I

Volume 40, Number 14 | SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
$4.25
PRACTICAL PRODUCTION TIPS FOR THE PRAIRIE FARMER
www.grainews.ca
SPLITTING
THE DIFFERENCE
Splitting your nitrogen application can
decrease your risk. Find out if it’s the
right fertilizer solution for your farm
PHOTO: COURTESY OF PRACTICAL PRECISION INC.
Some farmers using split nitrogen applications use GreenSeeker technology. The GreenSeeker system lets farmers apply nitrogen in-crop at variable rates during the growing season.
BY ANGELA LOVELL
I
s a split nitrogen application
worthwhile on the Prairies?
That’s a question researchers
have been trying to answer
for the past 30 years. The higher
fertilizer prices rise, the more farmers want an answer. Is there value
in hedging your bets — applying
part of your nitrogen at seeding
then waiting to see what yield
potential the season brings before
you add the rest? Or, is it better to
gamble on having all the nitrogen
the crop needs ready and waiting
in case the weather keeps you off
the fields when that in-crop application needs to be made?
There has been plenty of
research done in both Eastern and
Western Canada and consequently there are differing opinions on
the value of splitting nitrogen just
as there are different cropping systems and conditions on either side
of the country.
The general consensus, however, is that there is no significant
yield advantage from split nitrogen applications over applying it
at seeding in most cases.
Publications Mail Agreement Number 40069240
THE WESTERN EXPERIENCE
When you compare split nitrogen
application to banding an equivalent amount of fertilizer at seeding, there is little yield advantage,
says Cynthia Grant with Agriculture
and Agri-Food Canada’s Brandon
Research Centre. “Normally, our
soils are dry enough and our season
short enough that losses between
fertilizer application and crop
uptake are not enough to make
split applications significantly better,” she adds.
Dr Grant led multi-year research
across various sites in Western
Canada into crop yield with controlled release urea (CRU) and split
application of nitrogen as compared to non-coated urea (NCU)
just at seeding. The results showed
that urea applied as an in-soil band
at the time of seeding was generally as or more effective in increasing yield than use of a CRU, split
application of urea or a blended
application of urea plus CRU.
The studies also found that
delays in release of the urea from
the CRU occasionally appeared to
limit early season nitrogen avail-
ability and crop growth, resulting
in some yield reduction versus
non-coated urea, most commonly
at sites where yield potential and
nitrogen demands were large.
“Across a wide range of ecoregions and growing conditions,
the use of CRU or split applications do not appear to provide a
consistent improvement in crop
yield, nitrogen concentration in
the grain, total nitrogen accumulation at harvest, or nitrogen use
efficiency as compared to recommended applications of non-coated urea banded at the time of
seeding,” says Dr. Grant.
There are exceptions where split
applications may have benefits:
• Under wetter than normal
conditions combined with warm
weather which can lead to greater
nitrogen losses in the spring;
• When a high level of leaching
has occurred due to lots of precipitation on light textured soils; or,
• In variable rate situations
based on nitrogen sufficiency using
systems like the GreenSeeker that
allow farmers to apply nitrogen
rates to specific spots where deficiencies are identified.
A poor start to spring is another situation where split nitrogen
might also be useful. If a farmer
cuts back on fertilizer due to poor
conditions in the spring, but the
season then improves to the point
where he expects a significantly
higher yield potential than he first
believed would be possible, adding
extra nitrogen in-crop might help
boost yields.
IN THE EAST
The potential advantage of
being able to add nitrogen in-crop
to take advantage of improving
weather conditions and increased
yield potential is certainly supported by some of the research being
done in Eastern Canada. Although
when results are averaged over a
number of years there is no consistent yield increase due to split
nitrogen application, says Peter
Johnson of the Ontario Ministry
of Agriculture and Food. Johnson
has conducted the research in conjunction with Dr. David Hooker,
University of Guelph and found
that, under certain weather conditions, split nitrogen applications
In This Issue
have been shown to increase yield
in winter wheat in Ontario by
seven to eight bushels per acre.
All research indicates that the
most important factor in whether
split nitrogen applications improve
or decrease yield is weather. “Split
nitrogen applications have the
potential to work very well but
the weather plays a big role,” says
Johnson. “The challenge with
split nitrogen application is if a
producer relies too much on the
second application. For example
if 120 pounds nitrogen total is the
target and 30 pounds of nitrogen
goes on up front, then most of the
nitrogen goes on in the second
application. If it starts to rain right
when I want to put my second
application on and I am delayed
a couple of weeks, or if it doesn’t
rain for two to three weeks after I
apply the second shot — in both
those scenarios I reduce my yield
because I starve my crop for nitrogen in that two or three week time
frame when the crop has high
demand and I need the nitrogen
to be there.”
» CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Wheat & Chaff ..................
2
Features ............................
5
Crop Advisor’s Casebook
6
Columns ........................... 20
Cattleman’s Corner .......... 30
Machinery & Shop ............ 33
Floating fall fertilizer
DANELL VAN STAVEREN PAGE 14
AGCO’s tractor lineup
SCOTT GARVEY PAGE 36
FarmLife ............................ 44
2
/ grainews.ca
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
Wheat & Chaff
STAMPEDE
BY JERRY PALEN
LEEANN
MINOGUE
had to track him down. This kind
of story will be gold at Christmas
for years to come.
BEANS IN A POD
W
“I don’t think it’s stuck too bad, But it just keeps sinking.”
CONTACT US
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Be Careful, We Love You hearts. Then
stick them onto equipment that you,
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e got a late start
— the crops just
weren’t ready —
but harvest is finally underway. We’ve already got
most of the winter wheat in the
bin (with a slightly disappointing
yield and a little fusarium), and
we’ve made a good-sized dent in
the canola swathing.
With local help hard to find
(darn high-paying oilfield jobs) and
the Temporary Foreign Workers
Program under attack, we created
our own Relative Workers Program
to get us through the harvest season. We’ve flown in a retired uncle
from Ontario and a young nephew
from Vancouver to help us get the
job done.
We’re not sure the accommodations and food we’re providing
would pass a detailed government
inspection, but the help are earning their pay so far. Here are some
reasons you might want to try this
at home:
• Recently retired uncles are
really conscientious. Maybe this
only applies to my Uncle Bob, but
he’s already spent more time planning how to lay out the corners
when he swaths canola than I ever
have. (I always think of it as a fun
puzzle for the combine driver.)
Bob got the hang of the machine
in less than an hour. My only
worry: he’s making me look bad.
• Having relatives around gives
you time to catch up on the family gossip. While she’s helping me
make lunches to send out the field,
Aunt Lois is giving me the dirt on
relatives I didn’t even know I had!
She also has a surprising tasty easy
salmon recipe.
• Our city-raised teenage nephew is providing great entertainment. Last week when he was driving the grain truck after dark, he
got lost in the field. My husband
I took a look at the soybeans at
a local field day last week. We’re
new at growing soybeans, but
even I could see that most of the
pods in the plot were filling with
four soybeans; ours mainly have
three. I emailed Shawn Rempel,
production manager for Quarry
Seed, to find out why.
Shawn replied right away. “This
is somewhat variety dependent. For
example our TH 33003R2Y puts on
a lot of four-bean pods compared to
other varieties. As the plots are all
trimmed up and have a lot of space
in between the reps, they receive a
lot of heat, which can exaggerate
the podding that you see.”
We don’t need to worry too
much. “Consistent three-bean
pods are always the best to achieve
yield,” Shawn said.
CONTRACTING OUT
I’m not sure I’m allowed to
tell anyone this, so here’s hoping
my neighbours and relatives aren’t
reading Grainews.
This summer, I’ve done something that may cause me to lose
status as an “official farm wife.”
I don’t know exactly how this
gets enforced. There’s probably a
municipal bylaw. Or maybe SGI
(Saskatchewan Government
Insurance) will send someone
around to pry the “F”-class license
plates off of my SUV.
I’ve hired someone to help with
the yard.
Most of my female city friends
don’t understand this. In the city,
if couples don’t share all the work
equally, the default seems to be
“men do the yardwork.” It’s normally managed differently on
farms. Any plants not growing in
an area large enough to handle a
large-sized tractor tend to fall to
the women.
On our farm, I’m pretty sure
this is because my husband is
too busy in the spring — not
because I have any yardwork
skills. While the grass on our
front lawn was growing high
enough for a duck to build a
nest, my husband was seeding,
spraying and working with roofing contractors. I can’t exactly
explain why I didn’t have time
for the lawnmower, but in my
defence, there were farm shows,
and a seven-year old who needed chauffeuring to soccer and
school events. Yardwork didn’t
make the top of the list.
I started to daydream about
moving to a yard-free condo in
the city. But I’d never get my
husband to leave the farm, and
hiring help is much cheaper than
getting a divorce lawyer. The two
young women I found to come
out one day a week are doing an
excellent job. Our yard has never
looked better.
I was a little embarrassed to
admit this. But when I finally
told a friend, she told me about
a nearby farm family who has
contracted out the cooking. Every
evening, one of the harvest crew
heads to town and picks up meals
prepared by a caterer. Then he
delivers meals to everyone in the
field. This operation has three
combines, so there can be up to a
dozen people to feed on a sunny
harvest day. To make it more complicated, their land is quite spread
out. “It was taking [we’ll call her]
Susan almost two hours to take
meals out, by the time she packed
up the kids and drove around
looking for all of the grain trucks.”
Susan has her own job in town,
and two kids to look after. The
new regime makes sense to me.
Some farmers contract out marketing decisions. Lots hire custom
sprayers. Some don’t do their own
bookkeeping. Now it’s meals. And
weed whacking. Is there something you’ve found a way to contract out on your farm? If so, let
me know. I’ll either write about it,
or try it at home.
Leeann
You might win this contest if…
I
f you’re from the Prairies, this might
be the contest for you.
I’m sure you’ve been laughing at
the “You might be from the Prairies”
cartoons we’ve been running on Page 3.
I’ll bet you have your own idea for a cartoon that would be at least as funny as the
ones the authors Jason Sylvestre and Carson
Demmans have come up with.
Here’s your chance!
These cartoons have been coming out of a
book called, ”You Might Be From Saskatchewan
if…” This book has been selling so well,
Volume 2 is in stores now. The publisher,
MacIntyre Purcell Publishing, has sent me
five copies of the new book to give away to
Grainews readers.
Send in your best “You might be from
the Prairies if…” lines. We’ll choose the five
funniest entries, and mail copies of the new
book to five winners. I’ll print your lines in
Grainews, and some may make their way
into Volume 3.
No need to draw a cartoon (unless you
want to), just send your funniest lines about
Prairie life to [email protected]. †
Leeann
You might be from
the Prairies if this is
the view from your
front step.
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
grainews.ca /
3
Wheat & Chaff
Photo contest
Farm safety
GIVE US
YOUR BEST SHOT
This is fifth generation farmer Mason Phillips, age three at the
farm near Beauvallon, Alta. (Don’t worry, of course that truck isn’t
running!) Mason’s family says, “Mason is an active farm kid that
spends his days outside in all the equipment and helps as much as
we let him.”
Thanks for sending in this photo! We’re sending you a cheque
for $25.
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 writeup 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
Refuelling farm machinery safely
T
ractors, combines and
grain trucks are just a few
of the machines farmers
rely on to get the job done.
These machines need fuel and farm
workers find themselves refueling
machinery so often that it’s easy to
become complacent. Both gasoline
and diesel are extremely flammable
and can cause explosions, so it’s
important to pay attention and
make sure proper refueling procedures are followed.
When refueling, the first step is
always to use the right type of fuel.
Double check machines to see
whether they take diesel or gasoline; clearly and correctly label
supplies of diesel and gasoline to
avoid confusion.
It’s essential to ensure farm
equipment is off and cooled before
refueling. A spark from the ignition system or hot exhaust could
ignite the fuel. If fuel spills on an
engine, wipe away any excess and
allow time for the fumes to dissipate. Always have your fueling station outside, in a well-ventilated
area — never inside a building.
It’s important to be aware of any
source that could cause a spark
or static electricity. Grounding
the machine with a ground wire
or dropping mounted equipment
reduces the risk of static electricity. Remain still while refueling. Walking around, entering
and exiting the machinery could
result in a static charge buildup. Electronic devices, including
cellphones or MP3 players, can
also cause static electricity and
shouldn’t be used when refueling.
Open flames are also dangerous
— items like cigarettes and butane
torches need to be kept away
from designated refueling areas.
Exposing fuel to sparks, static
electricity and open flames could
result in explosions and fire.
Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD),
the only type of diesel fuel legally allowed for use in Canada
(with the exception of railway
and marine applications), poses a
greater static ignition threat than
gasoline or other types of diesel
formerly used in farm machinery. ULSD lowers emissions and
improves air quality but removing sulfur from the fuel increases
its ability to store a static charge.
It’s important to properly bond
and ground all of your equipment
(fuel supply tank, transfer pump,
transfer hose, nozzle, etc) when
using ULSD to eliminate the risk
of a fire or explosion. Check with
your fuel supplier to make sure
your fuel delivery system is up to
fueling standards.
Fire prevention is the goal when
refueling. However, even when following all of these steps, be prepared for the unexpected. Always
have an appropriate and fully functional fire extinguisher close by, so
you can react quickly to eliminate
the danger. Clean up fuel spills
immediately, no matter how small,
to reduce the impact on safety and
on the environment.
While it’s easy to let your refueling routine slip, it’s important to
remain alert and aware of the dangers of refueling. It only takes one
misstep to cause a tragedy. †
Canadian Agricultural Safety Association —
www.casa-acsa.ca
Agronomy tips… from the field
Minimize potato bruising
A
You might be from the Prairies if...
By Carson Demmans and Jason Sylvestre
s a potato producer, the
first thought on your
mind at harvest is probably “Go!” But this year,
you might want to modify this
idea slightly to “Go gently.”
Challenging planting conditions caused above-average levels
of seed-piece decay in some growing regions, resulting in uneven
plant stands. And that means a
challenging harvest, given the
greater probability of tuber-size
variability and maturity. This variability can increase the potential
for black spot and shatter bruising
and, if the tuber skin breaks, fusarium dry rot. Addressing variability
in order to minimize bruising and
storage loss will take a special
degree of care.
Begin by keeping conveyor
belts full. A conveyor that’s uniformly and fully loaded minimizes jostling and bouncing.
Adjust the ratio of the harvester’s
conveyor speed to ground speed
to maintain a uniform flow.
Always operate the bin piler at
full capacity. And remember to
Project management
Growing canola
I
You have had more deer in your yard than the average zoo.
Weather Lore
Early frost?
A
Clear moon, frost soon.
lthough it seems that a late spring or early fall frost is
more apt to occur during a full moon, meteorologists say
that’s not necessarily true. But we do tend to notice the
full moon more when the sky is clear and clear skies are
much more likely to accompany below zero temperatures.
Clouds which diffuse the moonlight and starlight also act as an
insulating blanket over the earth — the clearer and calmer the air,
the greater the chance for frost.
When the stars and moon are shining crystal clear, it’s a good
idea to tuck a blanket around those tomatoes. †
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
n a previous issue of Grainews, we
announced the addition of our new timelapse camera. My husband helped me
drive in a post in the ground in the canola
field north of our house. I attached the camera
to the post and set it to take a photo every day
around lunchtime. Eventually, we would be able
to string the photos together into a time-lapse
video of the growing crop.
And so, I set the camera and left it in the field.
Before the bolting stage, when it was time
to spray, I took the chip out of the camera
and uploaded the video, then reset the camera
(slightly higher), and left it in the field again.
The early video turned out well. (Find it online at
grainews.ca by searching for “canola timelapse.”)
But then things went awry.
When I took the chip out of the camera and
went to upload the video, I found …. nothing.
The batteries died, or I set the camera wrong or
both. It was an accident, although some of you
might want to accuse me of sabotage — if you
look very closely, you might notice that we accidentally set the camera in the wheel track, not
exactly the spot we’d want to showcase for every
Grainews reader.
The camera’s out in the field again, hopefully
capturing the changing colour of the crop and
eventually our harvest progress. I have my fingers
crossed. †
Leeann
apply this tip to all other conveyors in the yard.
Next, avoid dropping potatoes
more than six inches. Pay special
attention to drop height when
loading trucks in the field, when
unloading into the stinger and
when piling into the shed.
Training operators and harvest
staff on drop heights and conveyor operation can help maintain
tuber quality. †
This agronomy tip is brought to you by Susan
Ainsworth, P.Ag., a contractor with Syngenta
Canada specializing in potato production.
4
/ grainews.ca
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
Cover Stories
Fertility management
at high nitrogen rates. “The plant
determines how much stem elongation is going to happen beginning
at the time that the heads start to
come above ground, at growth stage
30,” he says. “In a split application,
where I have applied 60 pounds
of nitrogen up front, the crop at
growth stage 30 responds as if it
only has 60 pounds of nitrogen to
work with, so it doesn’t develop a
thick, lush early canopy. It doesn’t
compete plant-to-plant as much,
and so I don’t get this stretch by the
wheat plant trying to reach up and
out-compete its neighbour for sunlight and moisture. By growth stage
32, when I apply the rest of the
nitrogen, the stem elongation has
been determined and the crop acts
from a lodging standpoint like it has
the lower rate of nitrogen and not
the higher rate of nitrogen. I can
apply high rates of nitrogen at this
stage and still have standability.”
Winter wheat boost:
Johnson has found that split
nitrogen applications seem to provide more of a boost for winter
wheat because it can help stimulate
new tiller development in spring,
so it could offer additional benefits for Western Canadian winter wheat growers. He’s confident
that split nitrogen applications for
Western Canada, even on spring
wheat, could hold a lot of potential
under the right conditions.
Variable moisture:
“From a Western Canada perspective, in a situation where a
grower is often concerned about
lack of moisture, if he targets 90
pounds total nitrogen and puts
his first 60 pounds on at seeding,
by mid-June, when he is at growth
stage 31 or 32, he knows how
much rainfall he’s had through
May and June and has a much
better concept of what his yield
potential is going to be,” he says.
» CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Splitting
the difference
The risk of missing that brief
window of application may be
even greater in Western Canada,
where the growing season is typically shorter than in the East.
Conversely if the rain is received
at the appropriate time to move the
second nitrogen application into
the ground where it can be taken
up by the plants, it can result in a
yield increase and improved nitrogen use efficiency, adds Johnson.
Ideally a second application
of nitrogen should be made at
growth stage 31 or 32 (first to
second node) says Johnson, which
is standard whether a farmer is
growing spring or winter wheat
anywhere in Canada.
Factors beyond yield
Other benefits of using split nitrogen applications include more uniform heading and reduced lodging.
Even crop maturity:
Even crop maturity is especially important in Ontario, says
Johnson, because farmers are often
using a fungicide to control fusarium The more uniform the crop is
at the heading stage the easier it is
to time and get the most out of the
fungicide application. In Western
Canada, fungicide use is increasing,
which could make this an important factor in a year when conditions are conducive to fusarium
development. But, with the West’s
shorter growing season, maturity
at harvest is probably as important.
Reduced lodging:
Reduced lodging is one the most
significant effects Johnson has seen
from split nitrogen application, even
“In a normal year, add the 30
pounds. But if it’s a good year —
like 2013 — add 60 or even 75
pounds to really drive the crop.
You do need one more rainfall to
get that nitrogen into the ground
so the plants can utilize it, and
that is always the risk, but if it’s
a wetter year you probably have
that opportunity. You could also
use liquid nitrogen, which makes
it a little easier to get the nitrogen
into the ground than dry urea. So
the split application in this scenario does offer the potential to do a
better job of nitrogn management
and still prevent lodging.”
Types of nitogen
While research work has been
done into how different forms
of nitrogen affect yield, studies
across the Canadian Prairies from
2004 to 2006 found the nitrogen
rate to be the main factor behind
yield variations in barley, wheat
and canola.
The nitrogen form did not significantly affect either yield or protein content in studies led by Drs.
Cynthia Grant and Mohammad
Khakbazan of AAFC at Brandon.
“In general, application of noncoated urea (NCU) produced similar or higher returns than the use
of controlled release urea (CRU),
split fertilizer applications or a
blend of NCU and CRU,” the
study says. “There were some limited situations where the use of
split applications, CRU or CRU in
a blend with the NCU increased
crop yield as compared with the
NCU. However, when higher costs
of CRU or split application were
taken into account, the increased
yield was not enough to cover the
extra cost. Therefore, additional
economic benefits were limited or
nonexistent.”
How to do it
Johnson’s research in Ontario
is now focusing on better recommendations about how to do the
split. “We are trying to determine
what is the right amount of nitrogen to put up front so that if I get
delayed in the second application
I don’t see that yield loss,” he says.
Similar research by Guy Lafond
and others in Western Canada in
2005 and 2006 suggested that risks
can be reduced if a minimum of 50
per cent of the target rate of nitrogen is applied at seeding in spring
wheat and 67 per cent in canola.
In-crop applications in spring wheat
can be made up to growth stage 30;
for canola, in-crop applications can
be made up to the start of bolting.
Research shows that as long as 50
to 66 per cent of the total nitrogen
rate is applied at seeding in Western
Canada, later in-crop N applications
should pose little risk to yield, but
there is always a risk from lack of
precipitation at that time.
Johnson is confident that a lot
of the research findings about split
nitrogen applications in Eastern
Canada are equally applicable to the
West. “I really do think that a lot of
this applies quite nicely to Western
Canada,” he says. “I would encourage growers to put down two thirds
of their nitrogen early and then
wait and see. If it’s extremely dry
then maybe they should stop at the
two thirds. If there’s lots of moisture
then maybe they should push the
yield by adding more nitrogen. It
just opens up more opportunities to
manage your nitrogen better once
you know the weather conditions
and are that much further into the
season.” †
Angela Lovell is a freelance writer, editor
and communications specialist living and
working in Manitoba. Find her online at www.
angelalovell.ca.
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
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Associate Publisher/
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Leeann Minogue
fiel d Ed ito r
Lisa Guenther
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Lee Hart
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Sue Armstrong
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Scott Garvey
Pro duction Di recto r
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EXTENDED OUTLOOK FOR THE PRAIRIES
Weather Forecast for the period of September 7 to October 4, 2014
Southern Alberta
Peace River Region
September 21 - 27
Highs reach the teens on most
days with frost at many locations
on 2 to 3 nights. Some rain and
blustery on a couple of days.
September 28 - October 4
Changeable and at times windy.
Fair, mild days alternate with
cooler days and occasional rain.
Frosty on most nights.
42.2 mms
BELOW
NORMAL
September 7 - 13
Temperatures vary with frost at
several localities, especially
central and north. Fair overall
apart from scattered rain.
Windy at times.
September 14 - 20
Although sunny and warm days
dominate, rain falls on a couple of
occasions. Frost in several
areas on a couple of nights.
September 14 - 20
Sunny, warm days will interchange
with a few blustery, wet days with
cooler temperatures. Several
lows dip to around zero.
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Highs reach the teens on most
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September 21 - 27
Seasonal temperatures with highs
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many nights. Sunny skies
interchange with scattered rain.
September 21 - 27
Fair most days with highs often in
the teens. Frosty on a couple of
nights. Scattered rain in the south,
possibly mixed with snow in north.
September 28 - October 4
Changeable and at times windy.
Fair, mild days alternate with
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September 28 - October 4
Conditions vary as mild, fair
days interchange with cooler
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Frosty on several nights.
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September 14 - 20
Several mild days although some
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NEAR
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32.0 mms
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September 7 - 13
Changeable as fair skies and
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Changeable as fair skies and
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54.2 mms
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19mms
cms
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44.2 mms
26 cms
7 / 22
8 / 18
The Pas
6 / 19
Prince Albert
30.6 mms
8 / 21
Saskatoon
32.1 mms
39.8 mms
57.3 mms
NEAR
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7 / 21
Yorkton
7 / 21
Dauphin
62.0 mms
9 / 20
8 / 23
48.0 mms
Gimli
8 / 23
Regina
8 / 21 Moose Jaw 34.4 mms
47.9 mms
Swift 35.2 mms
9 / 22
7
/
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Current
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8 / 23
Brandon 50.1 mm Winnipeg
33.7 mms
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50.5 mms
51.3 mms
42.3 mms 8 / 23
Estevan Melita 7 / 23
42.2 mms
52.7 mms
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SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
grainews.ca /
5
Features
TIP OF THE ISSUE
Trialing
is always
a win-win
A
farmer’s seed rep
is the local expert
who can offer valuable advice about
what works well in a geographic region, a crop type
and a production system.
But there are a number of
variables that can affect how
a recommended variety or
product performs on your
farm — and sometimes the
best access to that information comes from participating in a trial.
On-farm trials can give a
clearer indication of how a
variety or product will perform using your production
methods, your equipment,
and your land. When the
crop year is complete, you’ll
have clearer insights on the
products and tools that will
help you make key planning
decisions for the years ahead.
If you’re new to the trialing game and not ready to
work with a company, you
can always start small. Plant
two varieties side-by-side
in a field and track which
one performs best. Or, try
a different seeding rate and
leave a check strip to see the
results against what you’ve
always done. With a little
extra work, trialing can pay
off by giving you the opportunity to take new practices
and products for a test run
before gambling across your
whole farm.
If you’re ready to take
your trialing efforts up a
notch, working with a seed
or chemical company can
be an opportunity to be on
the ground floor of something new. Seed companies
are always looking for farmers to participate in trials
because the more trials we
have in, the better picture
we have of what is likely to
happen consistently across
a given geography over a
number of years.
Product advancement trials (for pre-commercial products) can be a great way to
get a sense of what’s coming
down the research pipeline
and to contribute towards
advancing a hybrid or variety
that works well in your area.
Plots for registered products
can give farmers a good sense
of how commercial products
compare on your farm. Also,
agronomy trials looking at
agronomic considerations
such as fertility, seeding rates
or seed treatments can provide valuable information
about what agronomic practices can help you get the
most bang for your buck.
There are trial options to fit
any farmer’s interest. If you
are interested in a trial next
season, talk to your local rep
about the options available
to you. †
Glenda Clezy, P.Ag., is agronomy trials
manager for DuPont Pioneer.
SOIL MANAGEMENT
Carbon in your soil
Carbon levels vary across the Prairies. The ideal amount
depends on yield expectations and the local climate
BY LISA GUENTHER
G
reat civilizations,
including the Mayans
and Mesopotamians,
have been built on
productive agricultural systems,
underpinned by fertile soil. And
as soil quality eroded, so did these
civilizations. But when it comes
to soil organic matter, it seems
Western Canadian farmers have
learned from the past.
People have known for centuries that dark soil is generally more
productive soil, says Dr. Henry
Janzen, research scientist with
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
in Lethbridge.
“And the darkness of the soil is
really an indicator of the amount
of organic matter. And we measure organic matter by analyzing
for carbon,” explains Janzen. One
of Janzen’s specialties is carbon
cycling and sequestration.
Agriculture and Agri-Food
Canada has long-term experiments at Lethbridge and other
research stations, with the longest
being over 100 years old, Janzen
says. And that long-term approach
is critical when it comes to measuring soil carbon changes, he says,
because changes are slow and
slight, above a high and often
variable background.
“And sometimes it takes years or
decades to see the final benefit of
some of these practices,” he adds.
BUILDING CARBON
Soil carbon varies widely across
the Prairies, depending partly on
climate and soil factors. But man-
PHOTO: LISA GUENTHER
Soil profile – Horizon A (dark band on top), and Horizon B (lighter band on bottom). Cavalier, SK.
agement practices can influence
carbon over time.
Although bumping carbon
would benefit many soils, there’s
no definitive level that indicates
soil is too short on carbon for
grain production, Janzen says.
And how much carbon is ideal
depends partly on yield expectations and local climate.
“So for example, if you are in
the Melfort area — where you
have generally higher rainfall and
higher yield demands — the higher organic matter there, the higher
carbon there is probably of value
to you,” says Janzen. “Whereas
in the Swift Current area… you
probably maximize yield without
needing as much organic matter.”
Historically, plant residue forms
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soil carbon, Janzen says. “So if you
increase the amount of residue
going in, you’re likely to increase
the amount of carbon stored.”
Planting more perennial forages,
which have large rooting systems
and longer growing seasons, can
help, says Janzen. Cutting summer fallow and reduced tillage can
also increase soil organic matter,
he adds.
Bumping yields can also bump
carbon. Applying nutrients, either
as fertilizer or in organic form,
will reap higher yields and more
residue. “If you add those residues back into the soil, that tends
to increase soil organic carbon,”
Janzen says.
Janzen is reluctant to offer a
definitive estimate on how much
carbon is being stored in Prairies
soils. He says there may be local
areas in Western Canada where
carbon has fallen well short of
optimal amounts because of erosion or improper management.
But he thinks many Prairie soils
are probably holding their own, or
even increasing slightly.
“I think most farmers have
this innate, instinctive sense that
maintaining organic matter in
soils is a good thing. And many, if
not most, are doing things that, in
fact, will preserve soil organic matter in soils” for their own benefit
and that of those who farm the
land after them, says Janzen. †
Lisa Guenther is a field editor with Grainews
based at Livelong, Sask. Contact her at Lisa.
[email protected].
6
/ grainews.ca
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
Features
Crop Advisor’s casebook
Ailing canola crop a mystery
By Jason Sauchuk
L
ast June I received a call from
Bill, a grain farmer with 8,000
acres of barley, wheat and canola in Waskatenau, Alta. Bill had
sprayed his canola crop with a herbicide
before going away for a weekend of fishing. When he returned home, he was
alarmed to see patches within the field
with damaged, stunted plants that looked
delayed compared to the rest of the crop.
“I don’t understand it. I sprayed the
field a week ago, when the crop was in
the one- to two-leaf stage, and the prob-
lem appeared a couple days after,” Bill
said, adding that plants in some of his
other canola fields were exhibiting the
same symptoms.
When I came out to Bill’s farm to
have a look, I could see obvious signs of
stunting and damage on affected plants:
purpling, chlorosis and cupped leaves.
There also appeared to be a distinct pattern to the damage. Bill had hoped the
symptoms would clear up on their own,
but that wasn’t happening.
Bill had tried a new variety of canola
seed that spring, but I couldn’t see any
issues with either the seeding depth or
the planting speed. Bill had also tried
a different fertilizer blend than he had
used before, and thought that might be
causing the problem. However, improper
fertilization was ruled out because we’d
taken a soil test the previous fall and
made a fertilizer recommendation based
on the results.
There was good soil moisture in the
field and Mother Nature had provided excellent weather, so environmental
conditions weren’t likely to blame either.
As for Bill’s pesticide use, he had the
right water volumes and had mixed his
chemicals the right way.
Just what was responsible for Bill’s
ailing canola crop? If you think you
know the answer, send your diagnosis to
Grainews, Box 9800, Winnipeg, MB, R3C
3K7; email [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 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. †
Jason Sauchuk is a sales agronomist with Richardson
Pioneer Ltd. at Sprucefield, Alta.
Jason Sauchuk is a sales agronomist with Richardson Pioneer Ltd.
at Sprucefield, Alta.
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.
Casebook
winner
R
ob Stone is this issue’s
Casebook winner.
Rob, his wife Donna,
and his parents
operate their family farm at
Davidson, Sask. Rob is also the
Pioneer hi-bred sales agent for
the area.
When he heard we were
sending him a Grainews cap
and a one-year subscription,
Rob wrote back, “Awesome! I
love winning stuff.”
Leeann Minogue
There were obvious signs of stunting and damage on affected plants: purpling, chlorosis and cupped leaves.
Crop advisor’s solution
Phosphate deficiency culprit in canola
By Rachelle Farrell
I
t was early June when I got a phone
call from Wayne, a canola grower
at Westlock, Alta. He was worried
about the canola in one of his fields,
which was suffering from very poor plant
establishment and vigour. The field was
also rife with purpling and dying plants.
Wayne thought poor seed quality might be
to blame and he asked me to come out and
have a look.
When I arrived the farm, I could
see uneven and stunted growth along
with purpling and dying plants evident
throughout the entire field. I also saw the
ground was extremely wet — almost saturated — and there was also lots of trash,
or straw from the previous crop, covering
the field and acting to hold moisture in.
When I examined some plant roots, they
were obviously stunted but didn’t appear
to be infected with disease that often
thrives in wet soil conditions.
I thought a nutrient imbalance might be
the answer, but Wayne informed me that
his fertilization program had been very
comprehensive, and a subsequent plant
tissue test revealed that all the necessary
nutrients were in balance. I then inquired
into Wayne’s seeding practices; he told me
that although a new disc drill had been
used at planting, there were no issues initially and all the seed had appeared to go
down at the right rate.
Looking more closely at the plant stand,
I noticed something important. To even
be close to getting a decent crop, Wayne
needed at least five plants per square foot.
Here, we were looking at about only two to
three plants per square foot.
I could see there were numerous seeds
still sitting on top of the straw on the
soil. The disc drill had obviously failed to
penetrate the trash, causing a hair-pinning
effect where the seed gets placed on top
of the straw, instead of in the soil. This
explained the poor plant stand, and for a
moment I thought I had figured it out. But
why were the plants that had emerged so
small and discoloured? Something else was
at work, too.
It had to be a nutrient imbalance, I
told Wayne. “But we already did a tissue
test and the results were good,” Wayne
reminded me. However, that test showed
the nutrients were in balance for the twoto four-leaf phase of canola plants, and
did not take into account that the plants
should have been at the rosette stage at
this point in time.
To get to the bottom of the problem, I
felt a soil test was in order. Lack of available
phosphate often leads to severe stunting,
and a standard tissue test alone does not
tell the whole story. Phosphate is essential for root development; plant uptake is
reduced in cold, wet soils, like that found
in Wayne’s field. The wet soil would potentially be restricting root growth, further
compounding a phosphate uptake issue.
Sure enough, a soil test found low lev-
els of available phosphate. Unfortunately,
nothing could be done to save Wayne’s
crop. The damage was too severe; the crop
was too thin and too far behind in the season to recover.
I advised Wayne that although his nutrient program had been comprehensive,
there is much more to crop nutrition than
fertilizer. Particularly with nutrients like
phosphate, maintaining soil fertility, or the
nutrient levels in the soil, is even more
important. It is important to factor in how
much phosphate is removed each year and
that soil levels are not depleted over time.
There are so many interactions happening
in the soil profile that we cannot see which
nutrients might play an important role in
plant development.
My advice to Wayne was to ensure he
improved his crop residue management in
the future, to monitor his soil fertility over
time and improve seed-soil contact. †
Rachelle Farrell is a crop input manager for Richardson
Pioneer Ltd. at Morinville, Alta.
As a farmer, you have a lot of decisions to make. The DEKALB® brand team is here to empower you with
expert advice, agronomic insight and local data. With every important decision you face on your farm,
we’re behind you. And we’re ready to help you turn great seed potential into actual in-field performance.
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ALWAYS FOLLOW IRM, GRAIN MARKETING AND ALL OTHER STEWARDSHIP AND PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS.
Details of these requirements can be found in the Trait Stewardship Responsibilities Notice to Farmers printed in
this publication ©2014 Monsanto Canada, Inc.
®
8
/ grainews.ca
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
Features
CROP VARIETIES
FARM MANAGEMENT
Orient new
Man. farm
workers
Soybeans
on display
S
hawn Rempel, is a product
manager and agronomist
for Quarry Seed. On August
15, he traveled to southeast
Saskatchewan to talk to farmers at
a field day.
In mid-August, it was too soon
to know the results of the trials on
display. “The combines are going to
tell the story,” Rempel said.
In this picture, Rempel is in front
of the Thunder 35002 soybean
plot. The last three numbers in this
variety name indicate the relative
maturity. In 2013, the most popular
soybean Saskatchewan was a “004”
variety. This year, a “003” variety
“took the crown for that.” Now,
Remple says, “there’s a 001 out
there.” †
BY ANGELA LOVELL
A
Leeann Minogue
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If you’ve ever searched for the secret to consistent and reliable yields, you probably
already know the answer is Proven® Seed. Year over year, growers choose Proven
Seed because we spend so much time researching, developing and testing our seed
varieties across western Canada to ensure it’s the best choice for local growers.
Learn more at ProvenSeed.ca or ask your CPS retailer.
Proven Seed is a registered trademark of Crop Production Services (Canada) Inc. CPS CROP PRODUCTION SERVICES and Design is a registered trademark of Crop Production Services, Inc.
®
08/14-39031-1
39031-1 CPS_Trapdoor_8.125x10.indd 1
8/8/14 1:39 PM
s of spring 2014,
amendments to the
Workplace Safety and
Health Regulations in
Manitoba require safety and
health orientations for new
farm workers, including seasonal and part-time workers.
“Employers will have to give
their workers an orientation
on the farm,” explained Jeff
Shaw, Manitoba’s Provincial
Farm Safety Coordinator in a
presentation at the Manitoba
Young Farmers Conference in
Portage la Prairie.” New regulations outline specific safety
and health requirements but
commonly in orientations
you can address the hazards
on the farm, the tasks they
will be doing, identifying
where the personal protective
equipment is and some of the
rules and policies on the farm,
just to get workers familiar
with the farm and the farm’s
expectations.
The intent is that safety
and health orientation will
become a standard part of
training for new employees,
says Shaw, but if there are
new processes or new equipment being added to the
farm or existing employees
are re-assigned to a new job,
affected employees need an
orientation.
Employers are also responsible to ensure the safety of
visitors to the farm such as
contractors and others who
need access to the farm, such
as oilfield workers or custom
operators. Visitors must be
aware of the roles and responsibilities for safety and health
on the farm; this knowledge
can be provided through an
orientation.
It is always a good practice
to orientate family members
and it’s essential to orientate
new workers even if they are
only working a few hours on
the farm. “Farms are unique
because a lot of the workers
are often family members,
so you want to make sure
that you are keeping them
safe as well,” says Shaw.”You
want to ensure that all individuals are trained on the
farm and know how to do
things properly, know what
the hazards are, how to protect themselves and what
to do if something does go
wrong.”
Shaw suggests that many
farmers are already providing
orientations to their workers,
but aren’t always recognising
what they do as such and
often aren’t documenting it
— another important aspect
of a safety and health system.
“You want to protect your
business no matter what you
do on the farm so you want
to document what you are
doing,” says Shaw. †
Angela Lovell is a freelance writer,
editor and communications specialist
living and working in Manitoba. Find
her online at www.angelalovell.ca.
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
grainews.ca /
9
Features
Soil management
Using ecological systems
Diversified, long-term crop rotations can pay off for Prairie farmers with strong
management skills who are prepared to invest the time to carry them out
By Lisa Guenther
C
Diversification can extend
beyond crops. Although many
farms are trending towards specializing in grains or livestock,
Entz points out mixed farms are
still popular in many regions
“and really doing a fantastic job
of managing their problems. So
much of the Parkland region is
mixed farms.”
need to offer farmers a true sort
of ecological package in addition
to their conventional package
of information,” he says. “And
that’s why we had the advanced
organic diagnostics school here
to train those agronomists in
those things.”
Farmers should also track the
types of extension events they
take in “because so many of them
are talking about the same thing,
Better advice
like a new herbicide or a new variEntz also says farmers should ety,” says Entz.
get better advice.
“And what farmers should do
“I have a lot of faith in the is look for opportunities to go
agronomists that we have workto field days and events where
B:8.125”
ing in the industry in Western people talk about changing your
T:8.125”
Canada but I think that they rotation.”
Entz says he thinks most farmers know their system could be
improved. He says they should
be asking for more innovation
from governments and universities.
“And that’s what we pride ourselves (on) is having something
that’s a bit radical, a bit diverse,
but it really shows farmers what
is possible outside the paradigm
they’re in right now.”
For more information, contact
Entz at [email protected] or
visit www.umanitoba.ca/outreach/
naturalagriculture/index.html. †
Lisa Guenther is a field editor with Grainews
based at Livelong, Sask. Contacther at Lisa.
[email protected].
S:8.125”
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Elephant in the Field.
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T:10”
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S:10”
anadian farmers have
good management
skills, but those skills
aren’t being rewarded
in the conventional system, says
a Manitoba researcher.
“On well-managed organic
farms, or ecological farms, I’ve
seen farmers really being rewarded
for their management skills,” says
Dr. Martin Entz of the University
of Manitoba.
Entz says there is some middle
ground between conventional and
organic production. The most useful thing farmers can do is rethink
and diversify crop rotations, he says.
Rotations that are five or six
years long don’t have a lot of problems, Entz says. “And so many
of the problems our farmers are
facing are really a function of the
monoculture system that we’ve
been drawn to.”
Farmers looking to loosen up
rotations should look for crops
that don’t host many pests and
that offer different weed control
strategies, he says.
The conventional rotations
at the University of Manitoba’s
Glenlea research station illustrate
the benefits of diverse rotations.
The grain-only conventional rotation looks “absolutely gorgeous,”
says Entz, but has “a big patch of
herbicide-resistant wild oat in the
middle of the plot.”
“Over the 23 years we’ve done
this rotation we’ve selected for
herbicide-resistant wild oats,” says
Entz. He adds they have Roundup
Ready soybeans in the rotation that
clean up the wild oats for a year.
But the persistent weeds returned.
The other conventional rotation, which has a short-term alfalfa phase, has “no wild oats. No
hint of resistant weeds,” says Entz.
Another rotation consideration
is whether a crop, such as a legume,
can save money through the whole
rotation, says Entz. “That’s huge
because nitrogen costs are huge.”
The alfalfa phase in Glenlea’s
conventional grain rotation cut the
rotation’s fertilizer needs by 40 per
cent and left soils in better shape
than the grain-only rotation.
A 12-year study by Agriculture
and Agri-Food Canada looked at
nine different cropping systems at
Scott, Saskatchewan. Researchers
found evidence that using perennial forages in rotations, along
with reduced tillage, improves soil
quality and the soil’s ability to
supply nutrients.
Reduced tillage, especially when
combined with a diverse annual
grain cropping system, was also
linked to better soil structure in the
Scott study. And researchers found
more mites, which are an indicator
of soil health, in systems that combined fewer inputs and reduced
tillage, than either the high input
or organic systems. Nearby native
prairie had more mites than any of
the farming systems.
The Scott study also looked at
the economics, energy use, and
agronomic aspects of the cropping
systems. It’s available online at
www.prairiesoilsandcrops.ca/articles/volume-5-8-screen.pdf
Entz and his colleagues at Glenlea
found more microbial biomass carbon, or living organic matter, in
the soils of organic forage-grain
rotations than conventional. But
conventional grain-only rotations
had more living organic matter
than the organic counterparts.
Glenlea researchers also found
out the hard way that their organic grain rotation needs a green
manure every third year, instead
of every fourth, to maintain
nitrogen levels in the soil.
They also found including
alfalfa in the organic grain-forage
rotation doesn’t provide enough
soil phosphate long-term. But
adding composted cattle manure
restored the rotation.
10
/ grainews.ca
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
Features
Crop production
Harvest management
Monitor
that monitor
Old-style,
new attitude
“
J
urgen Kohler sent in
these photos taken in
his field on May 24,
2014. He was seeding soybeans with a 40-foot
John Deere 9450 hoe drill.
These rows are so straight,
I don’t think someone driving by the field after he
was finished would have
believed that.
He says, “I still seed the
old fashioned way using
markers. My goal is to get
GPS Autosteer for the tractor for next year. I must
be one of the few farmers around Brunkild, Man.,
that still seeds without
GPS.” †
Leeann Minogu
Growers can’t stop talking
about its flushing weed control.
( Please accept our apologies. )
If you’ve been anywhere within earshot of a grower who’s used
Ares™ herbicide for Clearfield® canola, you’ve already heard all
about it. A lot. Because only Ares controls the toughest flushing
weeds and keeps them from coming back. Which means you
save time and money in the process. So try it for yourself. Once
you see the result, we doubt you’ll be able to keep it to yourself.
To find out more visit agsolutions.ca/clearfieldcanola or contact
AgSolutions® Customer Care at 1-877-371-BASF (2273).
Always read and follow label directions.
AgSolutions is a registered trade-mark of BASF Corporation; ARES is a trade-mark and Clearfield and the unique Clearfield symbol are registered
trade-marks of BASF Agrochemical Products B.V.; all used with permission by BASF Canada Inc. © 2014 BASF Canada Inc.
H
ow did that canola run?” Whether
or not you want
to tell the truth
in town, if you’re getting
your answer from the yield
monitor in the cab, make
sure it’s well calibrated.
“It’s critical to get an accurate calibration,” says Ward
Anticura, integrated solutions manager at Battle River
Implements in Canora, Sask.
“Some guys will fill
their hoper up, then estimate based on a full hopper. That’s not accurate,”
Anticura says. “It’s nearly
impossible to do an accurate
calibration without some
way of weighing it.”
It’s getting easier to do
this at home. Many farmers
have accurate scales on their
grain carts. Some ag service
providers offer weigh wagon
services. Using these tools
can be crucial if you’re planning to use your yield estimates to decide how much
fertilizer to apply next season. If accuracy matters to
you, Anticura says, “Find
somebody with a weigh
wagon. Borrow a neighbour’s cart, or go to town.”
“If you’re using that data
for variable rate management zone purposes, it’s
important to have accurate
yield calibration,” Anticura
says. “It’s also important to
have consistent yield calibration if you have more than
one combine in the field.”
There are different methods to calibrating each yield
monitor, so Anticura says,
“It’s important that the
customer understands the
procedure for his particular
model.” The most important
challenge is “just taking the
time to do it. It’s one of
those things that’s a bit of
a pain. But if the data if
important to you, then the
calibration is important.“
Aaron Bouchard, agronomic services representative for Syngenta Canada
Inc., says adjusting for moisture is an important part of
accurate yield monitor calibration. “A lot of it comes
back to the grain moisture.”
Although a lot of farmers
rely heavily on the numbers on the screen, Bouchard
says, “If you’re doing trials,
the yield monitor is not the
best way to really gauge your
performance.” For trials,
especially corporate-run trials, a higher degree of accuracy will give a more useful
result. For Syngenta’s trials,
Bouchard says, “We prefer to
use a weigh wagon.”
It can be a hassle to take
the time to calibrate your
yield monitor, and it’s a job
that needs to be done on
the busiest day of the year.
However, Anticura says, “If
you recognize the importance of it, then you’ll do
what you’ve got to do to
get the information accurate.Ӡ
Leeann Minogue
110200853_CLC_Yard_GrainNews_2014_v2.indd 1
2014-08-15 11:16 AM
newsprint - 240 ink density
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
grainews.ca /
11
Features
CROP PRODUCTION
A guide to temperature inversions
Normally, the higher you go, the colder it gets. During a temperature inversion,
the rules are upside-down. Spray with caution on clear nights
BY ANGELA LOVELL
P
opular wisdom has suggested that evenings are a
good time to spray because
conditions are generally
calmer and there is less potential
for spray drift, but that’s not always
the case, says Tom Wolf, an independent spray application consultant with Applications Specialists in
Saskatoon.
“The main concern with night
spraying is temperature inversions which typically occur only
at night,” he says. “A temperature inversion is a reversal of the
normal temperature profile with
height and that leads to what we
call a stable atmosphere, which
means that air can’t be displaced;
it wants to stay where it is. So
any small airborne droplets, like
spray droplets, tend to just hang
in the air. It’s never a good idea to
spray during a temperature inversion because it can cause crop or
environmental damage.”
is about a 1 C drop with every 100
meter height increase.
Under sunny, warm conditions
the soil is heated, which in turn
heats the air close to the soil. As a
result of that, the air near the soil
tends to be much warmer than
usual. The rate of temperature
decrease with elevation is greater,
and there is a stronger decline with
height as the heat closest to the
ground dissipates. This is called
either normal daytime conditions
or sometimes unstable conditions
or turbulent conditions.
At night, once the sun sets and
the soil cools down, the soil cools
the air close to the ground. As a
result, the air near the soil tends
to be colder than the temperature
of air at higher elevations. This
causes temperature to increase
with height instead of decreasing as it normally — that’s why
this is called a temperature inversion. This leads to what is called a
stable atmosphere.
During a temperature inversion,
air cannot be displaced and stays
where it is. Any small airborne
droplets will be more buoyant and
will simply hang motionless in
the air.
“They won’t deposit and they
won’t disperse in the atmosphere,”
says Wolf. “If you have spray droplets in the air during a temperature
inversion they will stay where they
were placed and in some cases they
will concentrate and can move
downhill and cause damage to
crops or vegetation in lower areas.”
A temperature inversion does
not occur every night, , so the
challenge is figuring out when
one is likely to happen. One
method is by observing conditions, says Wolf. “Temperature
inversions typically occur under
clear summer skies at night and
they are suppressed by gentle
breezes and cloudy skies,” says
Wolf. “If we have a bit of a breeze
at night the temperature profile
that builds up is disrupted by
mechanical turbulence. In other
words, the breeze stirs things up
and mixes the cool and warm
air and results in what we call
a neutral atmosphere and neutral atmospheres are quite good
for spraying.”
Cloud cover also suppresses
temperature inversions. “When
we have cloud cover it suppresses inversions because the cloud
insulates the atmosphere and
reduces the rate of cooling at the
ground and can result in neutral
conditions as well,” says Wolf. “I
would say be cautious of spraying
at night if the skies are clear and
it’s perfectly calm. That usually
indicates the presence of a temperature inversion.”
» CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
WHAT IS AN INVERSION?
Under normal atmospheric
conditions, temperature tends to
decrease with height. This temperature decrease is more or less a constant in dry atmospheres, whenever moisture conditions are not at
the dew point and there is no condensation happening. When conditions are dry the normal rate of
temperature decrease with height
Good and
Bad Spray
Scenarios
Likely an inversion: It’s a
sunny summer day, the temperature got into the mid
to high 20s. The forecast
is for a sunny day tomorrow. The sky is going to be
clear tonight and you are
in the midst of a high pressure system so winds will be
very low. The likelihood of
a temperature inversion is
extremely high. Try to avoid
spraying at night during
these conditions.
Likely no inversion: It’s a
sunny summer day, but
there is a low pressure system
moving in and it’s becoming cloudy. The wind has
increased slightly and it’s
clouding over. In all likelihood there will be no temperature inversion that night.
You are probably okay to
spray at night, but keep an
eye on the winds in case they
get too strong to spray.
Likely no inversion: It’s a
cloudy day and it’s going
to be cloudy tomorrow. A
temperature inversion is
unlikely, so you are okay to
spray at night, again as long
as the wind doesn’t get too
strong. †
Angela Lovell
WE’RE IN IT
FOR LIFE.
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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.
Visit agricultureforlife.ca for more details.
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2014-05-08 2:30 PM
12
/ grainews.ca
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
Features
Crop protection
Spraying safely and efficiently at night
GPS makes it easier to spray at night. Now a new lighting
system makes it possible to see what you’re doing
By Angela Lovell
A
s farmers grow more
acres the window of
opportunity for spraying
insecticides or fungicides
can get pretty narrow, especially if
Mother Nature doesn’t co-operate
as well as she should. For more
farmers there is little option but to
push that window by spraying on
into the night sometimes, and for
certain pests night spraying can
often be the best time to achieve
effective control.
Fortunately technology such as
GPS has allowed more options for
spraying at night or during low
light conditions, but it’s still not
ideal. With farmers are unable to
see the boom, so they can’t be
sure that they are getting proper
coverage. “When we sprayed at
night we couldn’t tell if we had
a blocked nozzle, we couldn’t see
the spray pattern or check the
droplet size,” says Guy Cadrain
of Cadrain Farms near Leask,
Saskatchewan.
Nozzle Lights
Cadrain has been trying out
LED AppliMAX Spray Nozzle
Lights, a product that came to
the market a couple of years ago,
and says these lights have made
a big difference for him. “The
Spray Nozzle Lights allow us to
see our spray pattern as well as
our droplet size, so when we get
out to check our nozzles we can
make sure we are getting the
proper coverage, and the product is applied properly,” he says.
“With the lights on it doesn’t
even have to be dark, even closer
towards evening at dusk it really
helps to see the droplets.”
The AppliMAX Spray Nozzle
Lights were developed and are
marketed by ATI Agritonics Inc.
of Saskatoon. They feature high
intensity, down-facing LED lights
that allow the spray operator
to see the spray pattern clearly
from the cab, even during day-
time conditions when it’s cloudy
or approaching dusk. The lights
have a strobe light feature that
freezes the pattern of the spray
so the operator can easily check
droplet size and see if any nozzles
are not functioning.
The lights fit most types of
sprayers. Cost depends on the
number of nozzles on the boom
but is, on average, around $2,000
to install, a cost that can easily be repaid by ensuring correct
coverage, says Robert Letkeman,
Director of Sales for ATI Agritronics.
“All a farmer needs to do is catch
one sprayer nozzle that’s not performing properly and he’s got that
investment back,” he says.
Cadrain Farms consists of
around 20,000 acres of canola,
wheat, oats, peas and lentils and
there is a lot of spraying required.
Cadrain says the Spray Nozzle
Lights have given him a lot more
flexibility and peace of mind. “It
seems we are spraying later and
later and our window of opportunity seems to be narrowing all
the time. The lights give us the
opportunity to spray more hours
and we ended up getting a lot of
cutworms this year as well, which
have to be sprayed later in the
day, so this allows us to be able to
do that,” he says. “It also gives me
the comfort of knowing that the
spray operators I have out there
» CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11
A guide to
temperature inversions
Detecting
a temperature inversion
Temperature inversions do not
occur every night. There are some
nights when conditions are perfectly conducive to night spraying. The challenge for farmers
is to know when a temperature
inversion is actually happening.
The traditional way of detecting a temperature inversion has
been to try and produce smoke
by lighting a fire or using a smoke
generator to see what the smoke
does. If the smoke just gently rises
or rises to a certain level and then
moves horizontally, that typically indicates an inversion. If the
smoke dissipates, moves erratically
in the atmosphere, moves up and
down or moves downwind, that
indicates that there is sufficient
turbulence in the atmosphere to
prevent an inversion.
Fog can be another good indicator. If fog is present and vertical layers of fog are hanging in
the air or concentrating in low
lying areas, that’s likely indicative of a temperature inversion.
Another way to detect whether a
temperature inversion is present is
to measure the temperature at two
different heights. Generally, if the
air temperature is warmer higher
up an inversion is probably happening. If the air is cooler higher
up, if all other factors such as wind
speed and direction are favourable,
it’s probably okay to spray. This
can be a tricky indicator to use,
says Wolf, because the temperature
differences between the different
heights can be very small.
“Farmers need to be able to make
an informed decision and to do
that they need to know what happens during a temperature inversion,” says Wolf. “We need to
provide good information so that
people can make the right decision
because it is possible to spray safely
at night but it’s been a confusing
issue. When farmers can understand the atmospheric conditions
that are occurring in their fields
they can make the right decision
about night spraying.” †
Angela Lovell is a freelance writer, editor
and communications specialist living and
working in Manitoba. Find her online at
www.angelalovell.ca.
WELCOME TO
NEW
OPPORTUNITY,
FLEXIBILITY,
PROFITABILITY.
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
grainews.ca /
13
Features
photo: ati agtronics inc.
Top: The Spray Nozzle Lights can make a big difference at night, allowing farmers to see the spray pattern and
the droplet size. Right: LED AppliMAX Spray Nozzle Lights have been on the market for a couple of years.
are getting proper efficacy out of
the products they are using.”
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Other solutions
Being able to see isn’t the only
challenge with night spraying.
Conditions aren’t always conducive or safe to spray. There is
still a lot of confusion over night
spraying, says Tom Wolf, an independent spray application consultant with Applications Specialists
in Saskatoon. “The main concern
with night spraying is temperature
inversions which typically occur
only at night,” he says. “It’s never a
good idea to spray during a temperature inversion because it can cause
crop or environmental damage.”
The challenge for modern spray
application is to cover more acres
in less time, says Wolf, especially
during wet years when opportunities to get out on the field
may be limited. “Farmers need to
spray fungicides on most of their
crops and opening new opportunities for spraying is going to be
an essential part of meeting the
challenge,” he says. “We need to
provide good information so that
people can make the right decisions because you can spray safely
at night under certain conditions.
The other side of it is looking
also at other ways of increasing
productivity like perhaps going to
a wider boom or faster fill times.
If operators can become more
efficient in how they make their
spray applications they may be
able to reduce the need to spray
at night.” †
Angela Lovell is a freelance writer, editor
and communications specialist living and
working in Manitoba. Find her online at
www.angelalovell.ca.
By Dan Piraro
Bizarro
Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”)
or an affiliated company of Dow.
0814-38747-01r GN
® TM
14
/ grainews.ca
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
Features
Soil nutrition
Floating your fall fertilizer
With new fertilizer products on the market and new machinery available,
fall-applied fertilizer could be your solution for the too-busy spring season
By Danell van Staveren
A
t first glance the Case
4530 is a strange looking contraption. It
seems to be an awkward
combination of a sprayer and
a tractor. As it turns out, the
“floater,” as it’s commonly called,
is anything but awkward. Rather,
its 70-foot boom and latest and
greatest GPS make it well suited
for the job it was designed to do
— surface apply, or “float” granular fertilizer and chemical.
Dean Schenk, agronomist
with Precision Ag Services in
southeast Saskatchewan, has
conducted extensive testing to
ensure that surface fall applied
fertilizer ends up in the soil
ready to grow a crop. “With the
trials and tests we have done we
are confident that it works,” said
Schenk, “and it can be suitably
applied to any crop.”
Urease inhibitors
Advancements in product technology, specifically urease inhibitors, are a big reason fall application of fertilizer is viable.
Urease enzymes help break
down urea and change it to
ammonia. Through the process of hydrolysis a hydrogen
ion in consumed — increasing
the pH of the soil around the
photos: danell van staveren
New fertilizer technology has made fall surface application a more feasible prospect.
urea. Nitrogen in the soil moves
towards ammonia at high pH
levels, and putting shallow banded or surface applied urea at risk
of loss through volatization.
If volitization occurs, 30 to 50
per cent of the nitrogen could be
lost as ammonia escapes through
the porous layer of topsoil. There
are two solutions to preventing or
at least lowering volitization. One
is to place the urea two inches
deep in the soil. The other solu-
tion is to surface apply nitrogen
with a urease inhibitor.
Urease inhibitors slow the rate
of hydrolysis, preventing the pH
spike that increases volitization.
When a urease inhibitor is used,
nitrogen losses can be minimized
to 10 per cent. Delaying hydrolysis also provides time for moisture to move the urea down into
the soil, which will guard against
the movement of ammonia into
the atmosphere.
Working together
es
around power lin
“New advancements in products stop the gassing off of
nitrogen, and give about 30
days protection, helping us
have a more efficient product,”
says Schenk, “Urease inhibitors are an insurance policy on
the fertilizer investment. When
we factor in the amount we
could potentially lose with the
untreated urea (50 per cent) as
compared to the inhibitor treated urea (10 per cent) the cost
of treating it becomes minimal
compared to the cost of not
treating it.”
Along with advanced urease
inhibitors, there are other, more
practical, reasons to apply fertilizer in the fall. Fertilizer prices
are generally cheaper in the fall
than in the spring. Schenk says
the company floating the fertilizer will have more time to do
the job in the fall than in the
spring during the rush of seeding. Product can be applied late
into the fall, even with up to four
inches of snow.
“It pencils out well to guys
with the per acre fee. The prices
in fall are better, and they are
storing fertilizer in the ground
rather than needing bin space
for it,” says Schenk, “It made life
easier for the farmer, but created
another busy season for us. But
what we get done in the fall we
don’t have to do in the spring.”
Fall application frees up time
and man-power in the spring.
When nitrogen and sulphur are
applied in the fall, only phosphate
and potash need be applied in the
spring, which means hauling less
product to the field and less stop
time for filling during seeding.
“Guys can cover more acres in
the spring with less fills,” says
Schenk. “Spring seeding works
well when nitrogen and sulphur
are eliminated in the fall.”
The downsides to fall applying fertilizer are few says Schenk.
There is the chance that urea will
be lost. In the event of spring
flooding, the product could
become mobile and be washed
away. Some of the acres that are
accessible in the fall may be too
wet to seed in the spring, causing
product to be lost.
Schenk sums fall application up
like this: “Fall-applied fertilizer
opens up a lot of opportunities on
fertility to do a better job of soil
fertility. It is also very economical
when all the numbers are worked
out — wages, time, fertilizer.”
In the fall of 2013 Dean Schenk
and Precision Ag Services floated
roughly 15,000 acres. In the fall
of 2014, they want to exceed
that number. Like any tractor
or sprayer working in the field,
they hope to make their strange
looking contraption a common
sight. †
Danell van Staveren farms and writes near
Griffin, Sask.
Today’s farm equipment is bigger than ever. That can
mean big problems when working around power lines.
Plan ahead. Call us at 1-855-277-1670, and we’ll
work together to move your equipment safely.
The Case 4530 is commonly called a “floater.” It has a 70-foot boom for
surface application of granular fertilizer and chemical.
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
grainews.ca /
15
Features
SOIL MANAGEMENT
Fertilizing winter wheat
With new polymer-coated nitrogen products on the market, winter wheat
growers have one more option when it comes to fertilizer decisions
BY ANDREA HILDERMAN
G
etting winter wheat
seeded is a juggle
of equipment, people and inputs that
leaves little room for delays.
On top of that, fertilizer and
seed safety is top of mind for
growers, more so in winter
wheat, and for two good reasons. Getting the crop seeded
is a challenge in the fall, and
accommodating the fertilizer
needs of winter wheat requires
a lot of thought.
Should the fertilizer be
applied with the seed? Or
banded? Should the entire
amount be applied in the fall?
Or should some be applied in
the spring, timed to the winter wheat breaking dormancy
and meeting those immediate
demands of the growing plant?
Will you be able to get out
on the field in time? Will you
be able to spare the time and
equipment in the spring to
top-dress?
Applying sufficient fertilizer
with the seed in the fall comes
down to a seed safety issue.
Nitrogen levels are the biggest
concern. All three Prairie provincial governments have guidelines for safe rates of fertilizer
applied with seed (find them
on provincial websites). These
guidelines are the results of years
of research and provide rates
based on the crop, soil texture,
soil moisture, width of seed row
openers and row spacing.
By replacing some or all of the
nitrogen applied with the seed
with ESN (Environmentally
Smart Nitrogen), a polymercoated fertilizer product, farmers can put more fertilizer down
with the seed without risking
seed safety. Compared with
traditional forms of fertilizer,
ESN brings a number of benefits that should be considered
along with the price difference.
“The advantages of ESN are
numerous and stem from the
polymer coating and how it
manages the release of fertilizer in the soil,” 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 — particularly with winter wheat.”
ESN brings
a number of
advantages
WINTER WHEAT AND ESN
Winter wheat has traditionally been fertilized by first
applying a low rate of nitrogen
at seeding, then broadcasting
more in the early spring. There
were many reasons for this:
• Too much nitrogen at seed-
ing was thought to reduce winter survival.
• Too much nitrogen in the
fall could lead to losses due to
leaching or denitrification.
• There can be cost savings
from not having to broadcast
nitrogen in the spring if the
crop doesn’t survive the winter.
Applying ESN as all or part
of the nitrogen requirement
for winter wheat in the fall
accomplishes a number of
things. Firstly, the full rate of
nitrogen can be applied with
less risk of losses to leaching or
denitrification. “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,”
says Dowbenko. “Only when
moisture crosses that barrier
will the urea be able to react
and release nitrogen.”
“Secondly, as the temperature in the soil drops heading into fall and winter, water
movement into and nitrogen
movement out of the gran-
ule is essentially at zero,” says
Dowbenko. “Conversely, as the
soil warms up in the spring and
the winter wheat breaks dormancy, nitrogen will become
available in the right place and
at the right time for the crop to
take the best advantage of it.”
Winter wheat is seeded into
warm soils from late August
to mid- September. “In a normal year, we would expect 30
to 40 percent of the nitrogen to become available to the
crop before freeze-up,” says
Dowbenko. “The rest will be
locked up in the granule until
spring.”
The theory is that when nitrogen is supplied at the time the
crop demands it, nitrogen use
efficiency is increased, resulting in increased yield potential. Using ESN may not be
the answer for all winter wheat
growers, but it does add another
option. †
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.
Next Season.
Ready.
A post harvest application of Roundup® brand agricultural herbicide provides unsurpassed weed control of foxtail barley,
dandelion and winter annuals. You can be confident that you will get next year’s crop off to a good start. For more details, visit
Roundup.ca
ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS. Roundup® and Roundup Transorb® are registered trademarks of Monsanto Technology LLC, Monsanto Canada, Inc. licensee. ©2014 Monsanto Canada Inc.
16
/ grainews.ca
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
Features
FARM MANAGEMENT
Don’t let your assets go up in smoke
“That will never happen to us,” we all think. Until it does. Be prepared for fire
BY MELANIE EPP
A
t 4:30 am on June 6,
2012, dairy farmer
Harry Byce woke up
very suddenly to what
he thought was the sound of rain
on his hay. It was odd that he
heard it before he smelled it, but
that’s the way the mind works
when deep asleep. Concerned
about his hay, he jumped out of
bed only to discover that his hay
was fine, but his barn was on
fire. The sound he’d heard wasn’t
rain, but heavy ash and sparks
hitting the roof of his house.
Fire may be a rare occurrence
today, but it does happen. And
it can cause significant damage. Harry and his wife, Celeste,
owners of Heatherdale Farms at
Beachburg, Ont., know this all
too well. Although, it took the fire
department less than 30 minutes
to respond to Harry’s call, by that
time they got there, the barn —
constructed of dry timbers and
filled with flammable feed — was
unsalvageable.
“The fire burned so hot that
the pipeline and the gutter chains
and the metal stalling all melted,” says Celeste. “It even burned
holes in the tower silos. The guys
worked to contain it to one building, saving a nearby hayshed.”
What caused the fired was
never determined, but investigators said it was likely a combination of the barn’s age and dated
electrical wiring. “We had redone
the electrical from the addition
from ‘78 back to the main barn,
but had not redone the wiring in
the old feed room,” says Celeste.
“The newer milk house was all
up to code, but we had not disconnected the old bare wiring in
the dry cow barn.”
CHECK THE POWER LINES
Kerry Sharpe, a grain farmer
and volunteer firefighter from the
village of Munson, Alta., says this
type of fire is common. It’s not
just old wiring in barns that farm
owners should be wary of, though,
he says, recommending regular
checks on outdoor power lines
too. As they age, he says, they can
fray or fall down, causing fire.
“Be aware of your surroundings,” he warns.
Two years ago, Sharpe took a
call from a farmer who had hit
an overhead power line with his
combine. The combine caught
fire. Although none of his crop
was lost, the farmer did lose his
combine.
Other causes of fire, says
Sharpe, include improper disposal of flammable material and
unmaintained equipment, the
first of which causes an average
of one fire per month in Munson.
In the event of fire call 911
immediately. “Don’t try to tackle the fire on your own first,”
Sharpe says. “And know what
kind of fire it is before tackling
it at all.”
Finally, he says to make sure
that you have a fire safety plan
on hand for workers and do regular fire safety checks.
Harry and Celeste offer their
own valuable advice. The fire
on their farm destroyed their
entire barn and nearly took a
nearby storage space with it.
Unfortunately, the couple hadn’t
reviewed their insurance policy
in quite some time. Following
the fire, they quickly discovered
that much of what they’d been
insuring was worth nothing,
some items weren’t insured at
all, and the income interruption insurance they had didn’t fit
their business. These were hard
lessons to learn at a time at the
time, but valuable ones to pass
on to others.
“The insurance company was
good to work with, but it took
a lot of time determining the
value of items,” says Celeste.
“We should have reviewed the
policy, dropped the items or
had different coverage, like
replacement value for three or
five years.”
Although the couple had interruption insurance, they hadn’t
properly reviewed and amended
the policy as their company grew.
As a result, they were insured for
the wrong value.
“Insurance is boring and a bit
confusing,” says Celeste, “but it
should fit your company and be
reviewed every two years.”
Harry and Celeste haven’t
just reviewed and amended
their insurance policy, though.
They’ve also implemented a
strict no smoking policy on the
farm. They’ve installed new fire
extinguishers and firebreaks
have been incorporated into the
trusses in the ceiling. In their
new barn, everything is up to
code and they conduct regular
preventative maintenance.
Don’t put off until tomorrow
tasks that could prevent a fire
today, says Celeste. “Get someone to properly disconnect the
old wires in parts of barns you
intend to redo later or don’t
intend to redo at all,” she says.
“And review your fire procedures. We were lucky the house
did not go up. We were lucky
no one was hurt. We worked
with great people to rebuild and
as a result we are now milking
again.” †
Melanie Epp is a freelance farm writer based
in Guelph, Ont.
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Fire safety
checklist
T
o minimize fire hazards, Kerry Sharpe,
farmer and volunteer firefighter at
Munson, Alberta, suggests the
following checklist:
• Implement a strict
no smoking policy
on the farm
• Check machinery regularly
• Use a laser thermometer
to check machinery
temperatures
• Remove flammable debris
from around the farm
• Store flammable items
safely and properly
• Know your surroundings
Melanie Epp
STOP
JOB DETAILS / SPECS
DOCKET #
13WEST5086
JOB NAME
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SIGNATURES
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
grainews.ca /
17
Features
DISEASE CONTROL
Detect and avoid
bacterial leaf streak
Last summer, bacterial leaf streak was found in fields in
southern Alberta. For best control, avoid infected seed
BY REBECA KUROPATWA
B
acterial leaf streak (BLS)
and black chaff occur in
cereal crops around the
world. In 2010, BLS in
wheat was declared an emerging problem in Minnesota, North
Dakota, and South Dakota. In
2013, it was found in a number of
fields in southern Alberta.
BLS can cause significant yield
loss on some cereal varieties, but, as
is the case with other disease issues,
its development is dependent on
weather conditions and susceptible
plant host presence.
The bacterium causing the disease is xanthomonas translucens.
“The disease can develop and
become severe rapidly after the
crop reaches the heading growth
stage,” said Michael Harding, crop
diversification centre research scientist with Alberta Agriculture and
Rural Development.
SYMPTOMS AND SPREAD
BLS symptoms appear after the
crop has reached the heading
growth stage. The disease can affect
yield by reducing grain filling and
kernel numbers.
“This bacterium can cause
elongated water-soaked lesions
on leaves, which later turn light
brown,” said Harding. “As the disease progresses, lesions coalesce to
form large stripes or streaks along
leaves. The bacterium can also
infect the glumes, causing black,
longitudinal stripes or bands on
the glumes and awns.”
The glume infections are referred
to as “black chaff.”
“During periods of leaf wetness,
lesions and plant tissues surrounding them feel slimy to the touch,”
said Harding. “When plant tissues are dry and humidity is low,
the same leaves will have a shiny
appearance.
“Leaves look as if they were
glazed or frosted with a thin sugary
glazing. In this case, however, the
glazing consists of millions of dry
bacterial cells awaiting transport to
another leaf or plant.”
Bacteria are transferred from one
leaf to another during periods of
leaf wetness.
Wind provides leaf movement,
allowing for the localized spread
of bacteria from plant to plant. “As
the pathogen is spread through
contact with diseased plants, fields
may have initial hot spots or patterns of diseased plants running
parallel with wind direction,” said
Harding.
The bacteria can be spread by
plant-visiting insects, and the bacteria can survive in soil organic
matter for an undetermined period
of time and on or within the seed.
Bacterial diseases, like BLS or
black chaff are often seed borne.
“Using certified, disease-free seed is
an important prevention practice,
as is using spring wheat varieties
with bacterial stripe resistance,”
said Harding.
“Bactericidal seed treatment can
also add an extra level of prevention of seed borne outbreaks, but
seed treatment of infected seed
won’t prevent disease outbreaks, so
it can’t replace the use of diseasefree seed.”
Although there are a number of
compounds registered in Canada
for the control or suppression of
bacterial diseases, Harding is not
aware of anything registered for
use on cereal crops to control BLS
or black chaff.
YIELD LOSS
Black chaff and BLS rarely cause
serious yield losses. However, in
extreme cases, losses of up to 40 per
cent have been reported in the U.S.
BLS and black chaff are rarely
seen at economic levels in
Western Canada, yet, on occasion, there have been existing
PHOTO: MICHAEL HARDING
Harding says, “This bacterium can cause elongated water-soaked lesions
on leaves, which later turn light brown.”
conditions that have led to an
outbreak or epidemic.
“Some seed borne inoculum
could introduce the disease to a
field,” said Harding. “Then, conditions of high humidity, intermittent rains, and/overhead irrigation
can compound the problem, leading to moderate or severe disease
pressure.”
In 2013, there was higher than
usual levels of BLS and black
chaff in Alberta. “There were a
handful of fields with measurable yield loss, but there will be a
large amount of harvested grain
infested with the bacterium,”
said Harding. †
Rebeca Kuropatwa is a professional writer in
Winnipeg, Man.
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MANAGEMENT
If BLS is detected, no fungicide
application can control it. “As
fungicides are highly targeted to
disrupt fungal metabolism and respiration, they will rarely affect bacterial metabolism and/respiration,”
explained Harding.
Farming Forward.
hylandseeds.com
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18
/ grainews.ca
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
Features
Farm management
Switching to biomass energy
offers on-farm heating opportunities
When the prices are right, on-farm bio-heating systems can lower farm heating bills and keep energy dollars in the community
By Angela Lovell
W
hether on-farm
bio-heating systems are economically feasible
depends on the value and supply
of farm-grown feedstocks, such as
straw or grain.
“The challenge is natural gas
prices have been too low in the
last five years,” says Raymond
Dueck, owner of Triple Green
Energy, a manufacturer of biomass energy systems in St.
Adolphe, Manitoba. “Natural gas
prices are $6-per-million BTU and
straw at $20 a bale works out to
about $2.50-per-million BTU. As
natural gas prices go up then it
will become even more appealing
to be burning straw.”
That said, if a farmer can sell
bales at $30 a bale, he may be
more willing to harvest and sell it
for extra revenue than go to the
work of producing energy from
it. “They can still save 50 per
cent of their cost but the off-set
is that a natural gas burner is rela-
tively inexpensive and it’s very
trouble-free once you install it,”
says Dueck. “When you’ve got a
mechanical system where you’re
shredding and feeding bales, it’s a
little bit more work.”
The Triple Green Energy biomass combustion systems are
automated to reduce the amount
of work needed. “Bale shredders,
depending on the size of the magazine, can hold anywhere from 10
to 20 bales, so typically enough
bales to last for the better part of
a week or at least three days,” says
Dueck. “So the farmer only has
to start up his tractor every three
days or less to fill the magazine.”
T h e t e c h n o l o g y, m u c h o f
which comes from Europe, isn’t
exactly cheap, especially for larger
systems that can handle straw
as a feedstock. As a result, straw
burning bio-energy systems are
generally only used on larger
commercial farms, greenhouses
or Hutterite colonies, where the
upfront investment makes sense.
“Straw is much more difficult
to burn because straw has silica
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in it,” says Dueck. “The smallest
straw burning system we have
is a one million BTU system. It’s
five times the size of our smaller,
wood chip burners. The furnace
itself is about $50,000 but you
also need a shredder to chop the
straw, which is another $50,000
so that puts it at a $100,000 bill.
If you have a $20,000 or $30,000
annual heating bill, the system
makes sense.”
Most on-farm biomass heating
systems use wood chips, which
are still the most efficient feedstock especially for smaller systems. Dueck’s Triple Green Energy
DGE series is less expensive than a
straw burning system, starting at
around $25,000 and can heat an
area up to 20,000 square feet. “It
depends a lot on what the cost of
the wood chips are. Wood chips
right now are selling for about
$35 a ton,” says Dueck. “At $35
a ton, it’s about $2-per-million
BTU. If a farmer was burning fuel
oil at a cost of 70 cents a litre he
would be saving 90 per cent of
his fuel bill by converting to a
biomass system. If a farmer had
a $10,000 fuel bill right now, he
could be saving $9,000 a year.”
Selling to the grid
The Alberta government
allows development of bioenergy projects producing less than
five megawatts of power; any
excess can be sold back to the
grid. To create a megawatt of
electrical energy using a biomass
combustion system requires an
investment anywhere from $1
million to $2 million and produces around three megawatts of
heat. These projects need a buyer
for both the heat and electricity
generated to become, says Toso
Bozic, Agroforestry and Bioenergy
Specialist with Alberta Agriculture
and Rural Development.
Although most of the projects
that have been developed to date
are for large businesses or community facilities such as a hospital or school, Bozic says farmers
could have a unique opportunity
to become suppliers of bioenergy
feedstocks or energy providers
themselves.
“The key sustainability quesBy Dan Piraro
Bizarro
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
grainews.ca /
Features
tion for any bioenergy project
is who controls the feedstock,”
says Bozic. “Farmers often have
privately owned woodlots and
other feedstocks like straw and
if a few of them got together to
form a co-operative and invested in a biomass energy system
for which they could control
the feedstock they could have
a good opportunity to be an
energy provider for a local facility or business.”
Other Prairie utilities do not
have commitments to purchase
privately produced power back to
the grid from biomass combustion. Manitoba Hydro is evaluating the potential for utilityscale electrical generation based
on agricultural and industrial
solid biomass waste streams in
Manitoba. SaskPower is purchasing a limited amount of power
back from one biomass plant in
Prince Albert and plans to purchase power from a landfill in
Saskatoon and an animal waste
biodigester in Weyburn.
“Ontario Hydro is buying back
electricity at 13.8 cents a kilowatt if it’s biomass generated
power,” says Dueck. “At that rate
if the customer has some use
for the heat, then it’s certainly
worthwhile.”
Although farmers in Manitoba
and Saskatchewan don’t have the
same business opportunities in
terms of selling power to the grid,
many could still be missing out on
an opportunity, says Dueck. “We
have an awful lot of wood that
gets dumped in municipal landfills,” says Dueck. “It just needs to
be processed. You could have the
local people dump all their wood
at your place and then once a year
you bring in a wood chipper and
he chips all the wood for you and
you’ve got fuel for the winter.”
Dueck made a deal with the
local garbage hauler to provide
wood for his own biomass energy
system, which heats his business.
“I asked him what it cost him for
municipal dumping and it was
costing him $20,000 a month
just to dump wood,” says Dueck.
“So I told him I will charge you
$10,000 a month and you can
dump all your wood at my place.
All of a sudden I had fuel for my
furnace.”
Although it’s primarily economics that will decide whether a
biomass energy system is feasible
on the farm or elsewhere, the
system also has environmental
benefits, such as being a localized
energy source that is carbon neutral. “Carbon neutral essentially
means that what you’re burning
today is the sun’s energy from
the last year,” says Dueck. “The
carbon was taken out of the air
when the plants grew last year
and now you’re burning them.
So it’s carbon neutral within the
cycle of one year. If you’re taking
carbon out of the ground that’s
been there for millions of years,
and adding it to the atmosphere
that’s not carbon neutral.”
A pilot project at Netley
Marsh in conjunction with
the International Institute for
Sustainable Development (IISD)
based in Winnipeg harvested cattails to use in a biomass burner
and received $25 a ton carbon
credit for the cattails. “The concept is that if you don’t harvest
the cattails, they will rot in the
swamps and if you harvest them,
you’re reducing the methane
gases that the swamp emits,” says
Dueck. “When you then burn
them in a biomass system, there
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
is no methane gas production and electricity on the farm or business, says Dueck.
so there’s a carbon credit.”
“Theoretically if you bought a
IISD is a non-profit organisation
that was able to claim carbon off- system from us and you had let’s
sets and sell them to some agen- say a natural gas heating bill of
cies that purchase carbon offsets, $50,000 and you had an electrical
but there is currently no standard bill of $50,000 and you put our
process in Canada for the trading system in then Manitoba Hydro
of carbon credits. But in theory would give you a grant of three
anyone who is burning coal or fos- times your annual bill for electricsil fuels, and switches to biomass, ity plus one times your annual
is producing carbon offsets and bill for heat or gas,” says Dueck.
if a formal market was developed “In other words, you would get a
carbon credits farmers would be $200,000 grant to put our system
in a good position to benefit, says in, but that’s a one-time thing. The
Dueck. “If you were given $25 a actual cost savings from our system
ton in carbon credits for every would go on and on. With the
bale you burned in our system, grant, I would say that it’s viable.”
The beauty of biomass systems,
there would be a huge incentive,”
says Dueck, is that biomass is evehe says.
Manitoba Hydro does have a rywhere. “It doesn’t matter where
Bioenergy Optimization Program you go there’s biomass available
that offers financial incentives for and by utilizing it those energy
both a feasibility study for a bio- dollars stay in the community,”
mass to energy combustion sys- he says. †
tem and implementation incen- Angela Lovell is a freelance writer, editor
tives, but it’s difficult for farmers and communications specialist living and
to participate
as it’s based on the working in Manitoba. Find her online at www.
ABIC2014_Grainews-Junior.pdf 1 25/02/2014 4:04:55 PM
ability to displace natural gas or angelalovell.ca.
If you have a $20,000
or $30,000 annual heating bill,
the system makes sense.
— Raymond Dueck
19
20
/ grainews.ca
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
Columns
UNDERSTANDING MARKET BULLS AND BEARS
A view from the cheap seats
Brian Wittal is watching local basis and relating it back to world events
BRIAN
WITTAL
T
his time of the year
brings the most tension
and stress of the entire
farming year. You are
heavily invested in the crop with
no guarantee of a return You
have crop insurance in place, and
you may have done some prepricing, but this could bite you
if something were to happen to
impact your production, making
you unable to deliver.
You face too many unknowns
and risks for the rewards and
returns you are hoping to get!
Makes you a little nervous to say
the least. This must be what it
feels like to be a high roller in
a million dollar Texas hold ‘em
game. If it is, then let me tell
you I am quite happy to sit on
the sidelines in the cheap seats
and offer my advice .
Tensions in the Ukraine region
have not improved and further
political sanctions have been
enacted against the Russians
by numerous foreign governments. Grain shipments out of
this region are behind normal,
meaning they are sitting on
more grain than usual for this
time of year. This is not good for
North America from a competitive perspective as we enter into
our harvest period.
U.S. crops are reported to
be record crops by the most
recent surveys and numbers
that are being put out by the
USDA. Growing conditions have
improved greatly the past six
weeks, which has driven yield
estimates higher.
Logistics issues continue across
the prairies and the northern
tier U.S. states with many backlogged orders still waiting to be
cleaned up. Some smaller U.S.
transfer facilities are still waiting on March orders to be filled.
The worst I have heard of on the
Prairies is two-month old orders
still waiting to be shipped.
It looks like we could he headed down the same road we went
down last fall.
Old crop world stocks are ample.
The world’s new crop is looking good as well.
World buyers are not very eager
to engage in the activity of buying right now; they believe prices
should come down more as the
new crop comes to harvest.
If we do not make early sales
to our buyers we will be forced
to sit on the grain into the
winter months basically wasting prime shipping opportunities (September to November),
which we cannot get back later
in the year. If weather becomes
an issue we could be faced with
a repeat of last year: Minimal
delivery opportunities as rail
service is disrupted and historically wide basis levels as grain
companies try to control the
flow of grains.
Are you positioned to survive
another repeat of last fall and
winter’s grain movement problems? Have you planned for
some early harvest deliveries
for cash flow to help get you
through if this should happen
again?
Let’s hope the weather is milder with few or no disruptions to
rail traffic this winter. That certainly would be an easier solution for everyone involved!
Basis levels
Over the past six weeks we
have seen a dramatic change to
basis levels that the grain com-
panies have been offering for
both old and new crop grains.
We have returned back to what I
would call normal to aggressive
basis levels, finally.
Canola basis levels for old
crop have been in the positive
territory in a few locations and
there have been some limited
new crop basis offerings that
have also been in the positive
values the past few weeks.
Spring wheat basis levels have
dropped from -$2 per bushel
down to the -$1 per bushel
range with a couple of companies offering values below -$1
per bushel
These basis offerings are there
to help the companies buy
grain from you to cover sales
they have on the books now. If
sales should slow down or stop
because buyers decide to back
BayerCropScience.ca/InVigor or 1 888-283-6847 or contact your Bayer CropScience representative.
Always read and follow label directions. InVigor® is a registered trademark of the Bayer Group.
Bayer CropScience is a member of CropLife Canada.
FS:8.35”
F:8.7”
away from the markets, these
basis levels will no doubt widen
back out.
What I am trying to do is
give you a quick view of the
world grain picture to get a better understanding of the local
picture and what it may mean
for you. If the risk is likely greater that prices are going to fall
» CONTINUED ON PAGE 21
T:17.4”
T:17.4”
Columns
KELLY’S AGEXPERT TIPS AND HINTS
AgExpert Analyst’s cost of production
Setup and use the cost of production tool to determine your break-even point
KELLY
AIREY
D
etermining cost of
production is a valuable management tool
for every producer.
Compare your costs for the year
to the value of the commodities
you’ve produced to determine
your break-even point. This
will help you make important
decisions such as determining
appropriate selling prices for
grain or cattle.
A cattle producer, for example,
will want to calculate all the expenses that went into raising their calves
for the year, such as feed, veterinarian and labour, in order to deter-
mine how much the calves need to
be sold for to cover costs.
If you assign the expenses
you’ve recorded in AgExpert to
the commodities you produce, Ag
Expert’s cost of production tool
will give you a report that breaks
down your cost per head or cost
per bushel or tonne.
To get setup and using the tool
complete the following steps:
• Click on the “Management
Menu” > “Operational Benchmarking” > “Cost of Production.”
• Customize your reporting
options in the cost of production window.
• Under “Commodity”:
– Select “Edit List.” Add the
commodities you produce. Add
specific commodities such as
wheat or barley, or a group such
as grains. Type in appropriate
unit labels (such as tonnes).
– Select “Allocate Commodities.” Under the “Expenses”
tab you will see a list of expenses
that you’ve entered into AgExpert
through your day-to-day transactions. Allocate these expenses to
the commodities you produce.
Click on each expense line (or
multiple lines by clicking and
holding the “Shift” key) and allocate your expenses by percent
or amount to the appropriate
commodities. For example, a vet
expense may be allocated to cattle; a grain cleaning expense may
be allocated to wheat.
• Hints & Tips:
– You will see the list of expenses highlighted in red, white or
blue. Red transactions haven’t
been allocated to a commodity.
White transactions have been
fully allocated. Blue transactions
have been partially allocated.
– Expenses can be assigned to
future or past crop years under
the “Production Period.” For
example, canola seed purchased
in the fall can be allocated to
next year’s crop.
– Under the “Production”
tab you can allocate the inventory adjustment transactions to
determine how much was produced. For example, an inventory adjustment for the production of wheat should be allocated to the “Wheat” commodity.
• Under “Assign Expense,”
select “Assign Expense Accounts”
and assign your AgExpert accounts
to an expense category that will be
displayed on your report.
• Select the “production period” for your report.
• Click “generate” to view the
report.
Next Month: bank reconciliations. †
T:11.428”
Kelly Airey is a producer 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.
» CONTINUED FROM PAGE 20
A VIEW FROM
THE CHEAP SEATS
further, maybe you need to
review your marketing plan and
decide what is going to be the
best strategy to protect your
farm and your profits.
Are you priced appropriately
with the right type of contracts
(cash, deferred, futures, options) to
avoid a cash crunch if we end up
with logistics issues this winter?
What’s your Plan B? Cash
advance, extend your operating
line of credit, sell livestock, work
off farm?
Plan B’s are not something you
want to do but rather something
you have to do to survive because
of a change of circumstances that
have altered the normal.
Not wanting to do it is one
thing. Not being prepared to do
it, if or when it should happen is
not a situation you want to find
yourself in.
Plan and be prepared. †
O-66-08/14-10238268-E
F:8.7”
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).
22
/ grainews.ca
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
Columns
Farm financial planner
Slash the tax bill
Resigned to quit, a farming couple makes a plan
to slash taxes and hand the operation to their children
By Andrew Allentuck
I
n south central Manitoba, a
couple we’ll call Harry and
Marge, 81 and 73, are tackling the problem of transferring their 1,760 acre farm, mostly
pasture, and their 120 cattle, to
their children who we’ll call Bob,
46, and Cathy, 42.
Harry and Marge know they
have to give up control sooner or
later, given Harry’s age. Their children have been farm employees
for three decades and know the
business well, but there is a feeling
in the reclassification
family that they are– not
Variety
[6”]
ready to manage.
“The challenge for the par2014 especially for Harry as
ents, the chief decision maker and
sole shareholder of the company, is to transfer the corporation to the children without
compromising the viability of
the business,” says Don Forbes,
head of Don Forbes Associates
Inc./ Armstrong & Quaile Inc.
in Carberry, Man. Harry and
Marge, for whom he is an advisor, have to transfer ownership
and control, he says. The necessity is undeniable. But how to do
it is the problem.
Don and his son, Erik Forbes,
point out that the retained earnings in the farming corporation
are taxable when the corporation
is sold or wound up. If the farm
land itself is sold, gains in value
will also be taxable. The goal is to
transfer the farm and its land to
the two children in equal shares
while minimizing potential capital
gains taxes, Don notes.
The Canada Revenue Agency
allows situations for businessbased capital gains to be exempt
from capital gains tax. Shares of
a small incorporated business can
be sold to a qualified buyer. The
price difference between the book
value of the shares and their fair
market value can be exempted
from capital gains tax up to a
value of $800,000 per shareholder
in the sale. The rule also applies
to the sale of personally owned
farm land. Each piece of farm
land being sold must be personally
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Grain producers
A reminder from the Canadian Grain Commission
DO YOU GROW THESE VARIETIES OF AMBER DURUM AND
FLAXSEED?
The variety registration for the following Canada Western Amber
Durum wheat varieties will be cancelled by the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency as follows:
 Sceptre on October 24, 2014
 Plenty on August 1, 2015
Both Plenty and Sceptre will be eligible for all grades of amber
durum wheat until August 1, 2015.
The variety registration for the following Canada Western
flaxseed varieties will be cancelled by the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency as follows:
 CDC Valour on August 1, 2015
 CDC Arras on August 1, 2017
 Flanders on August 1, 2017
 Somme on August 1, 2017
As of these dates the flaxseed varieties listed above will be
removed from the Canadian Grain Commission’s variety
designation list.
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owned, with each owner claiming
farm income on his or her income
tax return.
Bob has $800,000 of capital
gains exemption available which
he can split between the farm land
and farming corporation shares, as
both are in his name. Cathy can
be made eligible for an additional
$800,000 of capital gains exemption if the farm business is restructured, Don Forbes says.
All of the gain in the farm land
and a portion of the value of the
corporation could be sheltered.
But this depends on how the business is valued. If the corporation
has a value over $670,000, Cathy
could be made eligible to use her
$800,000 capital gains exemption. That would create a $1.6
million combined capital gains
exemption. If the land is transferred to the children to create
a $430,000 capital gain and the
$800,000 exemption is applied,
then a $370,000 residue of exemption would be left to claim, Erik
Forbes explains.
There is no doubt that Harry
is qualified to use the Farm
Land Capital Gains exemption,
though Cathy’s eligibility for
it could be challenged by tax
authorities. Though the land is
held jointly, the Canada Revenue
Agency prefers to see a joint
farming profit and loss statement
on annual personal tax returns
for the spouse to qualify for the
credit, Don Forbes notes.
“To make the exemption
strategy work, Harry and Marge
will have to work with their
accountant to structure farming profit and loss statements
and tax returns for the next two
years to include Cathy’s name,”
Mr. Forbes says. “That should
help her qualify for the farm
land capital gains tax exemption when the transfer takes
place. Then in 2016, when two
years of farming profit and loss
statements have been filed with
Cathy’s name included, the children can purchase the farm and
its land.”
Harry should sell his shares
to Bob and Cathy as an even
split of value. If the fair market value is $500,000 with a
book value of $300,000, there
will be $200,000 of recaptured
depreciation. That is classified
as taxable income. If company
shares are sold to a qualified
small business owner, then the
capital gains exemption for corporate shares will be triggered,
saving about $100,000 in tax.
“The couple will have to work
closely with their accountant to
ensure that they comply with
the rules,” Don Forbes says.
To make the recommended
transfer work and comply with
By Dan Piraro
Bizarro
CRA rules, the purchase agreement for the sale of shares could
be a demand note with a take back
feature. Thus if one of the children
gets divorced, the transfer value,
if embedded in a mortgage or
other debt instrument, would be
protected. They also need a shareholder agreement with all shareholders. This agreement should
describe buyout terms, management control, and the demand
note take back.
The parents should update
their wills to reflect the shareholder agreement. And there has
to be management contract with
the children, which describes
their jobs, level of responsibility, wages and benefits including
sick and holiday time and any
bonus arrangements. Finally, the
purchase agreement should have
a plan for skills transition training, especially management and
book keeping duties. If the home
farm is left to the children in
acreage of unequal value, then
there could be a gift plan to
equalize the dollar value of the
farm transfer.
There is also a matter of offfarm investments. Harry and
Marge have $660,000 of non-RRSP
money in a major online brokerage account and RRSPs of financial services and energy stocks
that produce $20,000 a year in
Canadian-source dividends. They
should consolidate all their nonRRSP investment accounts into a
joint account with right of survivorship so that, upon the death
of one spouse, there would be no
deemed disposition in the transfer to the surviving partner. That
would avoid capital gains tax, Erik
Forbes adds.
There is clearly a lot of accounting and investing work to do. Harry
and Marge could hire an investment manager to handle their offfarm portfolio. They should check
on fees, which are usually based
on assets under management. For
portfolio of their size, they might
pay one to 1.5 per cent of assets
under management. Fees paid for
management of assets other than
those exempt from current tax,
such as RRSPs, would be deductible from taxable income, Don
Forbes adds.
F i n a l l y, H a r r y a n d M a r g e
should ensure that their Tax-Free
Savings Accounts are maximized
each year to shelter as much
investment growth. The present
contribution limit is $31,000
and it will grow by $5,500 each
time January 1 comes around,
Erik Forbes says. In the decade following the asset transfers,
Harry and Marge will have rising
incomes based largely on offfarm investments and post-tax
incomes rising from $75,000 in
2014 to $100,000 when Harry is
87 and Marge is 79 to $106,000
when he is 90 and Marge is
82. “It’s win-win for everybody,”
Don Forbes says.
With planning focused on the
farm transfer and tax minimization, the legacy that Harry and
marge have built will be protected. “These plans, as I have
outlined them, will protect what
the children get as they assume
management and ownership of
the farm. The plan has an equality of what each child gets, but
the children will be free to adjust
their duties and ownership after
the plan goes into effect,” Don
Forbes says. †
Andrew Allentuck’s latest book, “When Can I
Retire? Planning Your Financial Life After Work,”
was published in 2011 by Penguin Canada.
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
grainews.ca /
23
Columns
CAN’T TAKE THE FARM FROM THE BOY
The mysterious power
of debt and difference
It’s sometimes necessary but not always easy to talk about debt,
or to realize that not all farmers are the same
TOBAN
DYCK
I
f my glasses look smart, then go
ahead and assume I am, too. I won’t
mind. And I won’t open my mouth.
Transparency. It’s not fun. I prefer to
keep the unseen parts of my life mysterious to most. It’s an edge, albeit a fake one.
And I’m guessing it rarely fools the people
I want it to.
But I wouldn’t give my farm to someone shrouded in mystery, no matter how
smart his or her glasses look. I’m assuming others feel the same way. So, transparency is important. My tell-all moment
resulted in a few takeaways: debt is good
to talk about, and we’re all different.
DEBT
Among those things I keep mysterious,
and ranking quite high, is money, a topic I
keep 10 paces from, generally. I have debt,
some new; some old. Some high interest;
some low. Money is often a sensitive topic.
I don’t like it. But the family farm shouldn’t
inherit this mystery. I wouldn’t place my
retirement in the hands of a stranger with
smart-looking glasses, so when I moved
back to the farm I bared it all in what must
have sounded like a decade and a half of
fiscal follies, blunders, and stupid mistakes.
It wasn’t. It’s not that bad. But I listed my
decisions with such a deprecating tone.
It felt strange to do this. I had wittingly
rendered most of the financial decisions
made between leaving the farm and coming back as irresponsible. But I wouldn’t
trade them for the world.
You try. List all the poor decisions you’ve
ever made, and share them. As an adult
well into the grit of adulthood, the outcome will make you feel young in all the
ways you were happy to leave behind. I
have a beard. This was what distinguished
me from a 15-year-old at that moment.
This was a milestone for the farm’s transition plan. Confessing my full financial
details took me down a few notches, but
it’s an honest foundation from which a
solid plan can be built. Debt is not specific
to me. Many farmers have it. And many
keep it secret. Talk about it. Get it out in
the open. It’ll do wonders.
DIFFERENCE
Wading through your muck will result
in things, decisions, etc., that will reveal
differences between you and the farmer
across the road. This should be a realization more significant than John Deer vs.
Case IH.
“What kind of haircut
would you like?”
“I don’t know (I never do). Short, I
guess.”
After she washed my hair:
“So, what do you do?”
“I’m a writer and I farm.”
“Whoah! You farm?!
That’s amazing.”
Some call it engagement. Others call it
a need for recognition. Don’t ask me what
I call it. But writers, especially journalists,
generally want to talk about what they do. I
would have put $2 on her wanting to know
more about the writing. Good thing I didn’t.
I would have lost, which I could have added
to the poor choices list. The combination
farmer/writer is unique, I thought. I trade on
this, whether it’s true or not.
She chose the familiar over the less so.
Really, she chose neither. She just cut my
hair short, and did an excellent job. I’m
using her. Writers do that sometimes.
Difference is acceptable. I too easily forget that. I may not farm like my father. I
may not farm like many around me. And
that’s okay.
I’m a new farmer, you’ll recall, having
moved to the family farm in August 2012. I
love farming, but it consumes me in different, untypical ways. I worked as the managing editor of a Toronto-based publication
before that. And at the National Post before
that. My wife and I love the lifestyle, viewing it as our own but also in relation to what
we used to have. We love our farm, the yard,
and its potential. We are different than many
our age in this community. And that’s okay.
Here’s to things that are different, ideas
that are new, and that reclusive farmer
people call eccentric. †
Toban Dyck is a freelance writer and a new farmer on
an old farm. Follow him on Twitter @tobandyck or email
[email protected].
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The application deadline
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24
/ grainews.ca
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
Columns
Farm Talk
Running train(s) of thought
With the latest technology, farmers have more time than ever to think about
problems like grain transportation while they put their crops in the ground
By Kim Althouse
A
s you sit in the comfort
of your tractor patiently going back and
forth, placing fertilizer
exactly 1.5 inches below and
three-quarters of an inch to the
side of the expensive seed you
have chosen in hopes of growing
the second biggest crop you ever
grew (last year will always be the
biggest), you wish you had not
installed the autosteer kit, which
now causes sheer boredom.
As you sit there you’re planning the upcoming cycle of
seed, spray, spray again, spray
some more and then harvest
and finally put down some
anhydrous. Somewhere between
the thoughts of where you want
to go on a getaway next winter
and what is the best rotation
to follow what you’re currently
seeding you think about selling
the rest of the best crop you
ever grew.
Then you remember the battle you went through to try and
sell grain into the annual “can’t
move grain from the Prairies this
winter” thing.
As you try decide which bills
have to be paid and which you
can let slide for a month you
start to wonder why. You can
decide how much fertilizer to
apply, what variety of seed to
grow and whether it’s time to
trade off the combine. But of all
of the decisions you make, you
don’t have the ability to pay the
guys that haul your production
to Vancouver or Thunder Bay
a small premium for assurance
that your grain will reach a buyer
from a country whose name you
can’t pronounce.
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SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
grainews.ca /
25
Columns
rejoiced when the federal government legislated Bill C30, the
“Fair Grain Freight for Farmers
Bill,” imposing fines for not
meeting targets set for weekly
grain movement. Then you said,
“Wait a minute, the same people
who are demanding that I pay
last year’s taxes are going to benefit to the tune of $100,000 per
day while my grain sits in its bin?
There’s something wrong with
this deal.”
Then you need to turn, and
click on the auto steer again but
your mind goes back to why you
can’t pay a little extra to get your
grain to markets. “Just an extra
marketing cost,” you reason.
Then you realize why you
can’t. The railway revenue cap.
The restrictions imposed by the
federal government in 2000 to
regulate the rail freight rates.
As it was explained at whatever
meeting you were at last winter,
the cap claws back excess revenue that the railways earn with
the exception of an inflation
factor and some capital expenditures to improve efficiencies.
You were just like all the other
guys in the room. Reduced to the
lowest common denominator.
You suffer equally for the good of
all. A government inadvertently
caused a problem 14 years after
the regulations were adopted.
Then you realize that in 2008
you paid the same rate to move
your grain even though with the
short crop there was a reduced
demand for rail service.
What if there was a mechanism
to adjust the price of rail freight
where increased demand raised
the price and lower demand lowered the price? That works everywhere else but Canadian grain
freight rates.
Then you think about all the
other players in the rail freight
market. Grain companies, producers, railroads and even business people who could accept risk
in return for financial reward.
Whoa! Gotta turn again! “Still
about the same tire slip as before”
you calculate.
“Then, what if there were spec-
ified time periods in which the
price of the rail freight was determined so that I could purchase a
guarantee of service? And what
if, when the cars didn’t get there
because it has been -30 C for two
weeks, I received a check in the
mail to compensate me?” you
think. “Maybe I could make a
payment on the tax account.”
“There must be a way to determine the price of something,
even freight rates, into the
future?”
“Futures markets, that’s it!”
You celebrate your epiphany with
a slurp of cold coffee. “There is a
supply, there is a demand, there
are sellers and there are buyers, why can’t they meet to dis-
cuss the relative values of freight
rates, or why not trade them
electronically as they do with
wheat, corn and hundreds of
other commodities?”
“That couldn’t work because
all those other commodities have
a real component, like wheat
or cotton or corn. But, what if
I can purchase a contract that
guarantees me a portion of the
freight market, and that contract
had value that I could sell to my
neighbour.” You wonder.
“Beep – Beep, plugged hose,
finally get to stretch”. Train of
thought lost. Or is it? †
Kim Althouse is a market coach with AgriTrend at Tisdale, Saskatchewan. He is also
the president of www.eGrainCanada.com.
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26
/ grainews.ca
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
Columns
OPEN FIELD
Rye, oh rye: the second part
Two new hybrid varieties, ergot research and some all-too willing volunteers
SARAH
WEIGUM
M
y last column on fall
rye yielded a surprising amount of positive feedback from
readers, so I’m plunging ahead
with Part 2. Last month I discussed
some agronomics and some niche
marketing opportunities with fall
rye. This issue I’m discussing new
research on an old crop and what
to do about those persistent rye
volunteers.
ANCIENT CROP, MODERN TECH
I first heard rye described as
“prehistoric” by Jamie Larsen, rye
breeder at Agriculture and AgriFood Lethbridge.
“Because rye is open pollinated and there hasn’t been much
breeding work on it, it really is
kind of prehistoric,” said Larsen.
“You see all kinds of wacky stuff
in it.” Unlike wheat and barley
which are self-pollinating and
have been bred for uniformity, rye
from the same seed lot will have
variation in plant height and seed
colour. Other, less visible traits,
like cold hardiness, threshability
and falling numbers can be teased
out through cross pollination
and selection within populations
developed from parental lines that
are known to have these traits.
Canadian rye varieties already
have world class cold tolerance
(no surprise, really), so Larsen’s
current research focuses on reducing straw height while improving
falling numbers (the main quality specification for milling rye).
Larsen is also addressing everyone’s main concern when it comes
to rye: ergot. Larsen and colleague
Kelly Turkington developed an
ergot nursery at AAFC Lacombe
where they put down the equivalent of 80 pounds of ergot bodies
per acre and planted several lines
of rye, with the hope of determining which varieties are more or
less susceptible to ergot.
“Ultimately you want to see
good infection, so the more you
lay down the better,” said Larsen
referring to the ergot. “If you see
very low infection it’s hard to separate good lines from bad lines. If
you get really high infections then
you get some that are one per cent
infected and some are 20 per cent.”
T h e S a s k a t c h e w a n Wi n t e r
Cereals Development Commission
provides funding for Larsen’s
research — this year he purchased
a colour sorter with some of the
funds. This machine will help him
assess the percent of ergot per rye
line. With ergot being an issue in
wheat and barley recently, Larsen
hopes that if his research on rye
provides useful results, the project
might be applied to other cereals.
Rye being on the extreme end of
ergot susceptibility makes it a good
candidate for research on ergot and
the same principle applies with
straw height and plant growth
regulator (PGR) research. Brian
Beres, research scientist, agronomy
at AAFC Lethbridge included rye
in his PGR trial this year because
he wanted to make sure he had a
crop in the trial that would have
sufficient lodging susceptibility to
demonstrate the effect of the PGR.
The trial included two different
rates and two different timing of
application. Since this is the first
year for the trial, results are still
forthcoming, but it’s certainly a
project I’m going to be following up on as lodging can be a big
headache in rye.
Probably the biggest headline
in fall rye right now, though, is
the news that two new hybrid
varieties have been registered in
Canada. Brasetto and Guttino
both come out of the German
breeding company KWS and they
PHOTO: LEEANN MINOGUE
Rye deserves its bad reputation for volunteering, sometimes three or four years after its grown. One tool to deal
with these volunteers is a good sense of humour.
are the first hybrid cereals to be
registered in Canada.
A Regina based seed company,
FP Genetics, won the rights to
distribute Brasetto in Canada and
they have several trials underway
across the Prairies, comparing
Brasetto with Hazlet, a high yielding conventional rye. According
to Ron Weik, seed portfolio manager at FP Genetics, Brasetto has
out-yielded the best open pollinated rye by about 25 per cent.
“It’s also shorter, so there isn’t
as much straw,” said Weik. Shorter
straw height also means less susceptibility to lodging. While rye
tends to be grown on less productive land, Weik said this crop
should be babied.
“Because this is a hybrid with
the promise of yield, it needs
to be grown on high productivity land. It needs to be fertilized and sprayed for disease as
you would any cereal crop,” said
Weik. Growers will pay considerably more to plant hybrid rye.
“Seed cost per acre is about
$50,” said Weik. “I’ve talked to a
number of people and thrown out
that number and they didn’t hang
up on me.” He likens the advent
of hybrid cereal production to the
initial years of hybrid canola seed.
“If there’s an econ advantage to
growing the hybrid, then people
will pay the price and if it doesn’t
bring them value, they won’t do
it.” In order to bring this profit
to growers, FP Genetics partnered
with Paterson Grain to develop an
identity preserved program. Keith
Bruch, Paterson’s vice president
of operations, sees potential for
sales into the milling and feed
market given Brasetto’s high falling numbers and high fibre content. He believes the main economic advantage growers will see
is through the yield gains, rather
than a higher price compared to
other rye varieties.
“There’s a big return on incremental yield gains,” said Bruch.
While the first cross hybrid
side exhibits heterosis, or hybrid
vigour, Weik pointed out that
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Monsanto Company is a member of Excellence Through Stewardship® (ETS). Monsanto products
are commercialized in accordance with ETS Product Launch Stewardship Guidance, and in
compliance with Monsanto’s Policy for Commercialization of Biotechnology-Derived Plant Products
in Commodity Crops. Commercialized products have been approved for import into key export
markets with functioning regulatory systems. Any crop or material produced from this product can
only be exported to, or used, processed or sold in countries where all necessary regulatory approvals
have been granted. It is a violation of national and international law to move material containing
biotech traits across boundaries into nations where import is not permitted. Growers should talk
to their grain handler or product purchaser to confirm their buying position for this product.
Excellence Through Stewardship® is a registered trademark of Excellence Through Stewardship.
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treatment technology for soybeans (fungicides only) is a combination of three separate individually
registered products, which together contain the active ingredients fluxapyroxad, pyraclostrobin
and metalaxyl. Acceleron® seed treatment technology for soybeans (fungicides and insecticide) is
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ingredients fluxapyroxad, pyraclostrobin, metalaxyl and imidacloprid. Acceleron® seed treatment
technology for corn (fungicides only) is a combination of three separate individually-registered
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Acceleron® seed treatment technology for corn (fungicides and insecticide) is a combination
of four separate individually-registered products, which together contain the active ingredients
metalaxyl, trifloxystrobin, ipconazole, and clothianidin. Acceleron® seed treatment technology
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the production from harvested
Brasetto will not make good seed.
“If you replant the seed of a hybrid
you’ll notice a big yield decrease,”
he said. While some farmers may
balk at not being able to save seed,
Weik sees this as “an opportunity
to demonstrate to people the benefits of new technology that can be
made available to cereals.”
THE GIFT THAT KEEPS
ON GIVING
While there are innumerable
wonderful things to be said about
rye, it is not without its drawbacks.
One being the fact that it volunteers so easily, sometimes for three
or four years. Often after the first
year the volunteer plants do not
vernalize so there is no seed in
the heads, but on our farm where
we’re trying to produce other certified cereal crops, a crop can fail the
inspection if there are too many
volunteers visible. Our strategy has
been to follow rye with Roundup
Ready canola and then grow a year
of commercial cereals, then maybe
back to peas. Some growers follow
rye with canola, then peas, but
because we usually grow our rye on
pea stubble it’s a bit of tight rotation to make it back to peas.
Recently I polled Twitter for suggestions on dealing with fall rye
and one grower said he allowed all
the volunteers to come up the following year, banded fertilizer on at
early tillering and harvested a 55
bushel crop! Someone on Twitter
reminded me that Clearfield
wheat is also tool in the tool box.
I’ve often thought the best solution would be to plant a cereal
crop following rye and have it cut
for silage or green feed (granted
there’s a local feed market) and
then go in with herbicide resistant
canola, giving us an extra year and
the added benefit of controlling
both rye and weeds through cultural, rather than chemical means.
Maybe the best tool for a farmer
growing rye is a good sense of
humour or a blind eye, because
invariably, a few rye plants will
escape even the best chemical and
cultural controls and you’ll have
to deal with your neighbours’
comments or your own ego. †
Sarah Weigum grows pedigreed seed and
writes at Three Hills, Alta. Follow her on
Twitter @sweigum.
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SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
Columns
OFF-FARM INVESTMENTS
Things I wish I’d known
Because it’s always cheaper to learn from other people’s mistakes,
here are six things Andy Sirski wishes he’d learned sooner
ANDY
SIRSKI
O
ver the years I’ve heard
and read many ideas
about investing. Some
have been directly
opposite to others. These are my
thoughts on six things I wish I knew
or learned sooner about investing.
1. BUY QUALITY
One of the first things an
investor should learn is to buy
quality — stocks that will still be
here and doing well in five, 10
and 15 years. One of my biggest
regrets is that I didn’t buy shares
in Disney (DIS) when it split
three-for-one years ago. After the
split, shares were $25. Now they
trade at $87 and have paid a dividend every year.
Disney has several good qualities: pricing power, it raises the
cost of its tickets by four to six per
cent every year and the crowds
keep coming. It has a cash cow
media business and makes some
slam dunk profitable movies.
Most years Disney’s earnings are
higher than the average for S&P
stocks.
2. LEARN HOW TO SELL
This is one of the more controversial things I wish I had
learned early in my investment
career. I think learning how to
sell is more of an attitude than
a skill. A lot of farmers, for
example, don’t really need to
learn how to sell crops because
they are driven by events such
as when crops are harvested,
when they need cash and so on.
Still if more Western Canadian
farmers had sold their canola at
something around $500 a tonne
when the daily price crossed
through the 10-day moving
average going down, they would
be a lot happier and have a lot
more money.
Stocks are different. Many
stocks are influenced by recurring seasonality but those ups
and downs are often offset or
neutralized in investors’ minds
by being told by the media, the
investment industry and others
that they should be in for the
long term, and not try to time
the market. Yet stocks go up and
down. For example, Bombardier
made a lot of investors a lot of
money from the 1940s to 2001 or
so. Then shares dropped through
the 10-day moving average at
around $20 and have never been
even close to that price ever since.
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Non-believers will say we can’t
time the market (which isn’t
true), but you can make up your
own mind on that. All I know is
that the price of Nortel, Enron,
Barrick Gold, Goldcorp, Disney,
Research in Motion and many
others dropped and some disappeared. Some stopped dropping
and only Disney came back up
from that short list.
3. LOOK FOR
GROWING DIVIDENDS
Over the years dividends can
make up a good chunk of total
returns from a stock. Some say
four per cent of the total, some
say eight per cent of the total
long-term return average of 11 per
cent per year. You can improve
returns by holding stocks with
a history of raising dividends by
more than the rate of inflation.
4. AVOID THE HIGH FLYERS
Every now and then the market brings to us stocks like tech
stocks during the tech boom in
the late 1990s. I didn’t know
better, so I took part in that
market. Over time I’ve learned
to invest in companies that have
proven management, make reliable products or provide excellent services and have a positive
and growing cash flow. Even if
these companies run into grief
now and then, the good ones
figure out how to solve their
problems and dig themselves
out of a hole.
Companies like Ford, Alcoa,
Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco, Manulife,
the Canadian banks and many others have been tested over time and
survived and thrived. Insurance
companies are a special group of
stocks. They are about the only
companies that get money up front
from people, set some aside for dealing with catastrophes and invest the
rest. I wish someone had explained
that to me when Manulife was
under $10 a share in 2009.
5. SELL COVERED CALLS
My bread and butter strategy
is to sell covered calls on most of
my stocks. I learned how to sell
covered calls in 2003. Selling calls
kept my account flat during the
meltdown in 2007 to 2009 while
the market dropped 59 per cent.
6. KNOW WHEN STOCKS
ARE ACCUMULATED
Stocks get accumulated at times
and sold off at times. These days
with computers we can see very
quickly on free charting services
like Stockcharts whether a stock is
being bought up or sold off.
Stocks drop for many reasons
and I find that it’s a lot safer and
more profitable to sell when I see
the stock drop and look for why it
dropped later. †
Andy Sirski is mostly retired. Besides
gardening, playing with grandchildren and
travelling a bit with his wife Andy also
manages the family’s portfolio. He publishes
an electronic newsletter called StocksTalk
where he tells what he does and why. You
can have a month free if you send and email
to [email protected].
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
grainews.ca /
29
Columns
SOILS AND CROPS
A word about micronutrients
With lower commodity prices, it’s back to “buyer beware” in the micronutrient market
LES
HENRY
D
epending on the textbook you read and the
plant you are growing
it takes from 16 to
20 chemical elements to grow a
crop. And, a nutrient required in
even the most minute quantity
can put the lid on yield just as
much as a nitrogen deficiency.
In Henry’s Handbook of Soils
and Crops I wrote, “I do not
suffer under any delusion
that we have discovered all
the micronutrient deficiencies
that exist in Western Canada.
… Micronutrient research is
expensive and often not exciting because a lot of ‘nothing’
results are obtained.”
In past Grainews articles I
have also said “If you have to
pick a lot of stones it is not
likely you will have a micronutrient deficiency.” The rationale is that soils mixed up and
deposited by glaciers will have
a little bit of everything. The
water-laid deposits separate out
various size fractions and in the
process a crucial nutrient may
be in short supply.
Pencils
have to be
sharpened again
PET MICRONUTRIENTS
Micronutrients have “pet”
soils and “pet” crops. For copper,
wheat is the pet crop and pet
soils are peat and high organic
matter sandy soils. And, for copper there is a well-established set
of soil test benchmarks based on
enough field experiments to be
useful. In Western Canada, copper is the micronutrient most
likely to be used with good economic benefit on soils that are
deficient.
Oats is the pet crop for manganese and peat soils are the
soils that may be deficient, but
documented responses are few.
In Tanzania we had a wheat
variety and volcanic ash soil
that would grow nothing without manganese fertilizer — but
that was a very special case. In
that case it was a special new
variety that exhibited the manganese problem. That variety
had done well in tests on other
soils that were not manganese
deficient.
Beans are the pet crop for
zinc, and high pH and high
lime soils are the most probable
Boron deficiencies with alfalfa on
sandy grey soils have been shown,
but they are not widespread.
Iron has been a problem with
some shrubs and fruit trees on
high pH, high lime soils, particularly very fine textured soils.
folks with a $5 “Lucky Iron Fish”
that could be put in the cooking
pot to provide iron for a family for five years. (You can read
more about this in the May 24,
2014 issue of “The Globe and
Mail”.) Seems like a very sensible solution to me.
With the high annual crop
ZINC AND IRON
yields we’ve been growing the
On a global basis, for human past many years it is reasonable
nutrition iron and zinc are the to suspect that more cases of
major problems and some coun- micronutrient deficiencies will
tries have many zinc-deficient develop. But, specialty N/P/K/S
soils. Plant breeders are working fertilizers that have a small quanon varieties that have higher tity of a micronutrient may not
levels of zinc to improve the provide any benefit and should
nutritional value in areas where be priced on a comparison of the
that nutrient is limiting.
cost of the actual macronutrients.
For iron deficiencies in Africa, If the actual cost for the microT:8.125”
a unique solution was to provide nutrient is high, there should be
Strong returns.
some reasonable expectation of
a positive return to warrant the
expense. At $8 wheat and $15
canola the extra cost may be of
no consequence but we are back
in a situation where pencils have
to be sharpened again. At the
same time we must continue to
be on the lookout for new situations where a micronutrient may
be of economic benefit.
Caveat Emptor/buyer beware. †
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 third 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,
SK, S7H 3H7.
L156H
Because you don’t have money to throw away,
invest in InVigor® Health L156H and watch it
come back to you in a big way. Exceptional yields
and a specialty canola contract premium,
InVigor Health was designed for growers
hunting for a better return on their investment.
Contact Cargill® Specialty Canola
for more information at 1 888-855-8558 or
www.cargillspecialtycanola.com
BayerCropScience.ca/InVigor or 1 888-283-6847 or contact your Bayer CropScience representative.
Always read and follow label directions. InVigor® is a registered trademark of the Bayer Group. Bayer CropScience is a member of CropLife Canada.
O-66-08/14-10249510-E
T:10”
So far I have had no one give
me any meaningful data to refute
that statement. Maybe this time
someone will. If any reader has
valid experiments over years and
locations that show that statement to be false I will be most
delighted to eat crow and learn
in the process.
soils. Very high rates of broadcast phosphorus fertilizer used
to raise soil test phosphorus can
induce a zinc deficiency. That
happened on the clay soils of
the University of Saskatchewan
Kernen farm.
CCA and P.Ag types that want
to check it out can go to: J. P.
Singh, R. E. Karamanos,and J.
W. B. Stewart. 1986. Phosphorusinduced Zinc Deficiency in Wheat
on Residual Phosphorus Plots.
Agronomy Journal: Volume 78
pages 668-675. In that study
the highest rates of phosphorus
fertilizer used were 700 pounds
acre of 0-46-0 (Triple Super
Phosphate). But, apart from
that case, documented responses to Zinc are few.
30
/ grainews.ca
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
Cattleman’s Corner
ANYONE CAN START FARMING
Don’t take water hemlock for granted
DEBBIE
CHIKOUSKY
W
ater hemlock is
popping up all
over this summer. The fact that
this weed is spreading on high
ground had us hopeful any new
growth we saw might be the
harmless cow parsnips. However,
the weed specialist confirmed
the new growth as water hemlock on all our hayfields, now
there is more than a little cause
for concern.
Control is now the focus.
During the 1940s, farmers were
told as long as the cattle didn’t
eat the root of the highly poisonous water hemlock there
wasn’t a problem. Since then it
has been proven that the toxin
is in all parts of the plant, and
grazing young plants can cause
birth defects, miscarriages, open
cows and death.
The birth defects in unborn
calves that can result from the
cow ingesting poison hemlock
may include crooked legs (crooked calf disease, arthrogryposis),
cleft palate, and kinked tails.
Arthrogryposis means the permanent fixation of a joint in a contracted position. This is a congenital disorder, not due to a nutritional issue, and is marked by
generalized stiffness of the joints,
often accompanied by muscle
and nerve degeneration, resulting
in severely impaired mobility of
the limbs. Arthrogrypotic skeletal
malformations occur in calves
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF MANITOBA AGRICULTURE, FOOD AND RURAL INITIATIVES
One of the challenges is to identify if the weed growing in your pasture or hayland is poisonous water hemlock, or harmless water parsnip. These
plates show one difference in the bracts found below the seed head. But if still in doubt, it may be wise to consult a weed or forage specialist.
when pregnant cows between 40
to 70 days of gestation ingest
water hemlock.
Considering a cow can die
from ingesting one water hemlock root, the assumption is that
it wouldn’t need to eat much to
cause these birth defects. The
plant is poisonous to all livestock and the oils from the plant
are very toxic to humans as well.
This plant needs to be handled
properly and with respect given
to its ability to harm, as we
found out last fall.
RESPECT THE WEED
My son was haying a field
where at first there were just a
few plants here and there. He
just kept getting off the tractor
and hand-roguing them. By the
end of the day he would feel
unwell but it would go away.
We have been told in the fall
the poison goes to the root and
the plants dry quickly, which is
what they appear to be doing.
The third day he found a fairly heavy infestation and started
pulling those plants. He soon
started feeling unwell again and
this time his heart developed an
irregular beat. Then he realized
what the problem was. He wasn’t
wearing gloves and he was feeling
the effects of hemlock poisoning.
Thankfully it wasn’t enough to
be deadly but it was enough to
scare us into respecting this plant.
Although hand-roguing was an
effective way of eradicating small
outbreaks, it must be done safely.
PROPER HANDLING
PRACTICES
Safe handling procedures for
water hemlock would be similar to the safety protocols for
handling other toxic substances
such as pesticides. Since we had
a scare we recommend following these step stringently. These
guidelines were provided by a
weed specialist for us to use.
1. Coveralls — preferably disposable water-repellent ones like
Tyvek so that they can just be
packed into a garbage bag and
thrown away. If using fabric coveralls, wash them separately from
other clothing. Use hot water
and detergent, repeat wash once.
Dry coveralls on a clothesline so
as not to contaminate the dryer
and allowing the sun to further
decontaminate them. Clean the
washing machine by running it
through another wash cycle with
only hot water and detergent.
2. Impervious gloves, either
neoprene or nitrile material —
long enough to cover your wrist
and extend over the sleeve of
your coveralls. Wash gloves with
hot, soapy water, or dispose of
gloves in a garbage bag once
finished handling the hemlock.
3. Rubber boots — wash down
with hot, soapy water after leaving the infestation site.
4. Protective eyewear — Safety
glasses or goggles give protection
against flying debris and help
prevent the inadvertent rubbing
» CONTINUED ON PAGE 32
THE MARKETS
Cattle markets reach record highs
JERRY
KLASSEN
MARKET
UPDATE
C
attle prices have been
the bright spot in
Western Canada over
the past few months
with both fed and feeder cattle
touching all-time record highs.
Alberta fed prices touched the
$166/cwt in early August but have
softened moving into the fall period due to softer beef consumption
and larger-than-expected beef production.
The Russian ban on all food
imports set a negative tone for
all meat products. Russia imports
very little beef but is a main home
for pork and certain poultry cuts.
Ideas that additional pork and
chicken supplies will have to be
absorbed in the domestic market
caused live cattle futures to drop
limit down two days in a row after
the announcement.
Alberta breakeven prices on fed
cattle marketings are in the $155/
cwt to $158/cwt range for the fall
and there is a nervous attitude
in the feeder complex. While the
fed market remains sharply above
these levels at the time of writing
this article, there is a fair amount
of risk in the feedlot sector with
850-pound steer purchases over
the magical $200/cwt level.
Barley and corn prices continue
to grind lower into the harvest
period, which has been supportive
for the feeder market. Most feedlots have bought feeder cattle relying on fed prices to remain at the
higher levels, but there is potential
for a softer tone in the market
through the fall period.
the border is supporting the larger
weekly slaughter pace. Alberta and
Saskatchewan feedlot inventories
continue to run eight to 10 per
cent above year-ago levels.
If we don’t see demand remain
strong from the U.S., fed cattle
prices in Alberta could come under
pressure.
PRODUCTION ESTIMATES
U.S. consumer confidence
reached the psychological level of
90.9 in July, which was the highest since October 2007. Remember
this is when the stock market
peaked prior to the recession. A
reading over 90 suggests that the
U.S. economy is firing on all cylinders. (The July 2013 reading was
only 72.3.)
The main question is whether
consumer spending will increase
and the recent optimism continue
into the third and fourth quarters
of 2014. Even if the reading does
move higher, the economic output and consumer spending does
not significantly improve because
the environment is nearing capacity. Back-to-school season usually
results in slower restaurant spending and retail beef demand also
eases. These are two factors to keep
in mind with fed cattle prices near
historical highs.
Second-quarter beef production for 2014 came in lower than
anticipated. For the week ending
Aug.10, U.S. year-to-date beef production was down 8.4 per cent in
comparison to last year. U.S. cattle
on feed for slaughter as of July
1 were down only two per cent
in comparison to July 1, 2013.
Therefore, the USDA has marginally increased third- and fourthquarter beef production estimates
from earlier in spring. U.S. beef
production is running below yearago levels, but in Canada, year-todate beef production is actually
two per cent over 2013 for the
week ending Aug. 2. In Western
Canada, beef production is up
three per cent. Fresh and chilled
cuts exported to the U.S. were up
11 per cent in comparison to 2013
so strong demand from south of
STRONG CONSUMER
CONFIDENCE
U.S. QUARTERLY BEEF PRODUCTION (MILLION POUNDS)
Quarter
2011
2012
2013
Est 2014
Est 2015
1
6,411
6,283
6,172
5,868
5,785
2
6,559
6,475
6,517
6,190
5,505
3
6,737
6,584
6,608
6,330
5,490
4
6,492
6,571
6,420
6,150
5,980
Total
26,199
25,913
25,717
24,563
22,760
Source: USDA
In mid-August, choice beef
dropped significantly as retailers prepared for softer demand
in September. The U.S. unemployment rate for July was 6.2
per cent, up from the June
number of 6.1 per cent. This
is another signal the income
levels are stagnating rather than
increasing. In a bull market,
the bull needs to be fresh news
every day and if a couple factors start to turn, the market
momentum tends to change.
The outlook for feeder cattle
is quite optimistic even if the
market softens or retraces from
current levels. Feed grain supplies will be burdensome during
the first half of the crop year,
supporting feeder cattle prices.
There is room for the fed cattle
market to deteriorate before feeding margins move into red ink
and this should keep the feeder
complex firm into September.
The U.S. cow slaughter for the
first half of 2014 was down 15
per cent compared to the same
period during 2013 and the industry is expecting significant heifer
retention this fall. Available feeder
cattle supplies will be down from
last year in both Canada and the
U.S., which is also a positive factor. This is the first time since the
early 1990s that the industry has
been financially healthy enough
to justify expansion. Lower feed
grain prices, historically high fed
cattle values and an expanding
economy all bode well for the cow
calf producer. †
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
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
grainews.ca /
31
Cattleman’s Corner
BETTER BUNKS AND PASTURES
More lameness forecast for
the rest of the pasture season
PETER
VITTI
found along the horn wall. It is
the laminar corium that produces
the horny nail of the hooves.
HOOVES GET SOFT
E
xcessively wet weather
followed by hot dry days
is the norm during this
year’s grazing season, at
least in some parts of the Prairies,
and will likely continue until
weaning time.
That means many cow herds
are often forced to stand on soggy
ground, in puddles or in mud for
days and as the ground dries out.
This leads to many cases of painful and performance-damaging
lameness. So it’s a good idea
for producers to check their cattle regularly during summer and
well into autumn to find any
lame animals and treat them
immediately.
Healthy split hooves are one of
the toughest parts of the brood
cow and her calf’s body and form
a protective barrier against invading bacteria that cause many types
of infectious lameness. They are
covered with a thick waxy hoof
wall (made of keratin — a specialized protein that gives hardness to
hooves), which sits upon the sole,
white line (a junction between
the sole and the hoof wall on the
underside of the hoof) and heel.
Inside the hoof or claw, the pedal
bone sits inside the laminar corium, a blood-enriched living tissue
Lameness starts with constant
exposure to wet pastures, which
causes hooves to eventually
become very pliable and rubbery. This makes them more
prone to overall excess wear,
bruising on the underlying sole
and direct physical injury such
as punctures, scrapes or deep
cuts to the above hoof horn. It is
these latter abrasions that opens
cattle hooves up to pathogenic
invaders that cause the majority
of lameness in pasture cattle.
Subsequent hot and dry weather
only accentuates the problem by
promoting chaffing and cracking of the tender and compromised hooves.
Unfortunately, the initial
stages of lameness are subtle
or invisible, because we cannot
see every little scrape or wound
that might compromise hoof
health. From the road we probably might not even see swollen
feet hidden by lush grass unless
we walk amongst the cows in
the herd. What we might see
is one or two of those animals
favouring its hind legs, while
another individual is limping
away in pain. Producers need
to be vigilant with their checks
of the herd for probable hoof
problems.
FOOTROT IS COMMON
Most of us blame a higher incidence of lameness of cattle upon
footrot, which seems to be a matter of universal debate. Natural
surveys, field trials and available
literature do attribute up to 75
per cent of all diagnosis are valid
footrot infections!
The chances are good that
if pasture animals suffer from
actual footrot, the space between
their claws (inter-digital space) is
red and swollen. If suspect footrot has significantly progressed,
their claws will be noticeably
separated and the skin between
the toes will be cracked and
visible tissue will be dying. The
classic smell of decaying flesh
should also be evident.
By nature, footrot often shows
up in cattle after a stretch of
rainy weather, followed by a
week or so of warm dry weather. The skin of the inter-digital
claws starts to crack, chap and
is eventually opened to infection by anaerobic (lives without oxygen) bacteria called
Fusobacterium necrophorum,
but also may include other
invaders such as strep and staph
organisms found in pasture soil
and manure.
Footrot is a contagious disease. Pus and discharge from
swollen feet will contaminate
muddy ground or water and
other cattle can become infected
within a day if they walk in the
same pasture with similar direct
physical injuries to their hooves.
Several environmental studies
have proven that footrot bacteria can live for about 10 months
in unfrozen ground or manure.
Part of the frustration of producers in controlling this common
disease is that footrot organism
seems to disappear from wet
or dry pastures for a few years
and then may come back with a
vengeance.
OTHER ABSCESSES
Similar to footrot, cows and
calves from wet lush pastures
are also susceptible to lameness
caused by toe abscesses. These
are caused by hoof sole penetration by bacteria in the toe area
under the hoof wall. A mitigating factor includes that the hoof
is soft and easily worn down to
the sensitive tissues, especially
in the outside front toe of the
claw. Producers able to restrain
cattle with toe abscesses often
trim the affected toe parts to
allow drainage and relieve the
build-up of pressure, which is
painful to the animal.
Regardless of footrot, toe
abscesses, or other infectious
foot problems, the general consensus of many cow-calf producers and large animal veterinarians is that antibiotic treatments can get cattle back “on
their feet” within a few days.
Treatment of swollen hooves is
most effective when each lame
animal is caught in early stages
of progressive hoof damage.
Rather than waiting for individual lameness to happen and
then treat each case, some beef
nutritionists suggest a cow herd
prevention plan to infectious
hoof disease by strengthening
cattle’s hooves and improving
their immunity by feeding “hoofhealth building” trace nutrients.
They suggest copper, zinc, selenium and Vitamin A should be
fed in their most bio-available
organic forms to all cattle for a
few months ahead and during
the entire pasture season.
For example, a commercial loose mineral might provide four to five grams of zinc
methionine per cow or calf
(proven effective by decades
of university research) in order
to reinforce the horn of cattle
hooves and make them more
injury resistant.
Keep in mind that this is only
one nutritional prevention plan
and the former are well-accepted
treatments that may avert a high
incidence of infectious lameness
in some cow herds forecasted
for remainder of this year’s wet
pasture season. Depending on
one’s pasture opportunity, it is
might be best to move cattle to
drier ground. †
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].
ANIMAL HEALTH
Vaccine reactions are normal — to a point
ROY
LEWIS
ANIMAL
HEALTH
N
oticeable reactions to
a vaccine injection are
becoming more common, as more vaccines
are now given subcutaneously
and especially with vaccines using
oil-based adjuvants.
The adjuvants are designed to
protect the vaccine and give a
much higher immune response,
but reactions in the form of
lumps are an expected albeit
undesirable result.
As many of the pharmaceutical
reps will tell us, at least we know
the vaccine is working.
This is true and we must keep
in mind the same reaction was
probably happening before with
the intramuscular products, it’s
just the reactions happened deep
in the muscle where it was not
visible to us. This is where lots of
the gristle (scarring in the muscle cuts of meat) would occur.
So from a beef-quality assurance
standpoint there has been a huge
improvement with almost all the
vaccines going subcutaneous.
COMMON REACTIONS
Most of the lumps regress with
time, or a small egg-sized lump
is left which is a granuloma or
basically a lump of scar tissue.
You will find more reactions with
the bacterins like blackleg and
the other killed vaccines as they
generally use the oil-based adjuvant. The modified live vaccines
generally use sterile water as the
liquid for reconstitution, so the
reaction is much milder.
More reactions can occur if the
nutritional status of the herd is
low especially in the three trace
minerals copper, zinc and selenium. If there is a high percentage of large reactions nutrition
should be checked as well as the
producer’s administration technique.
Dull, bent, dirty or burred needles increase the likelihood of
introducing infection or causing
more trauma. This needs to be
watched. Change needles when
they are damaged and at least
after every 10 or so animals. You
can feel when they are getting
dull and it is time to change. In
my opinion the steel thick-walled
needles with the cleaning wires
should be outlawed as they give
the producer the impression they
can be cleaned and reused. This
should not happen.
WHAT ABOUT TECHNIQUE?
If you see large swellings
from vaccination, which subsequently abscess, the technique
of administering the shot needs
to be looked at. I have seen some
wrecks occur when cattle are vaccinated in the rain. The moisture
seems to wash dirt into the needle hole or the process itself takes
in more dirt. Try and avoid vaccinating in inclement weather. The
infection starts after the vaccine
is absorbed so in all likelihood
there has been a response. Keep
the vaccine protected from the
elements, as frozen or overheated
vaccine will be ineffective and it
might be denatured leading to
more vaccine abscesses.
The egg-sized reactions are of
no concern to the animal but are
simply a blemish noticed more in
this country in the summer when
the hair is slicked off. Purebred
show or display animals can be
vaccinated in places like behind
the elbow so if there is a reaction
it won’t be noticed.
I have never heard of vaccine
reactions being a problem at auction sales. The argument could
be made that at least you can see
these particular stock are being
vaccinated — that to me relates
to good management.
In the winter the lumps become
like a brand and disappear under
the hair. When slaughtered these
lumps are somewhat adhered to
the hide and in almost all cases
come off with the hide not affecting the underlying meat in any
way so there are no trim losses. We
all know if they were a concern,
buyers would discount the price. I
haven’t heard of that happening.
FURTHER ADVICE
Also when vaccinating, don’t
vaccinate through manure.
If a multi-dose gun is hard to
advance you may be too shallow
and giving the vaccine intradermal (between the skin layers).
You want to definitely give the
product subcutaneously (under
the skin) and it should be very
easy to inject. Use the smallestgauge needle that still allows you
to inject it quickly (16-18 gauge).
If the lumps get large (baseball
size or larger) over time they most
likely are abscessed and may need
to be lanced and flushed.
To check technique if giving
several vaccines give them con-
cisely in the same location leaving at least 10 or so centimetres
between injection sites. Give the
shots on the opposite sides of
the neck if possible. That way if
there are lumps you can assess
which vaccine is involved and/
or who administered the vaccine.
Sometimes tweaking your technique is all that is required.
Certain genetic lines of cattle
are more reactive which is why
certain producers will have a high
incidence and other farms have
almost no reactions with the same
vaccine. Cattle do not appear to
get any more sensitive over time
to repeated vaccinations. but if
reacted once they commonly will
react again so you may see several
of these same reactions.
Accept vaccine reactions as a
normal occurrence and investigate with your veterinarian if
the incidence gets too high or if
abscesses are created. Rest assured
the vaccine is working and offering protection. The future may
see needleless vaccination or
oral or intranasal vaccines given
which will eliminate this lump
issue. †
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.
32
/ grainews.ca
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
Cattleman’s Corner
RANCHER’S DIARY
Lots of riding to check
cattle and train horses
HEATHER
SMITH
THOMAS
JULY 15
A
ndrea and I helped
Carolyn and kids bring
their cows down from
the 320 pasture a couple
weeks ago to put their new bull
with them. Dottie hasn’t had much
experience working cattle; she got
excited when the cows ran down
the hill and Nick galloped ahead
to open the gate. She tried to run
and buck and got angry when I
wouldn’t let her buck. She still has
a lot to learn before she’s ready for
young Sam to start riding her.
Granddaughter Heather has
been working with two Arabians
she’s training for a lady who
wants them broke to ride so
they’ll be saleable. Andrea rode
with her while she ponied them,
and also when she started riding them on our low range. The
black mare is flighty but the
bay gelding is very smart and
learns quickly. Andrea really likes
him; his personality reminds
her of Snickers (her old ArabThoroughbred mare) and Fozzy
(her old 7/8 Arab gelding).
Michael got home from North
Dakota last week. He and Carolyn
and kids helped the range neighbours move cows. Last Sunday
Andrea, her friend Robbie, Nick and
Em drove to the trailhead and hiked
to Running Creek Ranch (where Em
is working for the summer), and
took groceries in with backpacks.
Michael reset Breezy’s shoes last
week and helped Lynn hook up
our swather. Later he helped Lynn
work on our baler and got it running. Next, we discovered that the
stackwagon had a problem, and
Michael helped Lynn fix it, too.
While Michael hauled the first
loads of hay, Andrea and Lynn
picked up 22 bales on the feed
truck. These were in a wet part of
the field and were already starting
to heat. We spread them out by
my horse pens and cut them open
so they wouldn’t mould.
I’ve been proofreading chapters
for my new horse book, and finding photos for it. I sent it to the
publisher and he’s hoping to have
it printed by October.
JULY 31
A couple of weeks ago when
Andrea and I rode Sprout and Dottie
up through the 320 pasture we saw
about 80 range cows and six bulls
in Baker Creek. We took them over
the mountain and scattered them
out in small groups over the range
where there’s a lot more grass. It was
Dottie’s first major cow moving and
she did pretty well.
Andrea talked with the lady
who owns the Arabian gelding
young Heather is training, to start
buying him. Andrea led him down
the road two miles to our place.
Even though he’s seven years old
and had never been halter broke
or ridden until now (and had
some bad experiences along the
way, and was a stallion the first
four years of his life), he seems to
trust Andrea and she wants to finish his training herself.
The larkspur is bad this year, and
even though the grass was good in
their new pasture the cows were
eating larkspur. Several cows died,
so they moved them back out.
Millers brought their draft horses and equipment to cut, rake and
bale Alfonzo’s hay.
AUGUST 13
Last week Dani rode with
Andrea and me to move the
range cows up out of Baker Creek
again. We took them around the
mountain to better grass. Dani
really likes helping more cows;
she and Ed make a good cowchasing team.
Lynn took our old stackwagon
to a friend who is a good welder
— to fix the hole in the floor
where the gas pedal goes down
through it. Lynn had stuck an old
licence plate under it to get by
during haying, but it was time to
fix it for real!
That evening Andrea and the
girls were visiting Yoders, our Amish
neighbours a mile below us on the
creek. Yoders got a phone call from
Hannah Miller; her younger brother
Sy had been rushed to the hospital
by ambulance with a head injury.
He’d been helping his dad straighten some metal on their hay cutter.
Sy was holding a bar against it while
John pounded it with a big sledgehammer. The hammerhead flew off
and hit Sy in the back of the head.
It knocked him down and he
was unresponsive, so they called
PHOTO: HEATHER SMITH THOMAS
Riding through the 320 pasture checking on grass and cattle.
for the ambulance. Word spread
quickly around the neighbourhood
and many people were praying for
him through the night. A CT scan
showed no bleeding in the brain,
and after keeping him overnight
in the hospital the doctors let him
come home the next morning. He
had a big knot on his head, headaches and dizziness for a few days,
but seems to be recovering.
Wednesday Andrea and I rode
over the middle range and discovered a dead calf near the Bear
Trough. The smell was strong, and
Risheem wouldn’t go near it, so
we made a wide detour and come
down the second gully. When
Andrea went to Millers that day
with Get Well cards and a gift
for Sy, she told John about the
dead calf. He thought it might be
Alfonzo’s sick calf that they had to
cut back the day they moved cattle
to the high range.
A few days ago it rained hard for
30 minutes — our first real rain
for more than a month. The next
morning we made a short ride
(Andrea’s 15th ride on Risheem)
down the road a couple miles and
back — since it was too muddy
to go over the hills. The next day
we made a short ride over the
low range and met our neighbour
Terry Magoon. Risheem had never
seen a helmeted person on a bicycle. It blew his mind until Terry
talked to us, and Risheem realized
it was a person and not an alien.
The rest of the day I cleaned
house and cooked a big dinner,
and Carolyn helped Andrea clean
her house. That evening my cousin Ned Moser and his wife Pam
arrived (from Texas) to stay with
Andrea and us for several days.
Yesterday Andrea cooked a dinner and had Michael, Carolyn,
young Heather and Nick join us
at her house. We all ate too much!
Today we’ll take Ned and Pam
up the creek (Pam has never seen
the upper part of our ranch) and
maybe a longer drive around the
county to show them some of our
spectacular Idaho scenery. †
» CONTINUED FROM PAGE 30
grubbed out of areas with standing
water, animals should be excluded
from the area to prevent them from
drinking the contaminated water.
DON’T TAKE WATER
HEMLOCK FOR GRANTED
Be part of the third annual Canfax Cattle Market Forum.
Get the current market information specific to cattle
producers and industry stakeholders.
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
– Registration, Evening Guest Speaker and Reception
Wednesday, November 19, 2014 – Full-day Plenary Session
Location: Deerfoot Inn and Casino, 1000, 11500 – 35 Street SE, Calgary, AB
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For more information and to register online for the Forum
visit www.canfax.ca or call 403-686-8407.
800-235-6140
Canfax2014_Grainews_QuarterPage
of the eye while wearing contaminated gloves. These should also
be washed with hot, soapy water
once handling is complete.
5. Have a supply of clean water
and soap available for immediate
washing if there is any skin contact with the hemlock.
6. Do not eat, drink, smoke, or
use the washroom until after you
have thoroughly washed with
soap and water. The oils from
this plant are very toxic, and
readily absorb through the skin.
7. In Ontario the crews that are
involved in eradication programs
are also cleaning their equipment so
as to not contaminate fresh fields.
This practice could be considered if
cutting down big patches of water
hemlock with haying equipment.
The oils stick to the cutters and can
then be spread over good feed.
8. Carefully gather all plant
pieces and dispose of them in the
garbage. If plants and roots are
More on the web
those s”
“famou
plainjans.com
Roper
620-872-5777
gloves m: p l a i nj a n s
f ro
Heather Smith Thomas ranches with her husband Lynn near Salmon, Idaho. Contact her at
208-756-2841
HOW TO CONTROL
Our pastures have not been contaminated, but hay and has. We are
confused about how to manage the
weed since one plant can produce
30,000 seeds that remain viable for
three to six years, but at the same
time it can reproduce by both root
pieces and seed.
The recommendation from specialists is to plow the weed under
this fall so the plants rot and you
bury the seed. At this time of year
it is clearly visible due to the white
flowers/seed heads and it is quite
tall. Then in the spring, once the
area greens up, we are supposed
to disc it lightly. The idea is to kill
what might have grown without
disturbing seeds, which should be
far enough underground as to not
germinate. Then they said to reseed
the area to grass hay. There are
chemicals that can be used against
water hemlock with grass hay, but
spraying is ineffective and costly.
So, for now, our plan is to do
mechanical control along with
increasing fertility of the land. We
have to decide what forage species
to plant so it will compete with the
water hemlock. To be honest, we are
very open to ideas so please send an
email with suggestions. †
Debbie Chikousky farms with her family at
Narcisse, Manitoba. Visitors are always
welcome. Contact Debbie at debbie@
chikouskyfarms.com.
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
grainews.ca /
33
Machinery & Shop
Canada’s Farm Progress Show
Bourgault introduces L7550
tow-between seed cart
Bourgault introduces a new cart, and more drill options
By Scott Garvey
T
his year Bourgault used
Canada’s Farm Progress
Show to introduce growers to another new addition to its 7000 Series seed cart
line. The L7550 takes the features
of the existing tow-behind 7550
and puts them into a tow-between
configuration. The “L” in the new
cart’s model number stands for
“leading” (tow between).
The introduction of more towbetween models seemed to be
part of a trend at this year’s
CFPS. Product reps at most
equipment brands acknowledge
they are seeing a slight increase
in demand for this type of cart,
transfers some weight to a tractor hitch. That could help minimize wheel slip.
“We sell, by far, more tow
behinds, but we are seeing a bit of
a creep up (in demand) for the leading,” says Rob Fagnou, marketing
specialist at Bourgault. “Horsepower
is no longer the limiting factor.
Traction becomes the limiting factor. Some farmers want to transfer
some of that weight to the tractor.”
The L7550 becomes the second
tow-between or “leading” cart in
Bourgault’s 7000 Series model
line up.
“It’s really a continuation of
the 7000 Series,” Fagnou continues. “We’re still selling the 6550,
because there is quite a bit of difference between the 6000 and the
7000. There is a strong demand
for the Auto Section Control
which is only marketed on the
7000 Series.”
The L7550 offers 550-bushel
capacity (the same as the 6550)
split between four compartments,
with the same inter-tank flexibility Bourgault offers on all its
models. The meter uses hydraulic
drive and is operated by a Topcon
X30 monitor.
“It’s a full 7000 Series system,”
Fagnou explains. “You have a
20-bushel saddle tank and hydraulic drive for that quick response you
need for sectional control and variable rate. The only thing we can’t
sell on there is the bulk boom.”
To load and unload seed
and fertilizer, the L7550 gets a
10-inch auger. And the cart rides
on 800/65R32 duals as standard
equipment.
Also standard is a stand-alone
camera system that has its own
seven-inch LCD monitor. Each
tank compartment has an internal camera so the operator can
see how much product remains
in each one. The system also has
a rear-mounted camera to allow
the tractor driver to see traffic
approaching from the rear during
road transport.
Load cells to monitor tank
weights are an option.
When Bourgault initially introduced a high-floatation tire option
on its largest 3320 drill at last year’s
Canada’s Farm Progress Show, farmers immediately began asking the
brand to make that option available
on models with smaller working
widths. This year the company is
doing just that with an improved
high-floatation package.
“We have a mainframe option,
where you can get the high floatation wheels just on the mainframe
or straight across,” says Fagnou.
High floatation tires are now
an option on Bourgault’s 3320
drills with working widths from
60 to 86 feet and on the 3720
models with 60- and 70-foot
widths. An added advantage of
this feature is when operating in
very wet conditions, the bigger
tires with their improved floatation could help improve seed
placement.
“It will help in that way because
you’re not going to have the sinking in,” Fagnou says. “You are
going to be able to realize better
placement in more extreme conditions.” †
Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews.
Contact him at [email protected].
photos: scott garvey
With the recent introduction of the L7550, Bourgault adds a second towbetween or “leading” seed cart model to its 7000 Series line.
Availability of the high-floatation option on 3320 and 3720 drills has been
expanded and the drills can now be equipped with high-floatation tires
on both the main frame and outer sections.
service THAT STACKs UP.
OK Tire carries a wide range of tires for farm equipment- everything
from tractors to combines. The best part is we service every tire we selland with locations across the country, you’re always close to help when
you need it.
For the latest specials on Firestone Farm tires, stop in to your local OK
Tire or visit oktire.com.
® Firestone is a registered trademark of Bridgestone Licensing Services Inc. used under license.
learn more about how jordan farms smart
at nhsmart.com/jordanK
©2014 CNH Industrial America LLC. All rights reserved. New Holland is a trademark registered
in the United States and many other countries, owned by or licensed to CNH Industrial N.V.,
its subsidiaries or affiliates. NHK04148906L
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
grainews.ca /
35
Machinery & Shop
PRODUCT LAUNCH
McCormick
debuts X7 tractors
Introduced at Germany’s Agritechnica last November, the
first X7 Series tractors to arrive in North America were on
display at Canada’s Farm Progress Show in June
BY SCOTT GARVEY
H
ere in Canada, farmers didn’t hear a lot of
news from McCormick
during the past couple
of years. But as it turns out, the
brand that is part of Italian company ARGO’s stable had been quietly
working on developing an entirely
new series of mid-range, MFWD
tractors with a wider range of
options and broader market appeal.
McCormick proudly unveiled
the result of that R&D effort,
the new X7 Series tractors, last
November in Hannover Germany
at Agritechnica. In June the brand
gave visitors to Canada’s Farm
Progress the privilege of being the
first North American farmers to see
three of these 143 to 212 horsepower tractors on home turf.
“We pushed really hard to have
them here at this show,” said Sergio
Correia, national sales manager
for McCormick, during the event.
“These are the first full-production
units in North America.”
The new, six-model X7 Series
actually replaces the brand’s previous top three most powerful lines.
And when it comes to available
options and updated design, the
new tractors push the envelope
compared to what their predecessors offered.
“It’s very exciting for us,” added
Correia. “The X7 is going to be
replacing our three high horsepower series: X, MTX and TTX. And it’s
a big step up for us in functionality
and build quality. This is taking
that to a new level for us. It’s our
way of saying we’re not just a simple, basic tractor”
Under X7 hoods, the “BetaPower” diesel engines are built
by Fiat Powertrain Technologies,
making them the same engines
used in some Case IH and New
Holland machines. The three
smallest X7s get 4.5-litre, 16-valve,
four-cylinders, while the three
largest tractors use the 6.7-litre,
24-valve power plant.
To cope with the extra power
from the 6.7s, the largest three models get heavier chassis. The two largest models, the X7.670 and X7.680,
get a longer wheelbase than the
other four and even more chassis
weight than the 175 horsepower
X7.660, the smallest of the six-cylinder models.
Engine Power on all six models flows through a “Pro Drive”
24-speed semi-powershift with
power shuttle built by ZF, which
allows for clutch-less reversing.
These gearboxes also offer an “eco
40” feature, providing a 40 k.p.h.
road speed at reduced revs. A
40-speed creeper version of the Pro
Drive is also an option.
“It’s a six-range semi-powershift,”
explained Correia. “It has robotized
range shifting, so when you drive
it, it feels like a full powershift. We
also have a function called APS,
Automatic Powershift. When that
is engaged it will automatically shift
up and down within the range,
depending on your r.p.m. If you
lower your r.p.m. it will downshift
for you; increase your r.p.m. and it
will upshift for you.”
“Right now it (APS) is just within
the powershifts, but we hope next
year it will be released within the
ranges as well. So it will be almost a
full automatic transmission within
the 40 gears.”
“ We w i l l h a v e a v a r i a b l e
(CVT) transmission released next
year. It was launched last year at
Agritechnica. We are hoping to see
that (in Canada) sometime mid
next year. We haven’t announced
it to our market yet, but it’s one of
those things that will be coming on
this series.”
To go with the new body styling is an all-new, larger cab that
represents a giant leap forward in
ergonomics compared to previous
models. In front of the seat, the
steering wheel and dashboard tilt
in unison. On the right, the new
armrest includes a multi-function
lever with programmable control
features for push-button shifting
and implement control.
“The cab is 100 per cent new
for us,” adds Correia. “We feel the
build quality and materials used
are reminiscent of the automotive
industry. The fit and finish of it, we
feel, are a step up from what we’ve
had in the past. It’s a tractor that
you definitely need to sit in the
seat (of).”
Although McCormick doesn’t
offer its own guidance system,
the X7 models come equipped for
auto steer, with steering sensors on
the front axle as standard equipment. “It’s very much plug and
play,” he added.
The X7s haven’t yet had a date
with examiners at the Nebraska
Tractor Test Lab or the DLG test
facility in Germany, but Correia
said arrangements have already
been made to get models to
Nebraska as soon as possible.
And for those who still like the
basic features McCormick tractors were originally noted for,
X7s can still be spec’d out that
way even though the options list
is a long one.
“For McCormick as a brand, we
made a name for ourselves with
the MTX, which is a very simple
product that doesn’t have a lot of
bells and whistles,” said Correia.
“But no one should be scared off by
the X7. Although the functionality
is there, it can still be kept very
simple.” †
Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews.
Contact him at [email protected].
learn how to become new holland
smart at nhsmart.com/jordanK
PHOTOS: SCOTT GARVEY
Top left: Canada’s Farm Progress Show was chosen as the venue for the North American debut of
McCormick’s new six-model line of X7 MFWD tractors. Top right: A programmable multi-function lever
allows for fingertip control of shifting and implement systems. Bottom left: The new, larger “Premiere cab”
includes a buddy seat that folds neatly away, along with a redesigned HVAC system that includes automatic
climate control. Bottom right: Exterior controls on the rear fender allow for PTO, three-point linkage and SCV
control while standing outside the tractor.
©2014 CNH Industrial America LLC. All rights reserved. New Holland is a trademark registered
in the United States and many other countries, owned by or licensed to CNH Industrial N.V., its
subsidiaries or affiliates. NHKP04148906PFT
36
/ grainews.ca
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
Machinery & Shop
AGCO JACKSON
AGCO one-ups its tractor
quality control capability
The company continues chasing its goal of
becoming Number 1 in perceived product quality
BY SCOTT GARVEY
I
PHOTO: LISA GUENTHER
Top left: A new, tracked Challenger tractor undergoes testing on a new
chassis dyno designed to test its performance through the full range of
gears. Right: Senior welder Ted Nelson, supervises a robotic process
that will finish weld a front tractor axle held in this jig.
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©2014 Buhler Trading Inc. | [email protected] | www.farm-king.com
n July, farm editors traveled
to Jackson, Minnisota to get a
look at the newest Agco products bound for dealers’ lots.
With another 30,000 square feet
just added to the plant, the manufacturing process has been subjected to yet another improvement on
the assembly line. Among them
are the addition of a lot more
automated processes, including
robotic laser cutters that ensure
extreme precision when cutting
out parts. Those parts now see
much more robotic welding than
ever before. Again, to ensure precision and accuracy. The robots also
measure the fit up of component
sections to ensure they are within
tolerances before even beginning
to fuse them together.
But what AGCO management
most wanted us to see was the
all-new test and dyno facility
designed to check the finished
quality of new tractors before
they are loaded onto a flatbed
truck for delivery.
“There are two separate test
stations,” says Arun Shankaran,
the senior manufacturing engineer in charge of testing. “The
first is the ‘Jounce’ test which
can rock the tractor back and
forth to simulate different track
conditions. The purpose of this
test is to make sure all the
hydraulic and electrical connections are not loose and the tractor can handle anything in the
field. We also have a PTO test.
The purpose of that is to make
sure the horsepower and torque
specifications of the tractor are
met through the entire RPM
range.”
The jounce test has four separate stages as the tractor is shaken
at various rates. If there are loose
connections, they’re bound to
show up after the tractor goes
through this process.
“The next stage is the chassis dyno,” explains Shankaran.
“We do a lot of tests on the
dyno, high-speed test, steering
test, braking test and so on. The
whole purpose of this is to ensure
a very high quality product goes
out the door.”
Prior to building the dyno station, these tests were performed
on an oval test track outside the
factory. And while the tractors
will still see a few laps on the
track, the new procedure helps
bump up the accuracy of that
final evaluation.
“This (dyno station) is in
addition to the road test,” adds
Shankaran. “Some of the tests
we couldn’t do before, like the
jounce test. We had rumble strips,
but now we have a more repeatable test. Now we have a more
consistent and quantitative measurement for everything.”
For a video look at tractor testing at AGCO’s Jackson plant, go
online to Grainews.ca and click
on the e-QuipTV listings under
the videos tab. †
Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews.
Contact him at [email protected].
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
grainews.ca /
Machinery & Shop
Getting our hands on AGCO’s current tractor line up
BY SCOTT GARVEY
I
n early July, AGCO invited members of the North American farm
media to gather at its Jackson,
Minnesota, tractor and sprayer
assembly plant for a look at the newest manufacturing processes recently
incorporated into the factory. And it
also offered to put together a collection of the brand’s newest machines in
a nearby field so journalists could get
into the cabs and drive them to see for
themselves how they perform. Grainews
took them up on the invitation.
In this issue of Machinery and Shop
we show you some of the highlights of
our trip south. Be sure to go to Grainews.
ca and check out the series of online
videos. †
Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews. Contact
him at [email protected].
Aiming for
Number 1
Avoid
Overlap
AGCO’s chairman and CEO
Martin Richenhagen
B
ack in 2012 AGCO’s
chairman and CEO
Martin Richenhagen
sat at a boardroom
table upstairs at his company’s
Jackson, Minnesota, tractor
and sprayer assembly plant
surrounded by editors from
North American farm publications. He and other senior
executives were playing host
to members of the media to
show off improvements to
the manufacturing process
recently adopted there, which
were designed to improve the
overall quality of the tractors
and sprayers rolling out the
factory doors. Through the
floor-to-ceiling windows just
over his shoulder we could
see assembly line workers
busy building new Massey
Fergusons and Challengers.
“We want to be Number 1
in perceived quality by 2014,”
said Richenhagen. “Which
isn’t an easy target because
our competitors don’t stand
still.”
But Richenhagen said his
company was up the challenge and was pressing ahead
to achieve it.
In July most of those same
editors were back in Jackson
at AGCO’s invitation for a
look at the newest products bound for dealers’ lots
and to get an update on
Richenhagen’s efforts to hit
his quality target. †
Scott Garvey
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37
38
/ grainews.ca
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
Machinery & Shop
Canada’s Farm Progress Show
Power Pin Inc. expands product offering
By Lisa Guenther
F
or over 25 years, Power Pin Inc. has
been building tractor-implement
hitches. Now they’re offering a new
line of products, under their Hit-NHitch division, for trucks and trailers.
“It’s a complete on-road system for
trucks and trailers,” says Gary Wilson,
sales manager for Power Pin’s Hit-N-Hitch
division. “Everything we learned in the
last 25 years on the ag side of it from making tractor hitches, we’ve taken and put (it
into) the on-road.”
The Hit-N-Hitch line includes straight
pintle hitches that connect with a ring
to the trailer. They also offer ball-ring
combos that will work with either type
of trailer.
Wilson says they’ve taken the droppin system from their tractor hitch
design and applied it to a trigger system
on trucks where “as soon as you back
up, you’re locked in. We’re offering one
pass, but we’re saying it’s one safe pass,”
says Wilson.
Power Pin is known for its ag division,
which founder and president Brian Olson
launched after inventing a drop-pin hammer strap and three-in-one hitch in the
1980s. Today, the Fort Qu’Appelle, Sask,
company is the largest supplier of tractorimplement draw bar hitching components.
Olson picked up a Best New Invention
award at Canada’s Farm Progress show in
1988 for his tractor hitch system. And he
was back in the spotlight this year, where
he snagged a Gold Innovation Award at the
same show for the Hit-N-Hitch products.
“So 26 years down the road he’s back
at Farm Progress Show, and Power Pin’s
super excited about what’s going to happen in the future,” says Wilson. †
Lisa Guenther is a field editor with Grainews based
at Livelong, Sask. Contact her at Lisa.Guenther@
fbcpublishing.com.
photo: lisa guenther
Power Pin Inc., know for its innovative tractor hitch design, is now offering a line of
quick-connect hitches for on-road applications.
Take a
look inside
I
nside the cab of Agco’s
MT500E tractors, the SIS
(Setup and Information
Screen) grows in size by
50 per cent and gets a substantial 10-fold increase in
resolution. The forward dash
is also nicer with a blend of
analog and digital readouts.
The tractors now come ready
for integrated auto guidance
with a simpler user interface,
allowing first-time users to
catch on more quickly.
“We have a nice new dash
display,” says Conor Bergin,
marketing manager for highhorsepower track. “And our
SIS system is a lot bigger, a
lot brighter, it’s very easy
to navigate through, set up
different tractor features and
tractor functions.” †
Scott Garvey
BKT Tires (Canada) Inc.
www.kaltire.com/ag
photos: scott garvey
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
grainews.ca /
39
Machinery & Shop
AGCO Jackson
Challenger MT500E Series tractors
unveiled at Jackson, MN, factory
By Scott Garvey
W
hen it comes
to model numbers on its line of
Challenger tractors,
AGCO has kept with the tradition originally used by Caterpillar
when it owned the brand. Each
updated version gets a higher letter designation behind the model
number. So when it pulled the
wraps off the newest incarnation
of the mid-range MT500s in a
field near its Jackson, Minnesota,
assembly plant, the new tractors
were sporting an “E” designation.
The five-model line of MT500E
tractors, which range from 185
to 255 engine horsepower, see a
host of upgrades both inside and
outside the cab.
Under the hood, they’re powered by Tier 4 Final versions of
AGCO Power’s 6.6 and 7.4 litre, six
cylinder diesels. Electronic wastegate turbos and the new Engine
Performance Management system
(EPM) apparently provide faster
warm up and cleaner combustion,
eliminating the need for a diesel
particulate filter.
“We’re continuing to use our
AGCO Power 6.6 and 7.4 litre
engines with this 500 series,” says
Conor Bergin, marketing manager
for high-horsepower tractors. “But
what’s unique is we’ve now added
a single-stage turbocharger in conjunction with an electronic waste
gate. And that allows us to operate
that tractor at lower RPMs with
higher torque levels. It’s the ability to get a lot more work done in
a day and do that with a lot more
fuel efficiency.”
To keep those diesels cool, the
modified hood and grille design
improve airflow. AGCO claims the
new CYCLAIR cooling package
boosts overall performance of the
previous cooling system without
increasing its size. But the A/C
condenser does get a size boost to
help keep the cab cool.
Buyers can chose to mate
those AGCO Power engines with
either a CVT or the brand’s Auto
Power VI semi-powershift transmission. Hydraulic capacity gets
an upgrade to a 50 GPM pump
(with the CVT transmission) or
a 29 or 39 GPM system with the
semi-powershift.
For those who want a smoother ride, the suspended front axle
option gets double the suspension travel range of the previous
series. Frame mounted doubleacting cylinders allow the operator to adjust the suspension characteristics.
“That allows for better movement left-to-right or right-to-left
to ensure we’re always maintain
constant contact with the ground
for better tractive ability and,
of course, a better ride for our
customers,” says Bergin. “When
ordered with front-axle suspension, that tractor will have the
ability to go up to 33 MPH down
the road. So you can get from field
to field very quickly.”
For a virtual test drive in one
of the new MT500E tractors, go
online to Grainews.ca and click
on the e-QuipTV listings under the
videos tab. †
photos: scott garvey
Left: New MT500E Series tractors get a variety of upgrades and Tier
4 Final-compliant diesel engines, which use SCR-only technology. Top
right: A blend of analog and digital gauges are used on the forward dash.
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available on wheeled models, helps mitigate power hop and road lope. The
9 family also has the new CommandView™ III Cab which has more space,
visibility, and convenience than our previous cab. It also features the new
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We’re still not done. The new e18™ Transmission, increased hydraulic capacity
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Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews.
Contact him at [email protected].
60020-2GN_8.125x10.indd 1
8/13/14 7:54 PM
40
/ grainews.ca
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
Machinery & Shop
AGCO JACKSON
Fendt 900 Series
tractors offer updated
features for 2014
AGCO included its German-built Fendt tractors
in a product demonstration day in Minnesota
BY SCOTT GARVEY
PHOTO: SCOTT GARVEY
500
$
REBATE
Top: Fendt’s 800
and 900 Series have
a variety of updates
for the 2014 season.
Left: The 10.4-inch Vario
Terminal is capable of
handling up to four
separate guidance, video,
tractor and implement
control functions
simultaneously.
model :
GRAINVAC 5200EX
OR 7500HP
period :
Offer valid until September 30, 2014
Some restrictions apply. See your local Brandt dealer
or visit thanksabillion.ca for more details.
W
hen AGCO invited members of
the farm media
to its Jackson,
Minnesota, tractor and sprayer
assembly plant to look at new
equipment, it didn’t limit what
was on display to only machines
built in there. Management also
wanted to show off the newest
models in its German-built Fendt
tractor line, including a 900 Series
tractor in the group of machines
gathered in a field near the factory.
Early in 2014, the company
announced improvements to
900 and 800 Series Fendt tractors. So far these are the only
two Fendt model lines available
in Canada, but the company has
promised to soon make the new,
smaller 500 Series and the veryhigh horsepower 1000 Series just
introduced in Germany available here too.
The S4 versions of the 900 and
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800 Series are the Tier 4 Final engine
emissions-compliant models.
“We are utilizing a Deutz
7.0 litre engine with the Fendt
900 Series that features a dualstage turbocharger with a heat
exchanger,” says Conor Bergin,
high-horsepower tractor marketing manager for AGCO. “What
that allows us to do is operate
the tractor at lower engine RPMS
but with higher torque. With
the 900 Series we’re offering four
models in Canada from 270 to
360 horsepower,”
Fendt remains the only brand in
the AGCO stable that doesn’t use
the company’s own AGCO Power
diesels. Despite that, the company
has been very vocal about the
fuel efficiency of the Deutz-Fahr
engines under the hoods in their
dark green German tractors.
“Something Fendt is known for
is the lowest total cost of ownership in the industry bar none
when compared to any other
tractor of this size,” says Bergin.
“Fendt continues to win awards
for lowest cost of ownership and
lowest fuel consumption.”
“What we’re doing with our
Fendt 900 to meet Tier 4 Final regulations is unique to the industry.
We have a combination system
where we’re using our patented
SCR technology along with cooled
EGR. In addition to that we’ll
be using a coated soot filter. It’s
maintenance free and it allows
us to reduce the amount of DEF
consumed, reduce the amount of
exhaust gas that has to be recirculated, and at the end of the day
reduce customer expenses.”
OTHER FEATURES
brandt.ca 1-866-427-2638
And aside from fuel efficiency,
the Fendt brand is also known
for including other cutting edge
features.
“Fendt is always forward thinking and has come to the industry
with a lot of firsts,” he adds. “One
of those is something we call Vario
Grip. It will allow us from the terminal up in the cab to adjust tire
pressure. It’s very advantageous
for customers from a performance
standpoint.”
I n s i d e t h e c a b , t h e Va r i o
Terminal gets another round of
digital updates. The 10.4-inch
monitor is now a little slimmer
and is certainly able to walk and
chew gum at the same time — figuratively speaking. It can handle
up to four different tasks simultaneously.
“It’s the only true four-in-one
terminal in the industry that will
allow you to use up to four different features,” says Bergin. “It’s a
sleek screen design very similar to
what we’re used to with iPads or
iPhones. We also have a new backlit feature we call night mode.”
For a video look at the new 900
Fendt, go online to Grainews.ca
and click on the e-QuipTV heading under the videos link. †
Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews.
Contact him at [email protected].
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
grainews.ca /
41
Machinery & Shop
AGCO Jackson
Sunflower vertical tillage
tools set to go high-tech
AGCO calls its 6631 Series vertical tillage tools
“second generation of the second generation”
By Scott Garvey
V
ertical tillage implements have undergone
an evolution, according
to Larry Kuster, AGCO’s
Sunflower brand marketing manager. They’ve changed to better
deal with tough trash problems
but still keep that ability to lift and
mix soil and trash.
Standing beside a Sunflower 6631
vertical tillage implement and talking to a group of farm journalists in
a field outside Jackson, Minnesota,
Kuster describes its features and
explains why it represents an evolution in design that matches the new
take on the vertical tillage concept.
“This is second generation of the
second generation,” he says. “Our
vertical tillage tools find themselves in the second generation of
the vertical tillage genre. The first
generation was the low gang-angle
tools, which sized residue but did
a very poor job of anchoring it
and left it vulnerable to wind and
water erosion. The second generation with a greater gang angle do a
much better job of anchoring the
residue and being assured of eliminating all the weed population.”
The Sunflower 6631 is an update
of the original 6630 vertical tillage
implement the brand introduced
a few years ago, hence his “second
generation of the second generation” description.
To achieve a more aggressive field
finish, Sunflower uses an 18 degree
disc gang angle, only two degrees
less than the 20 degrees used on the
brand’s conventional disc harrow
offering. But the discs use a shallow
concave design that limits lateral
movement of residue and soil but
provides aggressive lifting.
“They (6631 implements) feature our Sunflower Sabre blade
which has a serrated edge that
maintains a good working edge
throughout the life of the blade,”
explains Kuster. “They’re very shallow they have less than one and a
photos: scott garvey
Larry Kuster describes points out the longer frame length on the
Sunflower 6631 vertical tillage implement.
half inch concavity. Combined
with that 18-degree gang angle,
that gives a good vertical lift. So
we get very little lateral movement
and exceptionally good lift.”
The 6631 also has a very long
frame design to maintain balance,
which prevents trailing attachments, like rolling baskets that
reincorporate the soil to minimize
erosion, from making the implement tail heavy.
“The length of the frame has
been extended,” he continues.
“That gives us a lot of positives.
We’re actually able to move the
wheels farther back. That puts about
58 per cent of the mass of this tool
on the front gang. We’re putting the
weight where it’s needed.”
With the release, in August, of the
6631’s bigger brother, the new 665048, working widths now stretch to a
maximum of 47 feet, 11 inches.
And AGCO also expects to give
their tillage implements a digital component in the near future.
Kuster points to the Auto-Till system mounted on the 6631 beside
him as he talks to journalists.
Although not yet ready for release
Auto-Till will allow the brand’s tillage implements to communicate
with ISO virtual terminals in tractors, he explains. It will be able to
relay a variety of data to the operator and help auto guidance systems
accurately position the implement
when plotting A-B lines.
“It hasn’t been released to the
public yet,” Kuster says. “We have
several of these systems out running throughout the country. It’s
intelligence for tillage.”
“The operator now has cab control of the cutting depth and foreand-aft adjustment. It will monitor how many acres have been
worked. It will do mapping and
actually notify the operator when
the gangs have been in operation for 10 hours and it’s time for
servicing. He can keep a library of
service history as well.”
“We’ve got a list as long as my
arm of information we can gather
from this tool that will be beneficial to the operator. There’s a lot of
stuff coming.”
As for when Auto-Till will be
commercially available, AGCO
hasn’t officially released a date.
“As my boss likes to say, watch this
space,” says Kuster. †
Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews.
Contact him at [email protected].
An 18-degree gang angle and shallow disc concavity helps provide a
more aggressive field finish along with good soil and residue mixing
Auto-Till system uses sensors on wing cylinders that inform the operator
when the hydraulic lift settings are out of phase.
42
/ grainews.ca
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
Machinery & Shop
PROJECT CJ3A
How to replace a clutch
We keep our ongoing
restoration project moving
forward by installing a
new clutch in the old Jeep
1
BY SCOTT GARVEY
P
roject CJ3A keeps inching toward completion.
The chassis is now fully rebuilt and finally ready
to accept the engine and transmission. But before
we reinstall them, we need to inspect the clutch
to make sure it’s in good condition. That means unbolting
the transmission bell housing from the back of the engine.
There is certainly no better time to do that than when they
are out of the vehicle. As it turned out we’re glad we took
the time to check. We didn’t like what we found.
The clutch was a little worse for wear, so we ordered a full
replacement kit from a specialist supplier. Here’s how the
installation process went.
Before we did any serious wrenching, there were decades
of grime to scrape out of the bell housing — along with an
abandoned mouse nest. It’s impossible to see what you’re
working with when components are thickly caked with dirt,
grease and oil.
With the tidying up completed, we started the job by
replacing the clutch components that ride on the transmission input shaft. Those are the throwout bearing and sleeve
it rides on. This bearing and sleeve slide back and forth on
the shaft and contact the pressure plate, disengaging the
clutch. The clutch fork, which is connected to the pedal
linkage, pushes them toward the pressure plate when the
clutch pedal is pushed down. A spring pulls them back
when the pedal is released.
The old bearing grumbled when we spun it, so it was
clearly on its last legs. We pressed the new throwout bearing
2
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SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
grainews.ca /
43
Machinery & Shop
6
5
PHOTOS: SCOTT GARVEY
1. When we separated the engine and transmission we found the clutch
needed replacement. 2. The friction plate is held in position against the
flywheel with a clutch alignment tool. 3. With the alignment tool still
holding the friction plate in position we bolted the pressure plate to
the flywheel. 4. We torqued the nuts to the required setting in stages,
tightening them in a star pattern. 5. Looking a lot nicer than when we
started, the clutch components are in place and the transmission is
ready to be bolted back onto the engine. 6. After the transmission was
reinstalled on the chassis, the final step was to reconnect the pedal
linkage to the clutch fork, which sticks out the side of the bell housing.
onto the new sleeve and slipped
it onto the input shaft, connecting it to the return spring.
Our replacement kit didn’t
include a new fork, but the old
one was still serviceable. It simply pivots against pin with a
rounded head. Putting a dab of
grease on the pivot bin helps
reduce wear.
Next, we unbolted the old
pressure plate from the engine
flywheel. Only six bolts hold it
on. With that off, we inspected
the flywheel surface. It wasn’t
perfect, but we decided it was
OK and didn’t need to be resurfaced. There were no signs of
excess heat or stress cracks. If
there were, we would have had
to replace it as well. A good
scrubbing with brake cleaner
removed all the grime without
leaving a residue that could
cause excess slippage.
The first step in bolting on
the replacement is to use a
clutch alignment tool to position the friction plate. The end
of the tool fits into the pilot
bushing on the flywheel and
centres the friction plate. Some
clutch kits come with an alignment tool specifically for each
application, but ours didn’t.
We used a Lisle 55500 universal type, which is designed to
work for almost any clutch job.
A spare input shaft from an
old transmission would have
worked too, but we didn’t have
one lying around.
Next the pressure plate is fitted over top of the friction plate
and bolted to the flywheel. We
found the correct toque setting for the bolts in the service
manual and gradually tightened
them down in stages, using a
star pattern to avoid deforming
the pressure plate.
Because the flywheel uses a
pilot bushing, rather than a
sealed bearing, we placed a dab
of grease in it to minimize wear
from the transmission input
shaft.
Bolting the engine and transmission back together can be
a bit awkward. Our neighbour,
Cory, agreed to stop by for a few
minutes and help me manhandle
them back into place. Then, the
unit was dropped back onto the
chassis. Connecting the pedal
linkage to the fork was the last
step in the process. †
Scott Garvey is machinery editor for Grainews.
Contact him at [email protected].
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©2014 Buhler Trading Inc. | [email protected] | www.farm-king.com
44
/ grainews.ca
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
Home Quarter Farm Life
SEEDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT
Love is learning how to say ‘sorry’ at harvest
Stress is high at harvest time so knowing how to apologize is important
ELAINE
FROESE
S
ometimes I wish I didn’t have reallife examples of how I make mistakes, but my mishaps make good
fodder for this column. Last harvest I was the combine driver who backed
into the fuel truck while I was unloading
my auger for cleanout to move to the next
field. I have a bad habit of many accidents while backing up, so I should have
checked my mirrors. The damage was a
bent hydraulic shaft over the straw choppers, which was fixed with a $400 part,
and no downtime, thankfully.
I told my husband that I was sorry for the
mistake, and I thanked my son for quickly
tracking down the part. Our employee also
now understands the importance of not
parking vehicles behind me.
Harvest this year is going to be extra fun
because we all feel behind before we start
due to the late-season crops. I have already
started praying for no frost until November!
I’d like to share some practical ways to
make things right that I learned from Gary
Chapman and Jennifer Thomas this summer in their fabulous book called When
Sorry Isn’t Enough. Chapman is also the
author of The Five Love Languages, so you
may be familiar with his practical approach.
There are five ways to say sorry:
1. “I’m sorry.” You express regret. I was
quick to do this after I heard the thud of
hitting the truck. I also expressed regret
to the semi-driver who grazed me as I was
backing my SUV out of my garage onto my
lane, rushing to get to the post office. I now
always look down the lane before cranking
out of the driveway! Sometimes expressing
regret is all it takes to make restitution with
the person you have offended, but recall
the young kids who you’ve asked to say
“sorry” and it comes out quickly from their
little mouths, but with the wrong tone of
voice, and no further change of behavior.
Not a good thing.
2. “I was wrong.” Those folks who
can accept responsibility for their hurtful
actions get more traction with spouses who
expect more that a quick sorry. This means
that you accept the fact that you made a
mistake and own up to it. I was not going to
sneak around the next field with a dented
shaft. Honesty is always the best policy in
my books. Someone has torn a piece of
sheet metal out of our shed, but we never
have found anyone to own up to the mistake. Damage is done, but no one accepts
responsibility. The hole is still not repaired!
3. “How can I make it right?” Making
restitution. When I backed Wes’s pickup
into a car parked in my blind spot with the
pickup hitch making a perfectly square hole
in the car’s front bumper, I was angry that
the driver had not used his horn to stop me!
I had to make it right with a $700 cheque to
pay for a new car bumper, and I no longer
drive the truck in town. Besides an apology,
some people want to know what is going to
change in the future with your actions so
that you can make things right. In harvest
season when stress is high, you really need
to focus on a positive attitude to catch
people doing things right, so that you can
build up the emotional bank account of all
the harvesters. Be willing to take some difficult feedback if you are cutting too high,
or the meals need to be more timely to the
field. Don’t take things personally, but seek
out the ways other folks would like to be
appreciated. Watch the tone of your voice
on the FM radios. Long hours, dusty, itchy
backs, and poor yields make people cranky
if you are not careful to check your attitude.
Just making fresh hot coffee for my son and
our employees “makes lots of things right”
during busy field times.
4. “I want to change.” Genuinely
repenting. In harvest season you have
habits around how you like to open up
a field and the direction of the swaths.
Sometimes getting folks to adopt a new
way of doing things is stressful, until
they can see the benefit. The swather
driver needs to have some compassion
for the grain cart guy or trucker as to the
pattern created by the swaths. Are you
open to suggestion to change your ways?
Make a mind shift to be able to ask, “Is
there something you would like me to do
differently?”
5. “Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?” Requesting forgiveness takes courage, but the result is that you will feel better
and lighter when you are forgiven. I appreciate a spouse who doesn’t yell or swear at me
when I cause damage with backing up. He
forgives me and we move on. Chapman says
that “for those with a controlling personality, asking forgiveness is out of their comfort
zone emotionally. To successfully learn to
speak the apology language of requesting
forgiveness or, for that matter, any of the
apology languages, an extremely control-
ling individual will likely require the help of
a counsellor or friend who is willing to be
honest with him or her” (page 156).
So now you are primed for harvest, getting
machines ready, and your ability to apologize in the right way. Here are Chapman’s
tips of what not to say when apologizing:
• Haven’t you gotten
over that yet?
• Why do you always…?
• What’s the big deal?
• Give me a break.
• You just need to get over it.
• You sound like your mother.
Try this instead:
• I did it, and I have no excuse.
• Can you ever forgive me?
• I realize that talk is cheap.
I know that I need to show
you how I will change.
• I will try to make this
up to you by…
• You have every right
to be upset.
I wish you all a very safe and successful harvest. In the sunny southwest of
Manitoba we have crops that are great,
and in the terms of a teenager… some that
suck! Take care of everyone on your team,
and yourself with good sleep, great food,
and gracious attitudes. I will do my best
this year not to back into anything! †
Elaine Froese writes from her seed farm near Boissevain.
Her latest book, Farming’s In-Law Factor, is at www.
elainefroese.com/store. Invite Elaine to motivate your
farm audiences to action at your next ag event. She now
has her CSP and is a certified speaking professional. Call
1-866-848-8311 for coaching. Visit “farm family coach” on
FB and youtube.com.
Zucchini has
many uses
From baking with, freezing, stuffing,
dehydrating — you just need to get creative
BY JULIE GARDEN-ROBINSON NDSU EXTENSION SERVICE
I
f you have some zucchini or other squash, you are enjoying the
modern version of a food that has been around a long time. Some
types of squash seeds have been found in archeological digs dating
back thousands of years. Zucchini, according to some sources, wasn’t
used in its more modern form until the 1800s, and many people trace its
origins to Milan, Italy. It gets its name from the Italian word “zucca,” which
means squash, and although botanically a fruit, it is used as a vegetable on
the menu.
Zucchini is a variety of summer squash and can be green or yellow. It’s
low in calories and a good source of vitamin C, with no fat or sodium
unless you add it.
When choosing zucchini, look for young, tender squash with shiny
rinds, and avoid any with bruised or dull rinds. It can be added to
breads, muffins, soups and casseroles, and can be stuffed with fillings
to serve as a main dish or served raw as an appetizer. Zucchini blossoms
are edible and can be stuffed or lightly battered and deep fried for a
novel menu item.
If you have lots of zucchini, you can preserve some of it by freezing.
Simply rinse under cool, running water and cut it into 1/2-inch slices.
Then blanch the slices in boiling water for three minutes. Cool them
promptly in ice water and then drain and package in freezer bags or
containers labelled with the contents, amount and date you froze it.
You can grate zucchini and freeze it for use in breads without blanching.
Although flavour changes can occur if you do not blanch vegetables, the
spices used in breads and muffins will mask the changes.
Try making zucchini chips. You can make dehydrated chips by washing,
trimming and cutting zucchini into 1/4-inch slices. If desired, sprinkle with
garlic or onion powder or your favourite seasoning prior to drying. Then
dry the chips in an oven or dehydrator set at 140 F until they are brittle. The
chips can be stored in a plastic bag and used in soups or casseroles. †
Julie Garden-Robinson, PhD, R.D., L.R.D., is a North Dakota State University Extension Service food
and nutrition specialist and professor in the department of health, nutrition and exercise sciences.
One way to use zucchini is to stuff it for a tasty meal.
PHOTO: THINKSTOCK
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
grainews.ca /
45
Home Quarter Farm Life
Family-run orchard
and U-pick operation
Prairie-hardy fruit provides the potential
for this successful business
BY EDNA MANNING
A
visit to the Bruno Cherry
Festival in 2005 inspired
Paul and Jacquie Mitchell
to expand their U-pick
orchard to include University of
Saskatchewan sour cherries and
haskap berries. The delicious flavour and the hardiness of the fruit
convinced them of its potential.
The Mitchells had purchased
their farm, located in Eagle Hills
south of Battleford, Saskatchewan,
in 2004. They had both been
raised in the city, but wanted their
three children, Jordan, McKenna
and Lyndon to grow up on the
farm, and decided to try a U-pick
operation.
“The light sandy loam provides
good drainage and was good for
growing fruit,” said Paul. Their
location on a north-facing slope
is also ideal for winter snow
cover and some frost protection
in early spring.
To amend the soil, Paul has
grown clover for a green manure
crop. “I’ve also experimented with
landscaping pellet, which is an
organic-based, slow-release form
of nitrogen, made primarily from
oat hulls, dried distillers grains
and a mineral pack to provide
micronutrients,” he said.
Paul broke eight acres of an alfalfa
field and planted 20,000 strawberry
plants, several rows of raspberries,
and 1,500 saskatoon bushes, opening the U-pick operation in 2004.
In 2006 they added haskap and
sour cherry bushes to the U-pick
and also started a 30-acre commercial orchard in partnership
with Paul’s parents, Terry and Barb
Mitchell. About 17,000 haskap and
5,000 cherry bushes were planted at
the orchard, which is located in a
valley next to the Battle River west
of Battleford.
Because little was known about
the haskap at that time, Paul, along
with four other growers, started
Haskap Canada Inc. — a notfor-profit national organization,
developed to provide information
and assistance to haskap producers, plant breeders and consumers.
“We’ve had interest in the fruit
from as far away as Japan, but right
now, as an industry, we don’t grow
enough to meet local demand, let
alone Canadian or North American
demand,” says Paul.
The Mitchells’ commercial
orchard began production in 2012
and Eagle Hill Foods is the marketing brand for their processed
fruit products and frozen fruit.
Products are marketed locally and
also in stores in Saskatoon, North
Battleford, Lloydminster, Regina,
Moose Jaw, Outlook, Prince Albert
and Craik.
“We are also working with a
processor from Newfoundland
to produce vacuum-packed dried
fruit powders,” adds Jacquie.
In 2008 Jacquie became involved
with lilies. Fred Fellner, an Alberta
lily breeder since the 1960s, presented her with an offer.
“He presented me with a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity that I
couldn’t refuse. He asked if I want-
ed to take over his lily-breeding
program along with a few other
growers, and if so, he would definitely help me out.
“That July, our oldest daughter
Jordan and I went out to his farm
when the lilies were in full bloom.
He wanted me to get started with
the ones that caught my eye.
Jordan has taken a keen interest in
the project and did all the breeding last year. Fred is so excited
to see her enthusiasm — seeing
it as a continuation of his life’s
work,” she says. Jacquie currently
has about 4,000 lily seedlings and
she and Jordan plan to continue
the project.
Paul and Jacquie appreciate having their children’s help
with many aspects of the business, whether it’s weeding, pruning, picking berries, or assisting
customers at the U-pick, farmers’
market or trade shows.
“We value the lifestyle and the
opportunity to work with our children. Developing a good work
ethic is important,” said Paul.
“We also feel it’s good for the
children to know where food
comes from and the value of growing healthy food free from harmful pesticides,” adds Jacquie.
The Mitchells’ future plans consist of building and developing a
processing facility on their farm.
“This year our priority is to get
some cash flow from the crops so
we can begin planning,” said Paul.
For more information visit
www.haskapberries.ca. †
Edna Manning writes from Saskatoon, Sask.
PHOTOS: EDNA MANNING
Paul and Jacquie Mitchell with son Lyndon at their U-pick.
Haskap bushes flower in early May and the blossoms can tolerate up to
-7 C without damage.
AVAILABLE BACHELORETTES
FROM THE FARM
Preserving eggs for over the winter
DEBBIE
CHIKOUSKY
T
he main focus of our farm
was to feed ourselves. The
first thing we had was eggs
and we are now trying
This is apparently the way
our pioneer grandparents had to
function. The hens would never
keep laying through the cold
weather due to short daylight
periods and freezing temps. We
are not giving up on having hens
through the winter months, just
trying to store eggs.
Eggs contain 13 essential
nutrients. They are a very good
dietary source of selenium and
iodine as well as a protein source.
A complete nutritional profile of
pasture-raised eggs can be found
at http://www.whfoods.com/
genpage.php?tname=nutrientpro
file&dbid=60.
The goal is to keep the fall eggs as
long as possible and freeze surplus
from now. We learned last year
that eggs that were not washed
kept longer. This is because washing the eggs disturbs the bloom or
cuticle — the natural coating on the
eggshell that seals the shell’s pores.
The bloom helps to prevent bacteria
from getting inside the shell and
reduces moisture loss from the egg.
If it is essential to wash the eggs a
light coating of mineral oil is helpful to reseal them.
Whole eggs can be kept refrigerated in their shell at 35 F to 40 F
for four to five weeks beyond the
pack date, or about three weeks
after purchase, according to the
Incredible Egg website. This translated to our family being able to eat
eggs from November till February
last winter. By the end we were
finding a few bad ones but usually
there had been a small crack in the
shell that we had missed before
storage. We found that raw whole
eggs (slightly beaten) could be kept
up to two days, raw egg whites
up to four days, raw egg yolks up
to two days, hard-boiled eggs (in
shell) up to one week, hard-boiled
eggs (peeled) go stale very quickly.
Egg yolks have a gelatinous quality
which makes them hard to store
out of the shell.
The other method of storing eggs
has been freezing, which can be
done in a few different ways.
Our smaller eggs fit one egg per
cell in an ice cube tray, which is very
convenient. After freezing, these
can be popped out and kept in
the freezer in bags. They work very
well for cooking and scrambling
after defrosting. Another option
is to beat them gently and freeze
them in freezer bags in recipe-size
batches. The guidelines for shelf
life on frozen eggs are impressive.
Raw whole eggs (slightly beaten),
separately frozen raw egg whites,
or separately frozen raw egg yolks
can all be kept in a deep freezer for
one year.
The other way that we have
found effective to preserve our eggs
is pickling. We have two methods
and enjoy them both.
GRANDMA VANDERNEUT’S
PICKLED EGGS
Two dozen eggs
3 c. white vinegar
1 c. water
1 c. white sugar
1 tbsp. pickling salt
1 tbsp. pickling spice
Hard boil eggs. Cool quickly by
pouring cold water over them then
peel. There are a lot of suggestions
online about how to get fresh eggs
to peel but my best suggestion
is cracking the shells just a little bit. According to the pickling
recipe this isn’t recommended, but
I have done it without it resulting
in watery eggs.
The brine is made by simmering
the rest of the ingredients in a stainless steel pot for 10 minutes. Cover
so it doesn’t all evaporate. Allow the
brine to cool before pouring it over
the eggs. Pour cooled brine over
eggs in sterilized canning jars and
let stand at room temperature for
two days. Move them to the fridge.
These eggs stay very well for weeks.
Pam, 49 - 5’4 110lbs
divorced, business
owner, loves horses,
sailing, shopping, travel
I don’t sweat the small
stuff, my life is great,
I laugh everyday and
appreciate every
moment.
Michel, 58 - I am
in my fifties and I am
in the best shape of
my life and have a
trainer. I love to be in
excellent health and
am an occupational
therapist and health
is vital. I have no debt and no bad habits.
Casey, 42 - I have
two children a girl and
a boy. I am a teacher
and I love my job. I live
in a small town where
I feel I know everyone
and my dating
opportunities are
limited.
GILLIAN DADE’S PICKLED EGGS
FROM KENT, ENGLAND
Eggs
Malt vinegar
Hard boil eggs and cool quickly.
Fill sterilized jars with peeled eggs.
Boil enough malt vinegar to fill jars.
Pour the boiling malt vinegar over
the eggs. Top jars with sterilized
canning jar lids prepared as to manufacturer’s instructions. Allow to sit
at room temperature for two days
then refrigerate. These eggs have
been known to keep for months.
There are a few other ideas such
as dehydrating that we are considering, but for now these methods
have been working. †
Debbie Chikousky farms at Narcisse, Manitoba
Chelsea - My
parents were married
at my age 28. I am the
girl next door, I love the
outdoors, red necks
are fine for me, love
God, my family and
my community.
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46
/ grainews.ca
SEPTEMBER 2, 2014
Home Quarter Farm Life
SINGING GARDENER
Gather round for another visit with Ted
He shares emails, phone calls and more gardening tips and info
TED
MESEYTON
I
t’s time to giddy-up and toot
my horn and ring the bell
for another rootin’ tootin’
visit with my readers on the
Grainews Singing Gardener page.
I’m a hat- and cap-wearing kind of
guy with a lot of headgear on my
hat rack, including my black cowboy topper I got in Vancouver. My
latest acquisition is one of those
baseball-style caps that friends
brought back from the Cayman
Islands. However, my all-time
favourite is still my limited edition
railroader-style original personalized Singing Gardener caps. Yet,
here I am tippin’ a caricature of
one of my half-dozen or so Tilley
hats acquired from various places.
way to improve health with fresher short-travelled, nutrient-dense
food that we can’t get in most
local grocery stores.
Got to admit I found the
brine and the pickles for “Lucky
Husband Cukes” far too strong
for me as they sure are potent. On
the plus side the recipe contains
no salt and the cukes are certainly
crisp. That’s the way they did
it according to an old newspaper clipping from the 1890s. I’m
experimenting at toning things
down by adding more water, cutting the amount of dry mustard,
leaving the sugar as called for
and increasing the quantity of
fresh cucumbers used. I’m adding
some fresh dill too. It’s definitely
a recipe to be played around with.
There’s nothing quite as fresh as
a cucumber facial. I slice a really
ripe and chilled cuke down the
middle and gently massage one of
the halves all over my face. Leave
it on for a few minutes and then
rinse off. Haven’t noticed any of
the facial lines or life’s wrinkles disappear yet, but it’s sure refreshing.
IT’S AN ORCHID CACTUS
ALL ABOARD; WE’RE PULLING
OUT OF THE STATION
I, Ted, can’t take on the garden or any other duty with an
empty stomach. There’s nothing
like nutritious, homegrown, freshfrom-the-garden veggies and fruit
to pick me up; especially when
made into smoothies. We’ll be
stopping at the email and phone
call stations, plus take a pictorial
visit with Annabelle hydrangea
elsewhere on this page.
PLANTS AND SONGS NAMED
AFTER PEOPLE
There are numerous plants and
songs named in honour of persons.
Take for example roses named
after actress Ingrid Bergman,
Queen Elizabeth, songstress Julie
Andrews and Charles Darwin.
From my youthful days I remember a song titled: “Lonesome for
you Annabelle.” Here are a few of
the lyrics I recall.
Won’t you come back to me,
I’m so lonesome you see,
Lonesome for you Annabelle,
Someone made you feel blue,
Said I didn’t love you,
You know I love you Annabelle.
THANKS TO ALL
WHO GROW A GARDEN
… and those who support and
shop at farmers’ markets and
local-area growers. It’s a sure-bet
Remember that request from
June 10, 2014 Grainews? Well I
received followup emails from
Esther Wagner at Lancer, Sask., re:
her flowering cactus. She writes:
Dear Ted: So sorry to take
sooooo long but we were having a number of electrical storms
over the past couple of weeks and
I simply turned off my computer
and have not been on until now.
I am usually only on the computer once a week or so. I am sure
you will appreciate what it is like
living in a farming community
and having a big yard to tend to.
I am very seldom in the house
during the spring through fall
(only for “bare necessities” and
too lazy and doggone tired to
do anything else but shower and
become a couch potato until the
next a.m. Funny how it goes —
can hardly wait until spring and
digging through snow to see how
plants are coming, to wondering,
“when is this ever going to end?”
I never ever saw such GIANT gerbera daisies.
O.M.G.!!! Never in God’s green
earth did I ever expect to receive
the response I did to the name
of my cactus. I knew I had to
thank you and your readers for
the response I received. Thank
You, Thank You, Thank You!!!! I
thought I had a one-in-a ?? unusual plant but it would appear that
many of your readers have this, or
a relative to it and knew the name
and origin.
FYI — It is an orchid cactus
(most likely a hybrid), accord-
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 1-800-665-0502 Email [email protected]
Please remember we can no longer
return photos or material. – Sue
PHOTO: TED MESEYTON
Valerie Howard of Portage la Prairie, Man., admires her gigantic Annabelle hydrangea and deservedly so. A
single bloom consists of hundreds upon hundreds of miniature flowers; loved by bumblebees. Each bloom
is so large it won’t even fit into an empty four-litre ice-cream pail. Provide morning sun, afternoon filtered
shade, good drainage, watering during dry periods and protection from gusty winds for dramatic results.
This particular perennial hydrangea also makes a memorable temporary summer landscaping hedge whose
showy white mopheads sparkle throughout July and August and even well into September. Some staking
support may be required. Cut back each plant close to the ground annually in late fall and Annabelle will
continue visiting for years.
ing to Larry Hodgson (horticulturalist expert) for Gardens West
Magazine. Orchid cacti are various
species and hybrids of the genus
Epiphyllum and another epiphytic
cacti. They apparently can take
years to start blooming, but once
they do, they will usually bloom
every year. Larry was sent a letter
the same time I contacted you and
was merely responding to my letter to the magazine.
None of the readers had any
funny tales to tell about their
“orchid” cactus other than it took
forever for it to bloom for them
as well. Thank you readers for all
your help (emails, letters and telephone calls)! Thanks again Ted
— keep on singing!!!!!!! I hope you
have a great summer. Take Care...
Sincerely — Esther.
Note from Ted: I too, heard from
a number of other folks in connection with Esther’s cactus and my
thanks to each one of you. Here’s
one brief example forwarded from
Isabel Leman of Black Diamond,
Alta. “It’s an orchid cactus and I
used to have a very large one.”
PICKING UP THE PHONE
Had a great conversation with
Allan Enden who lives 30 miles
south of Saskatoon. He also has
such a plant. Allan told me that
it’s over 200 years old and was
originally brought to Canada
from Norway by an aunt who
lived to the grand age of six
weeks short of 100 years. Here’s
how Allan described his cactus.
“O gosh, the roots on that thing.
It’s so huge. We’ve always just
called it a Christmas cactus. It
doesn’t like the sun by the way.
It sits in the north window.
Always has.”
NOW ON TO AN EMAIL
… that’s short and to the point.
It comes from Ken Klaassen of
Oakville, Manitoba who writes:
Could you send me the recipe for
killing weeds without using chemicals? I think it was a couple of
years ago you had a way of killing
weeds in the Portage Graphic and I
forgot to clip it out. I know someone who has tried the vinegar
recipe and it only slowed down
the weeds, but did not kill them. I
did not try it, but I will try yours.
I, Ted, confirm as noted above
to not expect something miraculous or the same results when
compared to a commercial product, so keep that in mind.
WEED CONTROL
ALTERNATIVE NO. 1
Mix together 4 cups white vinegar, 1/4 cup of table salt and
2 teaspoons of liquid soap. This
blend is non-selective and kills or
sets back pretty well anything you
spray it on. Apply carefully and
with prudence so grass and other
plants you want to keep are not
sprayed with it as they will burn or
easily show signs of dehydration.
Several or continued applications
on weeds may be required.
WEED CONTROL
FORMULA NO. 2
This is another homemade, lowcost recipe that’s quite similar to
the above except it calls for apple
cider vinegar instead of white vinegar and concentrated liquid Dawn.
The story goes that it strips weeds
of their protective oils, allowing
the AC vinegar and salt to work
together with unrelenting force.
There are so many good things I
could say about apple cider vinegar but that’ll have to remain
for a future time. Thoroughly mix
together the following and try
using it from a spray bottle.
8 cups apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup table salt
1/2 teaspoon Dawn
dishwashing liquid
Ensure weeds are well covered
and avoid any mist drifting onto
grass and other plants you don’t
want harmed. Stubborn weeds may
require more than one application.
Opt to apply either one of the
above combos on hot, sunny days
(preferably during at least four
hours of sunshine) and at the
receding and dark times of the
moon for best results. Here are
some recommended dates coming up this month: September 10,
11, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22 and
23, 2014. If you try both recipes, make comparisons and let me
know results. †
This is Ted Meseyton the Singing Gardener
and Grow-It Poet from Portage la Prairie, Man.
Unless we’ve got everbearing strawberries, the
strawberry season is since long past. I once
heard a one-liner that asked something like
this. Q: Is beauty like a strawberry? A: Soon out
of season but exquisite while it lasts. Like the
strawberry, beauty isn’t perfect without a regular
sprinkling of sweetness. Beauty is also described
as the first present nature gives to us and the first
it takes away, while inward beauty never fades.
My email address is [email protected].
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Used 2,000 L Insecticide
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Due March 6, 2014
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Assigned to Joe
Due Sept 26 , 2014
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Transfer Barley to Bin 2
0% Complete
Assigned to John
Due Sept 26 , 2014
✔
Fertilize Field SE3
✔
Service Sprayer 3432
100% Complete,
Assigned to Frank
Done Sept 26 , 2014
100% Complete,
Assigned to David
Done Sept 25, 2014
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Vehicle may be shown with optional equipment. *Class is Full-Size Pickups over 8,500 lbs. GVWR vs. 2014/2015 competitors. Max. horsepower of 440 and max. torque of 860 lb-ft on 2015
F-250/F-350 with available 6.7L Power Stroke® V8 diesel engine. Maximum towing capacity of 31,200 lbs., when properly equipped. Best-in-class diesel fuel consumption: Class is Full-Size
Pickups over 3,856 kg (8,500 lbs) GVWR. Based on Ford simulated city-suburban drive-cycle tests of comparably equipped 2015 Ford and 2011–2013 competitive models, consistent with
SAE Standard J1321. Actual fuel consumption will vary. †Based on IHS Automotive: Polk Canadian Total New Registration data for vehicles over 8000 lbs. for January 2013 – February 2014.
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