
of the past.
Despite some of our best efforts,
however, subtle or marginal copper deficiencies in cattle still are
still with us. Without adequate
testing and investment into a wellbalanced mineral program, they
can negatively affect the breeding
season, future calf crops and final
farm revenue.
DON’T GO BY COLOUR
Oddly, we’ve all been taught
the classic copper deficiency lesson; “copper deficiencies causes
black cattle to turn gray and red
cattle to turn yellow.” This tagline
might work in the most severe
copper deficiency cases, but is
misleading when trying to determine whether your herd is suffering from marginal copper status,
where deficiency symptoms are
» CONTINUED FROM PAGE 49
GREATER BIOAVAILABILITY
KEY IN USING TRACE
MINERALS
invisible, yet underlies frustrating
poor performance.
In hard-to-pinpoint copper
cases, it is important to recognize
that micro-amounts of copper are
required by all cattle; involved as
activators of vital enzyme systems
(specialized proteins) that drive cellular reactions in many areas of cattle maintenance and performance.
Here are a few metabolic examples
of how copper functions through
these enzyme system.
• Vital functions — Copper plays
many life-giving roles in the body.
Case-in-point, it plays an irreplaceable role in respiration because it is
essential to hemoglobin synthesis
(compound that carries oxygen in
blood) and red cell maturation.
Copper also affects iron absorption
in cattle (active metal in hemoglobin). Anemia is therefore a
common condition in marginally
copper-deficient animals.
• Immunity — It is theorized
that within cattle immune systems,
copper along with zinc, manganese
and selenium play a pivotal role
in antioxidant reactions, which
destroy dangerous compounds
known as “free radicals” produced
during a normal immune response
against disease. It has been proven
by indirect evidence such as elevated copper levels present in white
blood cells responding to infections and inflammation.
• Reproduction — Although
well-defined biological pathways
are unclear, copper plays a role
in hormone production, normal
estrus cycles, egg release, fertilization of the egg and early embryonic survival. Marginal copper
availablity than inorganic minerals to dairy cattle have been
variable.
In one experiment, researchers
at North Carolina State University
fed marginal copper-deficient
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deficiencies may lead to delays in
cattle puberty, silent heats, failure
to conceive, greater incidence of
early embryonic deaths or overall
lower pregnancy rates.
• Hooves — Copper has an
important role in connective tissue synthesis and keratinization
(hardening) of hoof horn in cattle. Cattle with a marginal copper
deficiency are predisposed to heel
cracks, foot rot, sole abscesses and
other types of lameness.
This informal checklist might
explain an odd year or series of
years when a herd should have
performed better (re: calving and
breeding seasons), despite the cows
being in relatively good shape for
much of the year. One might ask:
Is this just the experience of an
“off” season or caused by a copper deficiency that was previously
unknown?
It is easy to verify the copper status of most cow herds. It can save
a lot of time, effort and money just
by analyzing forage and feedstuff
(including water samples) to determine their copper and other complete mineral profiles. Similarly
with the assistance of a veterinarian, tissue (liver biopsies) and blood
samples from cattle might be taken
and analyzed for copper and other
trace mineral status (zinc, and selenium). The results of these tests
might indicate appropriate corrective action is needed to reverse an
established copper deficiency.
herds can be a straightforward matter of feeding a well-balanced commercial mineral containing supplemental copper. The NRC copper
requirement for young and mature
cattle is no more than 15 mg/kg of
diet (dm, basis), which takes care
of the beef animals’ basic copper
requirement and also takes into
account the antagonistic effects
upon dietary copper by moderate
molybdenum or sulphur levels in
forages, other feedstuffs or water.
Therefore, a purchased mineral
containing 3,000 mg/kg of inorganic copper (added as copper sulphate) and fed at 50-100 grams per
head per day should solve most
copper deficient problems.
SUGGESTIONS
Correcting a verified marginal
copper deficiency in many cow
The following nutritional and
management suggestions are also
helpful in assuring your beef cows
receive enough dietary copper:
• Target cow herd mineral consumption — The best well-formulated mineral containing adequate
copper levels cannot do its job
unless cattle eat it. Target the above
mentioned 50-100 grams per head
per day.
• Know the dietary copper
heifer replacement calves either
organic chelated copper, inorganic copper sulphate, or inorganic
copper carbonate. The researchers
concluded that organic copper
may have the same bioavailability as inorganic copper sulphate
under normal dietary conditions.
However in a second NCSU
experiment, they fed the same
treatments, but in the presence
of high dietary molybdenum,
known to be antagonistic toward
dietary copper. As a result, the
organic copper was then shown
to have greater intestinal absorption and liver retention in the animals than the inorganic copper
sources. Such evidence pointed to
the advantage of using chelated
minerals under special conditions
in dairy nutrition.
To help iron out these inconsistencies, a new statistical review
technique called meta-analysis has
been applied to such practical field
studies in order to determine common patterns, areas of disagreements among treatment results
and any significant experimental interactions. For example, a
meta-analysis examined 20 dairy
research papers and reports (2010)
performed by the Zinpro Corp (re:
manufacturer of organic chelated
minerals for livestock). The metaresults of this review demonstrated that organic chelated trace
mineral supplementation in dairy
diets improved health status, milk
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Peter Vitti is an independent livestock
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[email protected].
production and reproduction performance in lactation dairy cows.
These field trial reviews are useful in demonstrating the source of
essential trace minerals for dairy
cattle should contain high bioavailablity. It also suggests precious
time, effort and money are not
wasted by ineffective over-formulation of dairy diets with inorganic
minerals, but rather fine-tune the
dairy diet with various sources of
essential trace minerals. Reliable
rock trace mineral sources might
work satisfactorily in modest situations, while chelated trace minerals with higher bioavailabilities are
effective for more high-performance or challenging environments.
Successful dairy cows should not
only consume adequate amounts
of an essential trace mineral,
but one that can be effectively
absorbed, retained and metabolized it in its body that ultimately
contribute to high performance
and financial rewards. †
Peter Vitti is an independent livestock nutritionist
and consultant based in Winnipeg. To reach him
call 204-254-7497 or by email at [email protected].
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sources in your mineral — The
copper concentration on the
mineral’s feed label is useful, but
of limited information. Copper
comes in many forms such as
copper oxide, copper sulphate,
and chelated copper forms, which
have relative biological availabilities of five per cent, 100 per cent,
and 125 to 150 per cent in cattle.
• Consider feeding “Breeder
mineral” all year long — some
producers feed a more fortified
cattle mineral (with more biologically available organic copper) all
year long, saying that the costdifference between a basic and
such a fortified mineral calculates
up to $10 per cow per year, yet
it is worth the assurance of good
copper and other essential mineral
status at all times.
• Fill your mineral feeders on
a regular basis — Mineral feeders
should be filled every two to three
days and hardened old mineral
should be removed. Check the condition of your mineral feeders and
replace those that are broken, and
beyond repair. †
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JUNE 10, 2014
grainews.ca /
51
Home Quarter Farm Life
SEEDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT
What good fathers do to embrace sons-in-law
farm and a legacy of good communication.
The SIL may not have the emotional support system he needs
beyond his spouse. His wife is
his lover, friend, and business
partner, and sometimes mediator. Smart SILs preserve healthy
friendships or mentors outside of
the farm business, so they have
a circle of support beyond the
immediate family.
Sometimes SILs do not have the
emotional capacity to deal with the
frustrations and stress of fitting into
a new family business. It can be difficult for them to find resources
or a listening ear. It’s important
that they manage their stress well,
or the marriage and their mental
health — and ultimately the farm
— are at risk of failure.
ELAINE
FROESE
O
ne of the overlooked
team players on the
family farm is the sonin-law who is married
to the successor, the daughter of
the founders. Let’s consider some
of the dynamics that you need to
be aware of to help understand
what is going on for the son-inlaw (SIL).
WHY THE SIL BEHAVES
THE WAY HE DOES…
SILs are often caught between a
rock and a hard place. Many are
working hard to stay employed
on the farm and stay happily married. They are doing their level
best to please everyone around
them and may deal with this in
unhealthy ways, such as drinking
or working too much.
When an SIL is directly
involved in the farm, he is naturally computing how much he
can move things to his favour
without risking the chance to
be the long-term business partner. He wants to protect his
interests and yet be fair to the
older generation. He also knows
that if he wants his children to
be the future heirs of the business, he has to have a viable
HOW IS THE SIL PERCEIVED?
The SIL may be embraced as
a great asset to the farm and to
the family, or he may be judged
as incompetent, compared to the
son of the founder, or deemed not
worthy of the daughter whom he
married. Each family gets to choose
whether they will bless or curse the
in-laws. Divorces on farms do not
have to happen, they are the result
of choices. The founders’ perception and treatment, for example,
play a huge part in what is experienced by the SIL. Folks who have
their minds already made up about
other family members, have what
I would call “filters of perception”
that cloud what they see or limit
what they see in the other person.
If the SIL is perceived as capable
and included in the family without
judgment, things are more likely to
go well. SILs who are harped on by
nasty mothers-in-law (MILs) and
fathers-in-law (FILs) are at risk of
experiencing extreme stress in their
marriage.
We all need to be conscious
of the biases we are bringing to
the table and how we are treating other people. Author Marilee
Adams encourages us to have a
learner mindset, rather than a
judger mindset (Adams, Change
Your Questions, Change Your Life:
10 Powerful Tools for Life and Work
2009). She suggests the helpful
questions: “What assumptions am
I making? What am I responsible
for?” (For more information, see
her website www.inquiryinstitute.
com or download her CHOICE
map at http://inquiryinstitute.
com/resources/choice-map/).
In the web of family relationships, the SIL may find himself
caught up in the triangle of indirect communication between the
FIL, the MIL and his wife. He can
also find himself compared to the
son or in competition with the
son. In some instances, it can help
to directly address statements or
behaviour that indicate comparisons with the son are happening.
For example, an SIL could say to
his FIL, “When you compare me to
your son, I feel unappreciated (disrespected, frustrated, etc…). If you
have a concern about something
I’m doing, I’d gladly discuss it.
However, I need the comparisons
to stop now.”
Some SILs choose not to compete with other family members.
In terms of competition, it’s hard
to run a race against someone
who has defaulted the race. You
can choose to stop competing.
You don’t have to keep up with
your brother-in-law, other family
members, or the Joneses. The SIL
can choose to say, “That’s fine if
that’s what you’re doing, but I’m
going to do my own thing.”
TOOLS FOR SILS
• Self care: Making sure that you
are taking care of basic physical, emotional, mental health,
and social needs. If you are not
sleeping well due to stress, have
a sleep clinic check you out or
seek other treatments.
• Friendship beyond the farm:
Be sure to set good boundaries
for time away. Go hunting, fishing, skiing, etc. with your buddies from high school or college.
• Honouring the timelines
agreed to: Nail down deadlines
at your regular business meetings and have a process for
accountability. You might want
to engage your accountant or
farm coach for accountability.
• Courageous conversations:
Make sure conflict is being dealt
with openly.
Consider an exit strategy if
this doesn’t work. What are your
options? Update your resumé and
polish up your marketable skills.
QUESTIONS FOR THE
FOUNDERS TO
ENCOURAGE YOUR SIL:
• Are we being clear with our
expectations?
• Are we economically fair?
• Are we showing appreciation?
• Are we being respectful?
• Can we ask the SIL how things
are going for him?
• Are we giving the SIL power
to act on things that are important to him?
Having more harmony on family farms means paying attention
to better communication and conflict resolution. This spring has
been hard for many folks who
have struggled to get a crop in.
Release relationship stress by being
proactive about how you respect
each other, and listen for what the
other person is needing.
Show appreciation to your
father and father-in-law this
month. Embrace your son and
son-in-law with respect. You’ll be
amazed what respect and appreciation can do to encourage the heart
of your business.
Blessings to all the dads for a
wonderful Father’s Day! †
Elaine Froese, CAFA, CHICoach is the co-author
of Farming’s In-law Factor… how to have more
harmony and less conflict on family farms. Visit
www.elainefroese.com/store. Call 1-866-8488311 to book Elaine to speak at your fall and
winter association events.
EXTENDED OUTLOOK FOR THE PRAIRIES
Weather Forecast for the period of June 29 to July 26, 2014
Southern Alberta
Peace River Region
Saskatchewan
June 29 - July 5
Sunny and warm apart
from scattered showers
or thunderstorms. Expect
heavy thunderstorms on
hotter days.
June 29 - July 5
Sunny and warm apart from
scattered showers or
thunderstorms, some heavy
on hotter days.
July 6 - 12
Hot on a few days this week
under sunshine, but isolated
heavy thunderstorms occur on
2 or 3 days.
June 29 - July 5
Sunny with highs in the 20s,
and some 30s in the south.
Scattered thunderstorms, some
heavy in places.
July 6 - 12
Sunny and warm. Expect a few
hotter, humid days to trigger
thunderstorm activity.
July 6 - 12
Hot on a few days this week
under sunshine, but isolated
heavy thunderstorms occur on
2 or 3 days.
July 13 - 19
Sunny and warm, but a couple
of hotter, humid days set off
thunderstorms, some possibly
severe.
July 13 - 19
Heavy thunderstorms move
through the area from time to
time, otherwise sunny and often
hot.
July 13 - 19
Sunny and warm, but some
hotter, humid days set off
thunderstorms, some possibly
severe.
July 20 - 26
Seasonal to hot with sunny
skies. Scattered shower or
thunderstorm activity on a
couple of days.
July 20 - 26
Sunshine dominates with
seasonal to warm
temperatures. Passing
thunderstorms on 2 or 3
occasions.
July 20 - 26
Seasonal to hot with sunny
skies. Scattered shower or
thunderstorm activity on a few
days.
10 / 22
Grande Prairie
67.9 mms
June 29 - July 5
Sunny with highs in the 20s.
One or two hotter, humid days
set off showers and heavy
thunderstorms.
July 6 - 12
Hot and at times humid.
Sunny aside from passing
thunderstorm activity,
chance of heavy in places.
July 13 - 19
Seasonal to occasionally hot.
Sunshine dominates aside from
scattered thunderstorms.
July 20 - 26
Highs in the 20s, with a few 30s
in the south under sunshine. A
few heavy thunderstorms here
and there.
Precipitation Forecast
9 / 23
Edmonton
94.3 mms
8 / 22
Jasper
56.2 mms
7 / 22
51.2 mms
12 / 24
North Battleford
9 / 23
Red Deer
68.2 mms
87.9 mms
12 / 23
The Pas
11 / 24
Prince Albert
12 / 25
Saskatoon
58.0 mms
72.1 mms
70.2 mms
NEAR
NORMAL
12 / 25
Yorkton
12 / 25
Dauphin
13 / 24
12 / 26 64.2 mms 69.3 mms
Gimli
12 / 27
Regina
11 / 25 Moose Jaw 58.9 mms
75.0 mms
Swift 54.1 mms
14 / 26
69.9 mms
12 / 26
12 / 27
Current
Portage 13 / 26
12 / 27
Medicine Hat
Brandon 76.9 mm Winnipeg
48.9 mms
Weyburn
40.9
mms
72.1 mms
19 cms
Lethbridge
72.0 mms
60.0 mms 13 / 27
45.3 mms
26 cms
11 / 26
Estevan Melita 11 / 27
ABOVE
Banff
10 / 23
Calgary
Forecasts should be 80%
accurate, but expect
variations by a day or two
because of changeable
speed of weather systems.
Manitoba
NORMAL
61.1 mms
64.8 mms
Precipitation Outlook
For July
Much Above Normal Below Much
above normal
normal below
normal
normal
Temperatures are normals
for July 15th averaged
over 30 years.
Precipitation
(water equivalent)
normals for July in mms.
©2014 WeatherTec Services
www.weathertec.mb.ca
52
/ grainews.ca
JUNE 10, 2014
Home Quarter Farm Life
POSTCARDS FROM THE PRAIRIES
Habitat for Humanity build — El Salvador
Helping others is the best way to rediscover yourself…
JANITA
VAN DE VELDE
T
his past November, I participated in a Habitat for
Humanity build in El
Salvador with a group of
people from work. When I was first
approached to go on this trip, I
had multiple reasons why it wasn’t
a good time. I was working full
time outside the home, a mother
of three, and could hardly manage
my life as it was. Another time, I
said, maybe in a few years when
things slow down… thankfully I’m
blessed with friends who won’t
take no for an answer, particularly
when they know it’s something
that will be good for me, even
more so, something that I need.
The “there will be intense manual labour” part was no joke. We
spent the better part of eight hours
a day hauling chop-pails full of
dirt up and down a steep hill, mixing cement by hand, laying brick
and swinging a pickaxe, all in 35°,
high-humidity heat. I will tell you
this — by 9 a.m. every morning, I
had sweat leaking from places that
I didn’t even know could produce
sweat. And in those moments
when I thought, “This is too much
for me. I’m not strong enough…,”
I would catch a glimpse of the
grandpa and the little eight-yearold boy, whose house we were
helping build, working beside us
side by side all week long. It was
then that I knew I had it in me.
I could also hear my dad’s voice
in my head saying: “A little hard
work never killed anyone.” Amen,
Dad. You’ve been right about that
one all along.
This experience made me think
a lot about how fortunate we are,
how much we’ve been given simply by luck of the draw as to which
country we’re born in. The author
James Branch Cabell once wrote:
“While it is well enough to leave
footprints on the sands of time, it
is even more important to make
sure they point in a commendable direction.” I don’t want my
children to feel guilty for what
they have; that’s the lottery they’ve
won in life. But I do want them
to understand that with blessings
comes great responsibility to help
those who need help, or a hand up.
On this trip, I also had the
opportunity to get reacquainted
with a good friend of mine from
a very long time ago… that friend
was me. From what I remember
of her, she was this happy person
who grabbed life by the tail, and
spun it for all it was worth. She
soaked up every possible ounce of
enjoyment, always found joy in
being around others, took great
comfort in the simple things and
she swore that a sense of humour
was the best way to get through
just about anything. But like everyone, she took a few hits along
the way, and her zest for life was
somewhat diminished by the
weight of obligations. Well guess
what? I found her again. Yeah,
baby. She’s still there. I’m still that
girl who loves a little too deeply,
and fights a little too fiercely for
what she believes in. By getting
completely lost in helping others,
I found myself again.
When it came time to leave,
one of the proud new homeowners told us, “I can’t believe you
came here from your country to
help us. You don’t know us. You
don’t speak our language, yet you
spend your own money and leave
your families at home to build us
a house. It is unbelievable.” How
is it that in our world of plenty
there are still so many with nothing? And how is it that they seem
much happier, more grateful and
more at peace with themselves
than we do? They have nothing and yet possess everything
we so desperately want. I think
that’s their secret. Their vision
isn’t clouded by things that aren’t
PHOTOS: COURTESY
Me and my El Salvador Grandpa. This man? His eyes were absolutely incredible — they held enough warmth
and love to light the world on fire. When saying his goodbyes at the end of the week, he could not contain his
emotions. He wept with gratitude. My heart grew three sizes that day.
important — they know that most
of the stuff worth having comes
from within. And instead of realizing this, we continue to sell our
souls for things we already own.
The image that will forever be
seared upon my heart was when
the little eight-year-old boy got
so upset when we were leaving,
he started to cry and ran to hide
behind the house. My friend followed him, scooped him up and
folded him into a great, big bear
hug. Hope. It’s a powerful thing.
And something that no one wants
to let go of.
I don’t think I’m blessed. I know
I am. I got to go on this incredible journey with these amazing
people, and walked away a better
person for it. It made my soul sing.
I don’t know much, but I do know
enough to know that life doesn’t
get much better than that.
You won’t hear from me again
until the fall. I’ll close by sharing
the inscription from the tomb of a
bishop in the Westminster Abbey,
which for me, sums up life beautifully. It reads as follows:
“When I was young and free and
my imagination had no limits, I
dreamed of changing the world. As
I grew older and wiser I discovered
the world would not change, so I
shortened my sights somewhat and
decided to change my country, but
it too seemed immovable. As I grew
into my twilight years, in one last
desperate attempt, I settled for changing only my family, those closest to
me. But alas, they would have none
> Empty Pesticide Container Recycling Program
There are many
reasons to rinse.
#1
Only rinsed containers can be recycled
#2
Helps keep collection sites clean
#3
Use all the chemicals you purchase
#4
Keeps collection sites safe for workers
#5
Maintain your farm’s good reputation
No excuse not to!
more information or to find a collection
{ For
site near you visit cleanfarms.ca
Now, take your empty fertilizer
containers along for the ride!
10901A-CFM-5Reasons-1/8Page-Grainews.indd 1
How is it that in our world of plenty there are still so many with nothing?
4/2/14 11:37 AM
of it. And now I realize as I lie on
my deathbed, if I had only changed
myself first, then, by example, I
might have changed my family. From
their aspirations and encouragement
I would have then been able to better
my country, and who knows, I might
have even changed the world.” †
Janita Van de Velde grew up on a farm
near Mariapolis, Man. She holds a bachelor
of science degree in agricultural economics from the University of Manitoba, and
has worked for a financial institution since
graduating. She lives in Regina, Sask., with
her husband Roddy and their children Jack,
Isla and James. Her first novel, Postcards
Never Written, was the recipient of the
Saskatchewan Reader’s Choice Award and
also listed by CBC as one of the top funny
books in 2009. She donates a portion of
proceeds from the sale of her book to World
Vision to help those less fortunate. For more
information, or to order her book, visit her
website at www.janita.ca.
JUNE 10, 2014
grainews.ca /
53
Home Quarter Farm Life
FROM THE FARM
Benefits of versatile rhubarb
Not only is it delicious but it is nutritious as well
DEBBIE
CHIKOUSKY
R
hubarb is a cold-season
vegetable of the buckwheat family. The earliest records date back
to 2700 BC in China where
rhubarb was cultivated for
medicinal purposes. The earliest records of it in America are
of an unnamed Maine gardener
planting it after having obtained
seed or rootstock from Europe in
the period between 1790-1800.
He introduced it to growers in
Massachusetts where its popularity spread and by 1822 it was
sold in produce markets.
On a mission to start growing edible perennials our family transplanted a new stand of
rhubarb to our farm last summer
and it appears to be coming back
strong this spring. Rhubarb is
easy to grow and lives for many
years (10 to 15) once established,
and is not only delicious but
nutritious too.
Rhubarb is low in calories,
containing only 21 calories per
100-gram stalk. It contains vital
nutrients such as dietary fibre,
antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins but no saturated fat or
cholesterol.
The stalks are rich in several B-complex vitamins such as
folates, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), thiamin,
and pantothenic acid. Red-colour
stalks contain more vitamin A
than the green varieties and the
stalks also contain small amounts
of compounds like beta-carotene,
zeaxanthin, and lutein. These
compounds convert to vitamin
A in the body. Rhubarb stalks
also provide good amounts of
vitamin K. One hundred g of
fresh stalks provide about 24 per
cent of the daily recommended
intake of this vitamin which is
required for many bodily functions including bone development.
When I was a little girl my
grandpa used to insist on his
spring tonic foods. As soon as
the asparagus was up he had a
feed of it and he loved his rhubarb. Over the years our family
has grown to enjoy rhubarb in
many ways, other than pie. For
example, Rhubarb Juice is excellent for a refreshing drink out on
the hayfield.
sels and prepared for a water
bath canner for five minutes.
The juice is ready to drink as is
or can be used as a base to make
a springtime punch.
SPRINGTIME
RHUBARB PUNCH
Another family favourite is
Rhubarb Chutney. This goes well
with wild deer roasts.
GREAT-GRANDMA
CANSDALE’S RHUBARB
CHUTNEY
Before chilling the basic rhubarb juice, wrap in cheesecloth
two three-inch cinnamon sticks
and 24 cloves, making a spice
bag. Tie and place in juice. To the
juice add 2 cups orange juice, 1
cup lemon juice and 1 cup lime
juice. Chill thoroughly. Before
serving remove the spice bag.
Pour juice over crushed ice into
a punch bowl. Float thin slices
of lemon, orange and lime over
the punch.
Combine all the ingredients in
ing. Drain it dry. Freeze raw or
blanched individual pieces on a
cookie sheet. Once frozen, put
individually frozen pieces of rhubarb into a sealable freezer bag.
This method allows you to get
just what you need out of the bag
at time of use.
Our family also enjoys rhubarb canned with strawberries.
It can be served alone or as a
garnish for a plain, undecorated,
white cake.
Now that we know that rhubarb not only tastes great but is
also nutritious, we will be more
willing to add it to our meals.
There are even people who enjoy
Rhubarb Soup, but we haven’t
gotten that adventurous yet. †
Debbie Chikousky farms at Narcisse, Man.
WE’RE IN IT
FOR LIFE.
Ag for Life and its founders believe in Alberta agriculture. That’s why
we support rural and farm safety, and educational programs that
build a genuine understanding and appreciation for this vital industry.
Join us. Share your voice. Make a difference.
RHUBARB JUICE
8 c. sliced rhubarb
16 c. water
1 c. sugar
Combine rhubarb and water in
a large non-aluminum saucepan.
Bring to a boil and continue
boiling for five minutes. Remove
from heat. Strain the juice
through cheesecloth and discard
the pulp (can be used for compost
or chickens). Thoroughly rinse
the saucepan and pour the juice
back in. Add sugar and bring to a
boil. Remove from heat and chill
thoroughly for drinking now, or
if preserving for winter, it can
be bottled in sanitized glass ves-
4 c. rhubarb cut into
1/4-inch lengths
2 c. brown sugar
2 c. white sugar
4 c. chopped onions
1 c. vinegar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. celery seed
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
Dash of Tabasco
1 tsp. salt
a Dutch oven and cook on low
partially covered for three hours.
Everything will be mushy. Stir frequently to prevent burning. While
still hot, pack in sterilized jars.
Process in a water bath canner for
five minutes.
Frozen rhubarb is also a treat
for the winter and there are a
few different ways to freeze it.
The first step is to wash it well. It
can either be frozen chopped or
stewed. Stewed should be frozen
in a hard freezer-safe container
to avoid spillage. Frozen rhubarb
keeps for half a year to a full year.
Chopped rhubarb can be frozen raw or blanched. To blanch
it, drop chopped rhubarb into
boiling water for one to two
minutes. Strain and plunge into
ice cold water to stop the cook-
Visit agricultureforlife.ca for more details.
05/14-38178_11
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2014-05-08 2:30 PM
54
/ grainews.ca
JUNE 10, 2014
Home
Home Quarter
Quarter Farm
Farm Life
Life
SINGING GARDENER
Who knows the name
of this flowering cactus?
TED
MESEYTON
H
owdy good people
and welcome to all
farmers, market gardeners, city dwellers
and retired persons. If I’ve missed
anyone, it’s not intentional. Boy
oh boy, have I got a lot to cover
in this June 10, 2014 Grainews
issue.
Plumber Ken just left after
replacing a couple drains in the
kitchen sink and now I’m getting
right back to the computer keyboard. We’re all in this together,
hoping for the best crops and
finest gardens ever. I’m sure glad
you folks love to read and take
time to join me. Please allow me
to again raise a tip of my hat and
extend a warm June welcome to
the Singing Gardener page. Have
you got the kettle on? Let’s have
a cup of tea, too.
I’M PROUD TO
SING O CANADA
Before we know it, summer
solstice will arrive on June 21
at 5:51 a.m. CDT. That’s when
the sun reaches its farthest point
north of the equator and the day
with the most hours of sunlight
this year.
Not too many days afterward
we’ll toot our horns, raise our
flags, sing our national anthem,
maybe drink a tea toast made
from rosehips and hibiscus flowers, watch the fireworks and celebrate another momentous birthday of this great nation that we
love, live in and adhere to with
powerful pride. Let’s shout it out!
On July 1, it’s Canada Day. Here’s
the refrain from a song I wrote:
I’m proud to sing O Canada,
For this country stirs my soul,
And I’m proud to be Canadian
With a chance to reach my goal.
SHARING EXCERPTS
FROM FOUR PAGES
… of a handprinted letter in
blue ink from wild rose province.
Hi Ted, I love your articles: As to
where to get Ogallala strawberry
plants or seeds, the best place is
“Seeds of Diversity.” For anyone
who wants unusual plants, this
is where to go. They listed 3,751
listings for 2,915 varieties of 197
types by 98 grower members for
2014. I happen to be a grower
member. In order to get the listing
you need to be a regular member
but don’t have to be a grower
member. I started out 10 years
ago and later began offering some
of my seeds. Forty-five pages of
listings include: flowers and wildflowers, fruits, herbs, medicinals,
grains, trees, shrubs and vegetables. When it comes to tomatoes
there are miscellaneous colours
from pink to purple — red skin —
yellow to orange; all heritage. The
address is:
Seeds of Diversity Canada,
PO Box 36, Station Q,
Toronto, Ont. M4T 2L7.
For information phone toll
free 1-800-509-7333 (answering
machine) or search their website www.seeds.ca. This organization’s mission is to ensure food
security and abundant choices by
engaging Canadians to live the
tradition of using and conserving
endangered and heritage plants.
Grower members are from Alta.,
B.C., N.B., N.S., Nfld., Ont., P.E.I.,
Sask. and Que.
When it comes to liking a variety whether it be beans, peas, tomatoes or whatever, the solution to
not losing it is to harvest your own
seed. Hybrids won’t reproduce the
same, but for heritage; seed saving
is the trick.
In reply to the reader who wrote
about their aunt taking malaria
medicine for RLS — My husband
used to get horrible leg cramps.
For that the doctor gave him
(prescribed) ‘Quinidine Sulfate’
which is the malaria treatment.
It worked for him like a charm.
He only took it when he had the
cramps. He would bite the capsule
and drink water. In minutes it
worked for him. It was a godsend
in our house.
Happy and successful gardening
to you. Thanks for your valued
pages. I actually cut them out and
keep for future references. God
bless you with good health and
happiness. Keep on singing! Yours
truly, Juliana Melenka, PO Box
540, Andrew, Alta. T0B 0C0.
I, Ted, saved the following comment from Juliana for last. “All
the years I’ve been reading your
articles, I have been surprised you
have never mentioned Seeds of
Diversity.”
Well the cat’s out of the bag.
Grainews readers are certainly now
aware of ‘Seeds of Diversity’ and
said organization’s valuable contribution toward “educating people
about the importance of saving
and growing a rich assortment of
plants to maintain genetic and biological diversity essential to food
security.” Also, let it be known
I, Ted, am never short of subject
material for my Singing Gardener
page. It’s driven by reader inspiration and plucked from what’s been
sitting on my back burner and in
my brain not just for months, but
some of it for years.
HELLO TO EVERYONE IN AND
AROUND LANCER, SASK.
A special hello to Esther Wagner
from Lancer and thank you to
her for a handwritten letter. Esther
writes: “I won’t give you a big
head by telling you how much I
enjoy your column and is the first
page I turn to in Grainews. I’m
sending a picture of a cactus plant
which I’ve had for approximately
12 years. I must admit I purchased
it in a four-inch pot and now it has
grown considerably. It did, however, take about eight years to bloom,
including a couple of transplants
and relocations. I was wondering
if you or any of your readers might
know the name and/or origin. The
large blossoms are approximately
the size of a Fleischman’s cornstarch container and quite a sight,
resembling a hibiscus but larger
SUE
ARMSTRONG
LOVE HEARING
FROM YOU
Do you have a story about a
farm or home-based business?
How about some household
management tips? Does
someone in the family have a
special-diet need? Share some
of your meal ideas.
Send them to FarmLife,
1666 Dublin Ave., Winnipeg,
Man. R3H 0H1. Phone 1-800665-0502 or email susan@
fbcpublishing.com. Please
remember we can no longer
return photos or material. †
Sue Armstrong
PHOTO: TED MESEYTON
If you’re from Nova Scotia you may recall a song titled “When It’s Apple
Blossom Time in Annapolis Valley.” There’s no song about the apple
maggot that’s become a significant pest for apple growers to deal with.
Larvae inside the fruit are somewhat protected making it easy for them
to inflict major damage by leaving unattractive brownish tunnels. Once
petals have dropped off and fruits are as large as golf balls, black adult
flies with yellow legs and a prominent zigzag band across the wings
begin to emerge looking for apples on which to lay their eggs. Ted
provides a recipe for apple fly maggot control.
PHOTO: ESTHER WAGNER
Note the superbly attractive three-inch red blooms that cascade from a
canopy of flat-leafed stems with sawtooth edges on this flowering cactus.
Question — Do you have one like it, or think you might know its name
and origin? Esther Wagner from Lancer, Saskatchewan hopes someone
among the Grainews family of readers can help her identify it. Ted
provides contact information on his Singing Gardener page.
with elongated petals. Here’s hoping someone can help identify the
name of my cactus plant. Regards,
Esther Wagner, PO Box 125, Lancer,
Sask. S0N 1G0.
Note from Ted: See the picture
of said cactus on this page. If you
think you know the name of this
plant send an email to Esther at:
[email protected] or write to
her. I later learned the following bit
of history about Esther’s cactus during our phone conversation. The
first time Esther saw this plant was
at a florist shop attached to a Home
Hardware in Maple Creek, Sask.
“The cactus was a wee thing in a
tiny pot with an asking price of $8.”
She debated with herself whether
it was worth that much money.
Today of course she’s overwhelmingly happy she did purchase it as
patience paid off. Esther told me
“that’s the beauty of small towns. I
love going through smaller places.
You never know what you’re going
to find in an all-purpose store.”
APPLE FLY MAGGOT
TRAP CONTROL
So your apple blossom petals are
dropping or have already fallen
off! Then it’s soon time to place
your traps in position on the tree.
Here’s what Marilyn Sharp from
Lacombe, Alberta wrote in her
email. Subject: Moth Trap. Ted, I
had success with the moth trap
in a pop bottle that I hung in the
apple trees but I can’t find the recipe for the molasses mixture that
you had listed in your column. I
would appreciate it if you could
send it to me. I used a two-litre
plastic pop bottle and cut part of
the top side out of the bottle then
hung it in the tree. I have two large
trees and one small tree so used
one on the small tree and two on
the larger trees. I didn’t change the
solution during the year. I think I
had good results as very few apples
had any type of larvae in the apple
and there were many moths in the
bottles. Thank you, Marilyn Sharp,
Lacombe, Alta.
For the benefit of other apple
growers who might be challenged
with maggots in their apples,
here’s one of my favourite recipes.
Apple Maggot
Control Formula No. 1
1 part dark molasses
(e.g. 1 cup molasses)
9 parts hot water to easily
disperse molasses
(e.g. 9 cups hot water)
6 parts vinegar
(e.g. 6 cups vinegar)
Mix ingredients together well.
Cut a 2-inch square hole near the
top on one side of an empty 2-litre
vegetable or fruit juice bottle,
rinsed clean. Fill with maggot
control formula to just below the
cut-out opening. Hang 6 or 7 trap
baited bottles on each mature tree;
especially on the south side. I, Ted,
suggest the liquid be strained every
couple of weeks to remove dead
insects, otherwise it becomes very
smelly. Or, you can make fresh
batches of lure. In fall be sure to
clean up all dropped apples at the
base of trees, otherwise maggots
soon emerge to enter soil where
they spend the winter as pupae.
ROOM FOR ONE SHORT EMAIL
Hi Ted. Yes — l am a Grainews
subscriber; have been for years.
There are a lot of good suggestions coming from your column,
keep up the good work. I am
located in Carvel, Alberta near
Stony Plain, west of Edmonton.
Can you send me the recipe for
the mole cocktail — castor oil?
Thanks, Steve Zelych.
(Note from Ted for benefit of
all readers) Mole Control Castor
Oil Cannonball recipes appeared
in March 18, 2014 Grainews on
page 41. †
This is Ted Meseyton the Singing Gardener
and Grow-It Poet from Portage la Prairie,
Man. June is the month for dabbling at
random in fields and gardens. It’s the month
for eating homegrown and U-pick Canadian
strawberries. The countryside is all hustle
and bustle; where good clean fresh air to
breathe is available. If you grew up on a
farm or run a market garden, then you know
what good life and hard work are; what good
home-raised food tastes like and where good
friends are found. Seems the world’s food
situation continues to get worse with each
succeeding season and one secure thing is
having a place to grow a garden. My email
address is [email protected].
June 18 - 20, 2014
Evraz Place, Regina, SK, Canada
farm Progress forum schedule
Hear From The Experts
Farm Progress Forum puts you in front of Canada’s
leading presenters in agriculture and business.
Admission is included with your show ticket.
Presented by
2014
fcc
InnovatIons
Presented by
Join us each day at FCC Crossing in the Canada Centre Building, Hall #10
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18
10 am - Mike Jubinville
President of Pro Farmer Canada
Commodity Outlook: Where are prices
headed?
Mike Jubinville
10:40 a.m. - Kevin Hursh
Journalist and Agrologist
Practical Farm Management Choices
A preview of the products that will be
introduced in this years Innovations Program
Clean Seed Capital Group
Peter Gredig
11:20 a.m. - J.P. Gervais
FCC Chief Agricultural Economist
Economic Outlook: Market Trends, Farmland
Values and Interest Rates
Agrifac Machinery B.V.
1:30 p.m. - Greg Johnson, Tornado Hunter
One of North America’s top storm-chasers
Kevin Hursh
THURSDAY, JUNE 19
10 a.m. - Lance Stockbrugger
Chartered Accountant and Farmer
Minimize Taxes, Maximize Purchasing Power
Matt Van Dijk
11:20 a.m. - Matt Van Dijk
Management Software Specialist
Manage your farm from everywhere
Jim Hopson
Lance Stockbrugger
FRIDAY, JUNE 20
10 a.m. - Tyler Russell
Cargill National Grain Marketing Solutions Manager
Effective Grain Marketing:
Using the Right Tool for the Job
1:30 p.m. - David Chilton
The Wealthy Barber
David will give you a common sense guide to
your financial future, complete with insight,
charm and humour.
Agribition Building, Hall #9 - Booth #93031
• Hit N Hitch
New on road hitching system for farm trucks
moving farm equipment. Power Pin has designed
a completely new hitching system for on road with
5 new patents and 5 new products - from a safety
chain that will not drag, to in-cab hook ups.
AGI - Ag Growth International
1:30 p.m. - Jim Hopson
Saskatchewan Roughriders President and CEO
How can you build and sustain a winning culture
in your business
Greg Johnson
Agribition Building, Hall #9 - Booth #93026
• Agrifac Condor
Agrifac Condor crop sprayer equipped with 54
meter long boom plus 8000 litre tank, self propelled
crop sprayer. Agrifac Condor can drive on the field
up to 40km/h because of its super stabile boom and
chassis with a pneumatic automation.
Power Pin Inc.
10:40 a.m. - Peter Gredig
Agriculture and Technology Expert
Mobile Technology for Agriculture
J.P. Gervais
Agribition Building, Hall #9 Booth #93024
• Clean Seed CX-6 SMART Seeder (60ft Drill)
The worlds first High Definition Variable Rate
SMART Seeder. Our technology combines the
latest in modern electronic metering and wireless
connectivity solutions to provide the farmer with
precision seeding tools.
Tyler Russel
Agribition Building, Hall #9 - Booth #93011, 93022
• The GULP
The GULP is an ultra low profile drive over hopper
that transports with your 13’ Westfield swing auger.
This drive over hopper is only 4.5” high and features
a large catchment area to unload all types of trucks
or trailers. The GULP includes a powerful hydraulic
motor, revolutionary chevron belt to auger transition
and hydraulic powered swing to save time and
back-breaking labor.
Elmer’s Mfg. Ltd.
Co-operators Centre, Hall #6 - Booth #60002
• Elmer’s Power Tracks
Hydraulically Powered Track System, Available on
Elmer’s Grain Carts or Fertilizer Caddy’s.
David Chilton
Canada’s Farm Progress Show
In partnership with Chevrolet, the Official Vehicle of Canada’s Farm Progress Show – Stayinregina.com is pleased to offer a first-class complimentary
shuttle service to all guests staying at a Regina Hotel Association member hotel.
The service will also make stops at the Regina International Airport, Young’s Equipment, Markusson-New Holland and South Country Equipment. The
daily service operates from 7am - 10am and from 4pm - 7pm. Shuttle drivers are familiar with show events and tourist attractions in and around Regina.
Guests are encouraged to ask their drivers for information, maps and directions. To book the STAYINREGINA.COM Shuttle Service, please contact your
hotel front desk. To book your hotel please do so at www.stayinregina.com
The Livestock Centre
Located in Winter Fair Building, Hall #13
Livestock Equipment Demonstrations · Industry Trade Show Booths
A Production of
www.myfarmshow.com
T:10.25”
Bon Voyage, Sclerotinia!
For countless ages, sclerotinia “The Pirate of the Prairies”
has ravaged the countryside, butchering canola yields
and plundering grower profits. But now, thanks to
Proline® fungicide, the hunter has now become the prey.
A single application of Proline can reduce sclerotinia
infection rates by up to 80%.
Say goodbye to sclerotinia and enter for a chance
to WIN* 1 of 3 - $5,000 travel vouchers.
For more information visit
BayerCropScience.ca/EndOfPirates
T:15.5”
BayerCropScience.ca/Proline or 1 888-283-6847 or contact your Bayer CropScience representative.
Always read and follow label directions. Proline® is a registered trademark of the Bayer Group. Bayer CropScience is a member of CropLife Canada.
*Contest will be subject to eligibility requirements. See online for contest details, contest ends June 27, 2014.
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