AgriPost July 31 2015

July 31, 2015 1The Agri Post

Federal, provincial and ter-ritorial (FPT) agriculture Min-isters wrapped up their annualmeeting recently with com-mitments to ongoing coordi-nated activity to boost thecompetitiveness of a sectorthat generates over $100 bil-lion to Canada’s economy,representing close to sevenpercent of GDP and one ineight jobs. “Agriculture continues tobe a major driver of Canada’seconomy. Continued federal-

M-COOL SagaContinues South

of the BorderBy Harry Siemens

The M-COOL battle rages as two different bills reachthe US Senate floor in late July. Legislation introduced on July 24 by Senate Agricul-ture Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, would repeal coun-try of origin labeling requirements for beef, pork andpoultry and stave off trade retaliation from Canada andMexico. The proposed amendment comes on the heels of lastmonth’s passage of legislation by the House of Repre-sentatives to repeal COOL. Senator Roberts said to pro-tect the US economy and ensure Canada and Mexicodrop their pursuit of retaliation the Senate must take upthe House passed bill repealing COOL. “Whether you support COOL or whether you opposeCOOL, the fact is retaliation is coming unless the Senateacts to stop this program that the WTO has found to bediscriminatory,” said Roberts. “Over the years this bodyhas attempted many times to craft a workable COOLprogram for all stakeholders while still living up to ourinternational trade obligations.” “However, as I mentioned earlier, again and again theWTO ruled in favour of Canada and Mexico,” he said.“The Canadian government, which will determinewhether or not retaliation on US products will take effectin the near future, has made it clear the only acceptableoutcome remains for the United States to repeal COOLor face $3 billion in annual retaliation.” “We’re grateful that Chairman Roberts recognizes thatrepeal of COOL meat labeling is the only move left, withretaliation from Canada and Mexico imminent,” said Na-tional Pork Producers Council (NPPC) President Dr. RonPrestage, a veterinarian and pork producer from Camden,South Carolina. “The US had its day in court, and it lost.We’re in the sentencing phase now, and without repeal,a sentence of up to $3 billion soon will be imposed onour exports.” Iowa State University economist Dermot Hayes saidthe average US pork producer could lose $10 per hogbeginning later this year and into next year and mostlikely would double pork producer losses. A measure also introduced on July 24 by Senate Agri-culture Committee Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow,

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Federal Agriculture and Agrifood Minister Gerry Ritz and his provincial counterparts at the annual meeting of Federal, Provincial andTerritorial Ministers of Agriculture in Charlottetown.

Agriculture Ministers Collaborate onSector Challenges and Opportunities

provincial-territorial collabo-ration is crucial to ensuringthat billions in strategic in-vestments translate into realbenefits for our producersand processors through moreinnovation, improved com-petitiveness and access tonew markets,” said Gerry Ritz,Federal Agriculture Ministerand Co-Chair. Ministers support the devel-opment of new marketsaround the world includingthe Trans-Pacific Partnership,

while continuing to preservethe integrity of the supplymanagement system. Updateswere provided on develop-ments in Canada’s ambitiousagricultural trade agenda,which has resulted in tradeagreements covering 38 coun-tries and 44% of the world’sagriculture and agri-food mar-kets. Recent developmentsinclude agreements with theEuropean Union, South Ko-rea and Ukraine. Up for discussion was the

importance of efficient trans-portation systems in order forCanada to be a reliable sup-plier of agriculture and agri-food products to customersaround the world. Noting po-tential taxation implications,they underscored the impor-tance of building markets inCanada and efforts to reduceinterprovincial trade barriers,such as direct-to-consumershipping of wine.

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July 31, 20152 The Agri Post


would repeal mandatory meat labeling and replace it witha voluntary labeling program. However, because Stabenow’s bill, like the existing lawcalls for labels to provide information on where animalsare born, raised and slaughtered, it still would necessi-tate segregation of Canadian and Mexican livestock, lead-ing to discrimination against them, which is a violation ofinternational trade rules. Canada has rejected the voluntary approach outrightcontinuing on the course of retaliation. “The only ac-ceptable outcome remains for the United States to repealCOOL,” said Agricultural Minister Gerry Ritz and TradeMinister Ed Fast. “Senator Stabenow’s COOL 2.0 fails toaddress Canada’s concerns and would continue to un-dermine our integrated North American supply chains,”said their combined statement. “By continuing the seg-regation of and discrimination against Canadian cattleand hogs, Senator Stabenow’s measure will harm farm-ers, ranchers, packers, retailers and consumers on bothsides of the border. This is contrary to successive WorldTrade Organization (WTO) decisions that have clearlyruled in Canada’s favour.” NPPC’s Prestage said it does not satisfy Canada andMexico, so it will not stop retaliation, and the industrycan not afford to have their products restricted, throughtariffs, for two of their top three markets. “We don’t likeit, Congress doesn’t like it, but the reality is that afterfour losses at the WTO, Canada and Mexico hold thecards,” said the NPPC President.

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To broaden the scope of innovation, competitiveness andmarket development they looked at how it could be appliedto a broader range of food products, such as seafood. Acommitment was made to continue reviewing business riskmanagement programs, and to facilitate the developmentof new industry-led products available for producers tomanage their business risks. Also discussed were the significant contributions of thefood and beverage-processing sector, recognizing it as astrategic industry in Canada, and renewed their support forcoordinated action through the FPT Food Processing In-dustry Development Forum. Provincial and territorial Ministers restated the vital im-portance of temporary foreign workers to the agri-food andseafood industries and discussed the implications of thechanges to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. Theyencouraged the federal government to continue discus-sions to evaluate the program changes in order to meetlabour requirements. They agreed on the need for policies that are based onsound principles of science, which are internationally rec-ognized and respected, focusing on bee health and on con-trolling pests. There was a discussion on social license and public con-fidence in products and processes in agriculture and food,noting the extensive efforts throughout the supply chainto adhere to the highest standards of food safety and sus-tainable production practices. Ministers reaffirmed their sup-port for continued review and modernization of science-based regulations for food safety, animal health and wel-fare, and plant health and emphasized the importance of anoutcome-based framework. Participants expressed a growing concern about recentchallenges with food and farm tampering, which is a crimi-nal offense. Provisions under the Safe Food for CanadiansAct will provide the Canadian Food Inspection Agencywith explicit authority to take enforcement actions againstpersons who tamper with or threaten to tamper with foodcommodities. Ministers will continue to work closely withindustry stakeholders on strategies and initiatives to main-tain the confidence of consumers, processors, retailers andfood service buyers.

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M-COOLcontinued...

Ag Ministers Discusscontinued...

By Les Kletke

It was only a few years agoDr. Don Flaten did a presen-tation at farm meetings en-titled “How to Grow 100Bushel Canola”. The title wasa tongue in cheek referenceto all the methods that claimedto increase canola yields by5-10 %. The point was that if a

Rob Saik announces the 100 bushel canola challenge at a trade show in Saskatoon. The firstfarmer to break the 100 bushel barrier will win the use of the John Deere equipment for a year.

Breakingthat

CanolaBushelBarrierContest

farmer used all the methodsof improving yields, he prom-ised yield increases. Flatenthen went on to explain a morepractical approach. Now the yield target is a re-ality. Rob Saik of Agri Trendannounced the Canola 100contest at Ag in Motion anoutdoor Farm Show held nearSaskatoon in July. This is thefirst year of the outdoor showand if it can continue to an-nounce contests of this na-ture, it should help establishit as the Farm Show to attendon the summer circuit. The prize matches the yield,with the winning farmer re-ceiving a line of John Deerequipment for 100 hours ofuse. Saik said that he has heardof farmers getting 80 bushelsan acre of canola. Making 100bushels is in the realm of pos-sibility but certainly not eas-

ily attained. The contest will run from2016-2018 and requires averified yield of 100 bushelsan acre on 50 acres of canola.Entries will be taken begin-ning September 16 and therewill be no charge for enter-ing in the competition. Saik believes that any oneentering will be a winner be-cause the contest will en-courage producers to im-prove their managementpractices and record keep-ing since the first year maybe more of a trial to see whatinputs bring the biggestbang. Those practices thatincrease yields will be putinto play the following yearsand can be used on the restof the farm if economicallyviable. If no one reaches the 100-bushel barrier in the threeyears of the contest, theprize will be awarded to thefarmer that has attained thehighest yield through thecourse of the contest. The100-bushel mark may be at-tainable but does not takeinto account economic re-

turns of the practices. Champion corn and soybeangrower Kip Cullers resorted toplacing tin foil between therows of his crop to reflect morelight back to the plant. He con-firmed it did not show the de-sired return and gave up onthe practice. With the same in-genuity and creativity prairie,farmers could be trying somevery innovative techniques togrowing canola. Ironically, nofertilizer company was in-volved in sponsoring the con-test.

At their annual Induction Ceremony in Portage la Prairierecently, the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame was pleasedto recognize those who have made a significant and lastingcontribution to agriculture provincially, nationally or inter-nationally during their lifetime. Those recognized were Harry Airey of Rivers, ClarenceBaker formerly of Beausejour Area, Morris Deveson ofWinnipeg, Glen Findlay of Shoal Lake, William Gregor ofBrandon, Robert Hopley of Brandon, David Jeffries of Por-tage la Prairie and Robert Roehle of Winnipeg.

Dedicated Spirit andDedicated Spirit andDedicated Spirit andDedicated Spirit andDedicated Spirit andInnovation Describe InducteesInnovation Describe InducteesInnovation Describe InducteesInnovation Describe InducteesInnovation Describe Inducteesinto Agricultural Hall of Finto Agricultural Hall of Finto Agricultural Hall of Finto Agricultural Hall of Finto Agricultural Hall of Fameameameameame


by RolfPenner

PennersPoints

[email protected]

On July 29, we left for Chaco, Paraguay as guests of theMenno Colony to do eight farm presentations. Judith be-gins several health staff round table discussions, and I willpreach one message in the Menno Colony MennoniteConference church arranged by host for that weekend,Elmer Kehler. We will be returning on August 18. While presenting on Canadian farming techniques to thegovernance of the Menno Colony, mayors and elected of-ficials, the employees and technicians, farmers, bankers, Iwill also interview some of the people attending these ses-sions, making this an exchange of information between theMennonites in two countries.

It is interesting tonote, the MennoColony Mennonitesoriginally came fromManitoba in the1926-27 period towhat was then themost unwelcomingsite. Many didn’t

survive and others turned around and came back on thenext ship. However, those that remained, persevered, workedhard, suffered greatly and today thrive in a country thatmay well be lost without them, especially in the realm ofproducing food. Elmer Kehler, a fellow singer with me in the Faith & Lifemale choir for several years, about 12 years ago, made theoriginal contact for the La Cooperativa Chortitzer Ltd thatruns the Menno Colony back in January 2014 via numer-ous Skype conversations, many emails and text messages. While a co-op, farmers and businesses operate in a veryfree enterprise system within that co-operative growingpeanuts, sesame, corn, and soybeans. They are just start-ing to use fertilizer and experimenting with corn and soy-beans. They have a thriving dairy and cattle industry withmodern meat, milk, and cheese processing facilities thatexport to Europe and surrounding countries.

It has been said that tax avoidance is the greatest factor affecting farm managementdecisions, and I had another example of it this past week. “Sell cows?” said the gentleman with the large buckle. “The price has never been higher;we are finally making some money in the beef business. How could I sell cows?” It is a lot easier to make financial decisions on someone else’s balance sheet. I thoughtabout what he had just said and what he was going to do. Cows were in fact the highestprice they had ever been and he was going to buy more of them. This fellow has more wrinkles than hair, so I can only assume he had been through thecycle once or twice before and yes I am aware that the down time in the beef industry hasbeen longer than usual and times have been worse than tough for the last decade. Still

financially it does not justify buying into this mar-ket. Too often, we get stuck in the rut of thinking thatthings will be the same as they are at that moment intime. The reality is that things change and high mar-kets crash or at least correct themselves and lowmarkets improve though never as fast as we want. The cow market is going to fall, they are makingnew cows everyday and while it may take a while,the herd numbers will be rebuilt and beef prices willcome down. The strategy employed my many pro-

ducers at this time is to take the money they are making in this market and invest it in morecows, that saves paying the tax man. I understand that but the real problem might be downthe road when you have more cows and the market returns to normal and you’re notmaking money. It will indeed help with your tax situation because the losses with be real,not only on the tax sheet. I also remember a long time cowman showing me a cheque with a lot of zeros on it, the lasttime the cow market was high. “You out of cows?” I asked more than somewhat surprised.“Yup,” he said. “I’ll buy them back for half the price in two years. That bank is stupidenough to give him the money to buy cows, and it is up to me to take.” He did and he did. While it is easy to get good advice, it is more difficult to follow it when it means givingsome money to the government. Guys will buy cows to avoid the tax, as sure as anythingwill. The guys that don’t are going to buy those cows cheaper in a year or two.

In June, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that in 2015 itwould require retailers to blend 14 billion gallons of ethanol into gasoline. For themoment, at least, the US government is still looking favourably at ethanol. But thearguments in favour of continuing this mandate are getting weaker. It’s just a matterof time before something changes. Three main reasons for the ethanol push have remained constant. It is cheaper thangasoline, it will help the US become energy-inde-pendent and it’s good for the environment. In arecent article in National Review titled “The CornEthanol Boondoggle Continues,” author and jour-nalist Robert Bryce, whose primary focus is en-ergy, disputes these advantages. First, is ethanol cheaper for consumers, as pro-ethanol groups often claim? According to Bryce,“The exact opposite is true. Ethanol is more ex-pensive than gasoline. In fact, on an energy-equivalent basis which is the essential factor incomparing motor fuels it has been more expensive than gasoline for more than threedecades.” What about energy independence? It’s not that ethanol has had no effect; in 2014,the output was equivalent to 620,000 barrels of oil per day. But that’s just a drop in thebucket compared to what innovations such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic frac-turing have made possible. Bryce points out that, “Since 2005, just the increase —repeat, just the increase — in US oil output, nearly all of it from shale deposits, equalsmore than five times the output of every ethanol distillery in the country.” The needjust isn’t there the way it once may have been. Bryce deals with the supposed environmental benefits by citing a report by re-searchers from the University of Minnesota. “While corn-ethanol-fueled vehiclesemit marginally less greenhouse gases than those fueled by gasoline, the combinedclimate and air quality impacts are greater than those from gasoline vehicles. JasonHill, one of the authors of the report, said flatly that if we’re using ethanol for environ-mental benefits, for air quality and climate change, we’re going down the wrongpath.” In a separate article, Emily Cassidy, a research analyst with the EnvironmentalWorking Group, points out how corn ethanol right now actually produces more CO²emissions than the proposed Keystone pipeline would. She shows this using theEPA’s own carbon estimates. Last year’s production of roughly 14 billion gallons ofcorn ethanol, “Resulted in 27 million more tonnes of carbon emissions than if Ameri-cans had used straight gasoline in their vehicles. That’s worse than Keystone’sprojected emissions. It’s the equivalent of emissions from seven coal-fired powerplants.” Both Bryce and Cassidy make compelling cases that corn ethanol is not deliveringthe benefits promised to consumers who are forced to use it. Farmers around theworld have received an economic benefit from redirecting a certain amount of thecorn supply into people’s fuel tanks every year. But that’s a win-lose scenario thatjust can’t last forever. Sooner or later, things are going to get rebalanced. When that mountain of cornmoves back into the food market, we had better be ready for it. It’s going to be abumpy ride.

Thinking with Your Tax Bill Ethanol’s Food or GasDispute Heats Up

Culture and InformationExchange Between Canadian

and Paraguayan Farmers

They have a modern hospital in Loma Plata, our headquarters for the most part, a nursestraining school, and a seniors home where Judith will have several round table discus-sions. When I spoke with Elmer Kehler about farming in the Chaco, he said that they raisepeanuts, sesame, some soybeans, and the rest of the land is in pasture and hayland. Healso raises cattle for beef and runs a modern dairy. All of their commodities are marketedthrough the co-op. There are no restrictions on what and how much they produce exceptfor the prices they get, climate, rainfall, or the lack thereof. The information that I’ll share during our stay comes from farmers, agricultural supplypeople, technicians, and other related research people over a 43-year period, and ten yearsbefore that farming with my father and brother. In the last year, I have changed my information gathering slogan to, “As a freelance farmjournalist and podcaster, I help farmers and Ag people tell their stories one person at atime. I want to help you to tell yours.” For the people in Paraguay, my focus is on production, management, marketing, succes-sion practices and transitions, financials, and how farmers and ag people treat the land, theenvironment and their families while still making a good living and feeding the rest of theworld. “Canada is always an ally when it comes to top quality food supplies. We work with a lotof government agencies, people around the world. Paraguay does ship some productaround the world and into Europe. We will be shipping product their too,” said Agricul-tural Minister Gerry Ritz when I asked him for a short greeting on behalf of Canada to thepeople I will be presenting to. In other words, Ritz says we work together where we can,but also compete with all the rest, when the playing field is right. We ask for your prayers for a safe journey, that our Low German will be clear, andcontinued health and safety. As mentioned earlier, stay tuned. I will be reporting our experiences and the stories ofthese southern farmers.


Dear Editor: On June 23, members ofthe Manitoba BiPole Land-owners Committee (MBLC)travelled to the ManitobaLegislature to bring theirconcerns about the impactthe BiPole III project willhave on their family farms. Instead of acknowledgingthe MBLC members, RonKostyshyn, NDP Ministerof Agriculture and MLA forSwan River, stared at thefloor and refused to evenacknowledge their presencein the chamber gallery. Mul-tiple requests for a meetingwere ignored and the min-ister ran off before the mem-bers could speak with him. This is a shameful atti-tude, and it highlights theNDP government’s disre-spect for all Manitobansand for the environmental

Canada is one of twelve countries negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with other major trading countrieslike the United States, Australia and New Zealand. The pros-pects of a TPP agreement being reached, and soon, appear

favourable and can happen with or without Canada’s participation. As discussionsnear the finish line, the Canadian Pork Council wishes to point out how crucial it is forour industry that Canada be a part of such an agreement. Canadian pork exports to Japan - one of the major players in the TPP - could veryquickly grow by 10% given the improved access provided by the deal to the Japa-nese market. That alone adds up to an additional 1,000 jobs and $87 million a year forthe Canadian economy. Our exports will continue to grow over the phase-in period ofthe agreement, easily reaching, in our view, $300 million in sales and another 4,000jobs. The TPP also would open doors for us to countries like Vietnam and Malaysia andgive Canada an opportunity to negotiate improved terms of trade with potential newentrants in the TPP like South Korea and the Philippines. However, Canada missing out on being a part of the TPP would create enormouschallenges for us. We would quickly see deterioration in our ability to compete withinthe market composed of TPP member countries, which collectively make up almost40% of the world’s gross domestic product. As a trade-dependent sector – exports are well over 65% of Canada’s total porkproduction – we cannot afford for Canada to be left out of an important deal. Ourindustry has already been there, done that. In 2007, Canada left unfinished FTA negotiations with South Korea that had begunin 2004. Soon after that, we saw our competitors, including the United States, com-plete trade deals with Korea. Canada’s pork exports to South Korea plummeted bymore than two-thirds within just two years of the implementation of the Korea-UnitedStates Free Trade Agreement, falling from a quarter-billion dollars in 2011 to only $76million in 2013. Thankfully, Canada and South Korea last year resumed talks and wewere very pleased that the Canada-Korea FTA was implemented at the start of thisyear. However, it will take several years for Canada to catch up with its competitors onaccess to South Korea. If a Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement is reached, whichincludes the US, Japan, but not Canada, the impact on the Canadian pork industrywould be much worse, and our lost competitiveness likely would be much longerlasting. That’s because the Japanese market is several times larger for Canadian porkexports – close to $1 billion annually – and our exports to Japan are more concen-trated in higher valued products for which no ready alternative markets exist thatoffer comparable returns. Independent analysis performed for the Canadian Pork Council estimates that ifCanada was left out of a TPP that includes Japan, Canadian pork producers wouldlose about $5 per animal and the volume of pork exports to Japan would in short orderdecrease almost 40% - that’s $330 million in sales. Furthermore, 4,500 jobs would be injeopardy. The long-term results would be even more serious. The diminishing economicviability of Canada’s pork sector would lead to permanent cutbacks and closures forCanadian pork producers, processors and exporters. We learned from our experience with South Korea how quickly we can lose a marketwhen our competitors gain tariff advantages through comprehensive trade deals.Canada must negotiate to be part of the TPP. Rick Bergmann is Chair of the Canadian Pork Council.

Trade did not begin whenthe Canada-US Free TradeAgreement was signed in1989, and neither will it stopif the Trans Pacific Partner-ship (TPP) is not signed. Trade agreements’ investorprotection clauses thatenable corporations to forcegovernments to compensatethem when social orenvironmental policyimpedes profits are contraryto democratic values. Today,Canada’s supply manage-ment system is under attack.Some trading partners, suchas New Zealand and USAwant to sell their dairyproducts to Canadians, andlobbyists from other sectorswithin Canada would like tosacrifice the supply-managedsectors as a way to obtainbenefits for their ownsectors. While CETA, theTPP and NAFTA are called“trade” deals, they are reallysets of rules that limitgovernments and empowercorporations. The corporatesector may make profits thetop priority, but forCanadians, it is commonsense to guarantee that ourpeople can rely on both thequality and quantity of foodproduced by our farmers. Canadians support supplymanagement for good reason.It is an innovative solution,first developed in Ontarioand Quebec in the 1960s.Supply managementaddressed the problems thatled to both milk shortagesand over-production andwaste, along with uncertain,volatile incomes for dairyfarmers. Prices were oftenbelow the cost of productionand at times, processorswould turn farmers away.Elsewhere in Canada, freshmilk supply was inconsis-tent, sometimes with no milkavailable at all. Farm gateprices also fluctuatedseasonally. In 1969, inexchange for a commitmentby all dairy farmers to applyproduction discipline, thegovernments of Ontario andQuebec implemented supplymanagement regulation fordairy. Other provinces soonfollowed. Today’s dairy farmerssupply a daily stream offresh, high quality milk.Their farms are highlysophisticated, capitalintensive operations thatrequire specialized,experienced labour andmanagement. In exchange,they receive a price based onthe cost of production.Unlike their European andUS counterparts, Canadiandairy farmers do not rely ongovernment subsidies to

When Trade is a Sacred CowInvestor Protection

Displaces Common Sense

By Jan Slomp

make their living. Canadian dairy processorsalso benefit from thepredictability of milk supply,allowing them to run plantsefficiently, using near fullcapacity year-round, unlikethose in Europe and theUSA. Because it is soperishable, a constant,predictable supply of freshmilk is needed every day forefficient dairy processing. Tomeet this need, dairy farmersmust carefully plan forcalving intervals, herd size,herd health, nutrition andfeed inventory. The drive toefficiency in production isimportant, but is only trulyvaluable if real costs arereduced. Obtaining lowermilk prices by compromisingquality standards, off-loadingenvironmental costs andunder-paying labour is notprogress. Subsidies providedin some but not all jurisdic-tions give the appearance ofefficiency when costs are justshifted from the marketplaceto the public purse. We could be faced withsevere food shortages infuture. Over the last century,we have seen the total farmpopulation implode fromone-third of all income-earners to less than onepercent being involved inagriculture today. Canada hasa significant agriculturalresource land base, but ittakes vision and commonsense to utilize the land’spotential. Climate change adds to the

Canada MustNegotiate To Be Part

of the TPP

By Rick Bergmann

challenges farmers are facing.Those who would put tradeagreements such as the TPPahead of having a made-in-Canada solution to thechallenges of providing milkto the population must beconfronted with seriousquestions. How fresh wouldimported milk be? Howreliable would the supplybe, and at what price? Whatkind of quality standardscould consumers expect, andwho would enforce them?What would the Canadiancountryside look like? Howwould the local economychange after losing its localfamily-owned and operateddairy farms and their relatedemployment? The picture isuninviting at best, if notdangerous and bleak. Supplymanagement has a provenrecord of providing the rightamount of affordable, highquality dairy products at alltimes. Free trade deals likethe TPP are not sacredcows, but do supply a lot ofbull. Jan Slomp is the Presidentof the National FarmersUnion.

NDP Ignore FNDP Ignore FNDP Ignore FNDP Ignore FNDP Ignore FarmerarmerarmerarmerarmerDelegationDelegationDelegationDelegationDelegation

stewardship of agriculturalproducers across thisbeautiful province. After saying in Januaryhe would meet with theMBLC members, “Verysoon, Kostyshyn has stillnot done so.

Blaine PedersenOpposition AgricultureCritic, Progressive Con-servativeMLA for Midland

The Canada andManitoba governments arefunding new equipment tosupport the growth of thehemp seed processing in-dustry. Nearly $390,000 will beprovided to Hemp OilCanada Inc. (HOCI) to pur-chase and install a new op-tical sorter and packagingsystem at its new process-ing facility in Ste. Agathe.The equipment will mod-ernize the packing line, im-prove food safety and en-sure the company can re-main competitive in the in-ternational hemp seed mar-ket. HOCI is the largest hempseed wholesaler in NorthAmerica, with annual sales

The Canadian Angus Association (CAA) has honouredHeartland Livestock Services from Virden, Manitoba withtheir Auction Market of the Year Award. CAA Director ofField Services, Brian Good, and Manitoba Field Staff, LoisMcRae, presented this award in Winnipeg, at the LivestockMarkets Association of Canada annual conference. Heartland Livestock Services has been connecting buy-ers and sellers for over 60 years. The auction mart handlesover 100,000 head annually, drawing cattle from Manitobaas well as Eastern Saskatchewan. The Auction Market of the Year Award was introduced in2006 to recognize and honour those auction markets thatwork hard to promote Angus cattle.

Virden Auction Market Receives AwardVirden Auction Market Receives AwardVirden Auction Market Receives AwardVirden Auction Market Receives AwardVirden Auction Market Receives Award

Support for New Equipment inManitoba’s Hemp Seed Industry

of more than $25 million.The company employs 30full-time staff and pur-chases 10 million pounds ofhemp from prairie farmersevery year. The new facil-

ity, which is expected toopen in summer 2015, willhelp create 10 new jobs. Government funding rep-resents 50% of the cost ofthe new equipment.


By Les Kletke

It began with a trip to the US and has turned into 15 quiltsthat are larger than the typical quilter would image. Jan Skene is one of the organizers of the Interlake BarnQuilt Trail and said that the idea came from a trip to the USwhere she saw the quilt patterns painted on the sides ofbarns. “The area was looking for something to develop a trailthrough the area that would get people to drive throughsome of our smaller communities and I suggested to GailMc Donald that we could develop a Quilt Trail. She likedthe idea and it took off from there,” said Skene who has herown quilt at her home on a signboard. The official opening of the trail was held July 29 at theArborg and District Multicultural Heritage Village in Selkirkbut the trail already has 15 quilts in place with the possibili-ties of adding more next year. Skene said she chose a pattern that featured four mapleleaves and it measures 4” x4”. “I thought the Maple Leaf was a great symbol of Canadaand would be a message for those travelling the trail,” shesaid. While it is not a traditional quilt pattern she did workwith a small quilting pattern on graph paper and with thehelp of painters tape blocking out the larger pieces of thesign board. “We used sign board instead of plywood because it is abit more durable and longer lasting,” said Skene. The InterLake Co-op allowed members use of one their buildings forthe project and the group works on 7 pieces at one time.“Because of the different colours and waiting for the paintto dry, we worked on several at one time, and would put in

Quilts That Are Bigger Than Life

The Barn Quilt Trail opened officially on July 29. The trail features quit patterns painted on boards mounted on buildings throughoutthe Interlake.

a couple of hours and have to come back the next day,”said Skene. While Skene’s features maple leaves several of the oth-ers carry a provincial theme, one showing the provincialflower, the Prairie Crocus and another features a Lady Slip-per and four other flowers. “Some have a personal theme,the one at Anderson Strawberries combines the ancestryof the people, Métis and Danish to celebrate their cul-tures,” she said. “There is another at Gimli that has tulipsto recognize the Dutch ancestry.” “We hope to get people off of the #1 highway and enjoythe Barn Quilt Trail,” said Skene who is already planninganother one.


By Les Kletke

Tyler Thompson was optimistic for what he believes will behis last trip to the Manitoba Stampede in Morris. Thompsonboarded a plane in Calgary Sunday morning and hoped to be backto his ranch in Black Diamond, Alberta by nightfall. “Sunday is payday in Morris,” he said with a smile. “Thisrodeo has been good to me; I’ve won it three times and finishedsecond twice. Hopefully I can be in the money again.” Thomp-son is a bull rider and has been coming to Morris for 14 yearsriding professionally. He counts 6 years before that in a careerthat has taken him across the prairies and northern US. It has alsotaken a toll on his body. “At 36, I am starting to feel the aches and pains,” he said. “Thiswill be my last year of riding. Twenty years is enough.” Thompson admits it will be tough to give up the rodeo but hehas been easing into it, “I don’t think I will get to 35 rodeos thisyear, where as it was nothing to do 100 events [a year] when Iwas in my 20s.” It is not just the aches and pains that are catching up to him; itis other things on the calendar. “I have a lot of things going onright now and it is time to pay attention to them and build afuture,” he said. Those things include 650 beef cows on his ranchsouthwest of Calgary. He is not sure what will happen with the cowherd this fall butfeels it might leave the farm. “With the prices the way they arethe cows might be going to town,” he said. “If I can get $3,000 to$3,500 a cow I might sell them and buy some more land andequipment for when I buy the cows back.” For Thompson the price of feed and shortages in other parts ofthe province might play into the plan. “The shortage of feedmight mean more cows coming to market and I could by somecows get a calf out of them and sell them next year while themarket is still high,” he said smiling. “But that all depends on theprice of feed.” He explained that if he does sell the cows he would not be at aloss for something to do. He is developing a solid guide business,hosting cougar hunts from his ranch and surrounding area at BlackDiamond. “We have about an 8 week season in the fall,” saidThompson. “So I might buy a few horses and train them for thehunt or train them for rodeoing.” There may be many things on his calendar but for one Sunday,everything focused on an 8-second ride in Morris that did notwork out as planned. Sunday was not payday in Morris forTyler Thompson. He does not plan to be back but he carries a hatfull of memories from the Morris Stampede and had highestpraise for the event.

Sometimes the bulls win. Tyler Thompson came to Morris towrap up his bull riding career after 20 years but went homewith empty pockets.

Bull Rider Thanks Morris for the Memories

Holistic Management Canada is inviting farmers to at-tend one or more of their field days. Learn how to bettermanage your animals, land, finances and people as part ofthese experiential, peer-to-peer field days. Educating Young People about Soil Health, Regenerat-ing Land with a Pasture Plan and Cover Cropping - OnTuesday, August 4, at Pogson Ranch, Dave and Val PogsonFarms at Clearwater, Manitoba. The field day covers howto use cattle for grazing to improve grass, planned grazing(timing) to increase plant diversity and reseed pastures,how to stabilize creek banks, how to reduce tree and shrubencroachment, how to use cover crops for soil health andstructure and how to extend cattle grazing into fall andwinter. Regenerating Land through Livestock and Improved Fer-tility - On Wednesday, August 26, at Breault RanchingLtd., Clayton and Shauna Breault Farms near Toutes Aides,Manitoba. Daylong action begins with how does grassgrow and what is recovery time? Followed by the impor-tance of litter on the surface, solar collection the first step,what makes an effective water cycle and our most impor-tant ally- the microbes below our feet and more topics. Capturing Carbon through Cover Cropping - On Tues-day, September 1, at SG&R Farm, Ryan and Sarah Boydat Rapid City, Manitoba. Learn about profit vs. produc-tion, how does one integrate both livestock and grain intoa farming operation, learn about no-till, low disturbanceseeding, what is Mob Grazing and using mixed annual for-ages and watch how to move cows and mow down someof these mixtures. The day ends with how to create healthysoils and enhance soil biology and structure on annualcrop fields.

Holistic ManagementCanada Field Days


Almost every time that Imake a visit to a lactatingdairy barn, I try to make ita point to look at thepost-weaned replacementheifers as well. That’sbecause raising youngdairy heifers can be oneof the greatest challengesfound even on the bestrun dairies. Therefore, Ibelieve that implementinga good post-weaning

Implement a Good Post-WeaningDairy Heifer Program on Your Farm

heifer program makes a lotof sense, which contrib-utes to their futuresuccess as high milkproducing dairy cows. Sometimes it’s hard torealize that post-weaningheifers from 2 – 6 monthsof age are not simplyminiature mature dairycows, although bylooking at them, it mightappear that way. Rather,

these young replacementheifers have immaturerumens, which takes up tosix months of age beforethey are fully developedand functional; contain-ing enough rumenmicrobes, digestiveenzymes and volume toconsume and efficientlydigest all types of foragesand other common dairyfeedstuffs.

With such anatomy anddigestive information inmind a respective youngdairy heifer diet shouldcontain enough starch-enriched grains in order topromote this rapid andcontinuous rate of rumendevelopment. Researchhas demonstrated thatrecent post-weanedcalves that consume asignificant proportion of

grains versus forage intheir diet develop havesignificantly faster rumendevelopment than dairycalves of the same agereared on a predominantlyforage-based diet. Good steady growth onthese young dairy heifersis also a matter ofproviding enoughessential nutrients thatmatch a 2 – 6 month oldheifer’s relatively highnutrient requirements forbalanced optimum growthrate of 1.8 – 2.0 lbs perday (increased to 2.0 – 2.2lbs after puberty at about9 – 10 months of age). Therefore, a heifergrower diet for 2 - 6 monthold animals shouldcontain about 67 – 69%TDN (total digestiblenutrients), 16 - 18%protein, and fortified withadequate levels of macro-and trace-minerals andvitamins. One should alsokeep in mind that youngdairy calves from weaning(180 lbs) to six months(400 lbs) of age have alimited dry matter intakefrom about 6 – 10 lbs perhead per day. Luckily, many straight-forward diets can be setup for 2 – 6 month oldheifers that promote goodrumen development andgrowth performance. Forexample, a University ofMinnesota field trial fed90 dairy replacementheifers from 3 – 6 monthsof age, weighing onaverage 222.2 lbs for 84days on a balanced rationconsisting of free-choicehigh quality hay (16.7%CP) and a 18% grainration (based on crackedcorn and soybean meal)fed up to 5lb/head/day. As a result, averagedaily gain was found tobe relatively consistentamong the heifers;recorded at 2.1 – 2.2 lb/head/day. Addition ofsome dried distillersgrains to replace some ofthe soybean meal in thediet as an alternativeprotein source did notimpact growth at all. Suchdemonstrations alsoprove that high qualityforages and sufficientamounts of grain arerequired in order toachieve an acceptablelevel of performance. In contrast, I am not anadvocate of feeding 2-month old dairy heifers’total mixed ration (TMR)containing silage, eitherspecifically formulated forthem, or producers that

simply feed them lactationleftovers. In particular, Ibelieve these young post-weaned heifers havelimited rumen capacity,which is not fullydeveloped in the firstplace and bulky TMRscontaining silage chal-lenges their daily intakesin order to obtain enoughessential nutrients. Asproof, I have on occasionseen young heifers withtheir “big balloon” belliesfilled with silage and gas. Another reason not tofeed TMRs is someensiled feeds such ashigh-grain corn silagecontain excessive energyand often not enoughprotein, which couldpossibly over-conditionyoung growing heifers. Ifa dairy producer wants tofeed them TMR/ensiledfeed, I recommend that wewait until heifers becomeolder; 4 – 6 months ofage, so silage might beformulated up to 25% ofthe total forage dry matterconsumed. Dairy producers shouldalso parallel good post-weaning heifer manage-ment when providingthese nutritious diets.Many dairy specialistsand I recommend to firstwean 6 – 8 week oldheifers that are consis-tently consuming about akilo of calf starter for afew days. Wait a coupleof weeks before removingthem from hutches orindividual stalls and thensegregate them into smallgroups according to theirsize and weights. All ofthese young dairycandidates should bemoved into groups thatcontain no more than 5 to7 heifers per pen. Thesepens should finally haveadequate space foranimals to move aroundand rest, be clean andwell-bedded, with waterprovided on a free-choicebasis. By feeding the right dietthat matches youngreplacement heifers’nutrient requirements andin a stress-free environ-ment that keeps themhealthy and makes themgrowth makes sense tome. Most of the time, Idon’t need a weigh scaleor measuring stick to seeyoung replacementheifers are doing well.They are lively andcannot wait until theybecome good mature milkcows!


By Joan Airey

Leanne and Ed MacKay live and garden near LakeWatopanah. Their first priority was finding a way to keep the deer fromdining in their garden. The MacKays solved the deer free range

dining experience whenEd constructed atwelve-foot high fencearound their garden. The other prioritywas how to set up ahealthy low-mainte-nance garden. “Whentouring the WinnipegConservatory I sawbales positioned insquares with compostpiled in the middle andvegetation growing inthem. So I did some re-search online to learnmore about the idea. Ifound Joel Karsten’sStraw Bale Gardensand downloaded thebook on my Kindleapp. Last year myneighbour offered mebales they had used to

protect their trees over the winter. They wanted to get rid ofthe bales and I needed bales to try out this idea. So I thought itwas a win-win situation for both of us. I placed them strategi-cally in the section of my garden that was covered with land-scape fabric. This year they gave me twenty-five bales so Iwas able to expand my bale gardening project. The bales I usedlast year to plant in I spread between the bales I planted in thisyear to prevent weeds from growing,” said Leanne. You have to start this project early she explained. Once youplace the bales, they have to be conditioned for ten to twelvedays. The bales have to be put cut side up to absorb the waterand granular fertilizer. Lawn fertilizer that has at least twentypercent nitrogen is required for conditioning bales not the slowrelease kind. After twelve days the bacteria inside the bales,starts digesting the straw making nitrogen and other mineralsavailable to the plants you grow in them. “The first day to start conditioning the bale you sprinkle 1/2 cup of high nitrogen fertilizer over the top surface of thebale, then water by hose till it disappears into the bale. On thesecond day, water the bale only and on the third day, fertilizerand water. Alternate this process on four to six days. Day’sseven to nine you add a quarter cup of fertilizer and water.Day ten use one cup of 10-10-10. I recommend if you are

By Les Kletke

Knowing better to count on a crop until it is in the bin, DerrickHarms is not counting his bushels yet. “Certainly things look good to this point, the cereals are a goodas we can expect at this time,” said Harms who farms at Manitouand balances his acres between soybeans, canola and cereals. The farm has a set rotation but this year might be a bit heavieron wheat acres. “Just the way things worked out at seedingtime,” he said. “The fields that were dry got planted first and thatturned out to give us more wheat acres. That looks good for nowbut we will see what the market brings when we have the crop inthe bin.” Harms said he prices a small amount of his crop through thegrowing season but prefers to sell what he has in the bin, com-pared to what he expects to harvest. “We carry more crops overinto the new year than some farmers,” he added. “It is just amatter of what you’re comfortable with and we prefer to sellwhat we have, I don’t get into the situation where I am sellingcrop for two years out.” He said the moist weather meant an extra treatment of fungicidethis year but that was easier to handle on the balance sheet whenthere is a good crop standing. “It is difficult to justify the expensewhen it is just a so-so crop and this year looks good so we spentthe money on extra inputs.” Harms worries that his canola crop may have suffered from theheat during flowering, “It didn’t bloom as long as we would haveliked, the flowers are dropping already but there should be a goodseed set there if things continue like this. There is enough mois-ture to finish the crop.” Soybeans are a long way from maturity on their farm and heknows it. “We will see in September when the leaves start todrop but it looks like a good crop canopy at this time and thecrop has been blooming for a while,” he added. “We have beenimpressed with their ability to handles stress but we don’t askfor any more on the crop.” Harms is hopeful that the early harvest will allow him to getsome winter wheat into the canola stubble. “We don’t have anythis year but I like it in the rotation for spreading the work load,”he said.

Square Bale Gardening

going to try this project go online and download the book,”continued Leanne. While walking through the garden you could see that thevegetables and fruit stay cleaner because they are high off theground and make picking easier. “This method of gardeningmeans less weeding and easier on the back. This year I leftmore room between the bales especially the ones I plantedsquash in. Rebar at the ends of the rows would be perfect formaking a trellis or staking. You need them in a sunny locationwith access to a water supply. A soaker hose running along therows would be the ultimate way to go but we managed with anoverhead sprinkler system,” said Leanne. The MacKays also constructed a few raised garden beds togrow beans and perennial herbs. This year they used raisedbeds for their sugar lace peas, tender green beans, multiplieronions and zucchini, plus three varieties of onions. “I don’trecommend growing green beans and onions in the same bed asthe beans take over the area,” said Leanne. “I prefer the straw bale gardening over the raised beds. Ifound the corner brackets for the raised beds at the Green Spotbut I’m sure most garden cen-tres have them. I used landscapefabric under flax straw betweenthe rows in my raspberry patchbut you still have to pull weedsbetween the plants,” notedLeanne. The MacKays have everythingfrom apples to zucchini grow-ing in their garden and plantednew varieties of raspberries thatwere producing tasty fruit. Asproof of their gardening, tech-nique Leanne was busy harvest-ing raspberries and cherrieswhen we visited.

Photos by Joan Airey

Potatoes growing in square bales are easy to harvest withyour hand.

Leanne MacKay in her front yardnear Lake Watopanah.

When MacKay is notwatering with a hoseshe fills bottles withwater and pushes theminto the bale and theyslowly water the plants.

Wheat AcresHolding Up Near

Manitou


By Harry Siemens

The Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) held their annual summer meeting in Vancouveramidst the discussions focusing on the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade discus-sions. Media reports suggest the United States, frustrated over the lack of progress withCanada over new rules for agriculture trade could complete a Pacific Rim trade pact thatdoes not include Canada. The report said a representative for Canadian Trade Minister Ed Fast, told Reuters, thefederal government continues to work with all TPP partners to conclude an ambitiousagreement that will create jobs and prosperity for Canadians. According to the report, theaid said Ottawa would continue to promote and defend Canadian trade interests across allsectors of the Canadian economy, including supply management. David Wiens of Grunthal, a DFC Vice President said the mood in Vancouver was positivedespite the ongoing TTP trade discussions. “Whenever there are trade discussions goingon, we pay very close attention to that because it is always an area of concern, which evertrade deal it happens to be that they are negotiating,” said Wiens at the start of the meetingin Vancouver. “We also do have confidence the Canadian government certainly under-stands supply management, how it works, and the benefits. The government has certainlygiven no indication that things will change this time around in terms of the kind of agree-ment that they will sign.” Dairy farmers realize the Canadian government is under pressure from certain othercountries particularly United States and New Zealand. “We are in constant discussionwith the federal and provincial governments and there is lots of strong support for thesystem and we continue to operate on that basis,” said Wiens who is also the President ofthe Dairy farmers of Manitoba. “We understand we have our critics out there who don’tnecessarily understand how it works, but certainly from an ideology or philosophicallyviewpoint they may not agree.” He said the governments recognize that supply management works supporting 250,000jobs including 12,000 producers across Canada contributing $15 billion dollars to theCanadian economy annually. “All levels of government are well served by the $3.5 billionof taxes they receive from the industry annually, too,” said Wiens.

By Les Kletke

Jake Friesen admits the weather over the past couple of weeks has been a bit ofchallenge for getting things done around the yard but it has been great for advanc-ing the corn crop. “Tough on humans but great for the corn,” summed up Friesen. He has just over 500 acres of corn south of Steinbach and said the recent progresshas been amazing. He is not rushing off to town to buy more bins but said indica-tions are for his best crop ever. “We have been growing corn for about 20 years andwe have seen a real change in the genetics over the years, not only in earlier matur-ing but also in the yield,” said Friesen who grows 4 varieties to spread the risk andgive himself an upside for years like this when the crop advances well. “We know that we could have frost in August, we have before,” he said. “But atthis time the corn is looking very good and the later maturing varieties are comingalong well.” He plants some short season varieties to hedge his bets for cool yearsand the majority of his acres go into mid-range varieties that are most likely tomature. “We also have some later stuff that should make it this year but definitely wouldn’ton a cool year or with an early frost,” he said. Friesen is hesitant to offer how manyacres of the long season variety he planted. “We’ll see when I get it off, and wecould sound pretty silly for planting it and getting a frost early.” While he does not have any livestock he said the proximity to dairy farms and beefproducers does provide a market if his later crop does not mature and he is forced tosell it for silage. “We have a number of dairy farms nearby and I am sure that if thecrop was to freeze before it matured we could find a market for it, but that would bea last resort, we plant the crop with the intent of harvesting grain corn.” The year has also been a good one for his expanded soybean acres. “We have 240acres of soybeans that look pretty good,” he said. “They have done well in the heatand humidity, though they were on the verge of suffering under the excess mois-ture,” Said Friesen. “It is a matter of time to see how they finish but there is certainlyenough moisture to bring them through to harvest.”

Dairy FarmersDiscuss TPP Hard on Humans

but Great for Corn


By Harry Siemens

When people from Wash-ington, DC recently visitedCanada on an educationaltour, stopping at three dif-ferent farms, Scott Peters ahog producer in southeast-ern Manitoba and a Direc-tor for Manitoba Pork saidthe visit helped him andthose on tour understandeach other better. Peters feels the Ameri-cans received the messagewell and there appeared tobe agreement that M-COOLhas hurt the pork industrygreatly and recognize thereshould be a freer flow ofanimal movements acrossthe border. “They told us25% of their Ag budgetgoes into education just forAg awareness. That isquite something,” he said.“That would be quite alarge amount of money, andin that respect, I think the

Scott Peters is an owner ofHerbsigwil Farm, a Directorand PR Committee Chair withManitoba Pork and CanadianPork Councillor Director.

Educational Tour Focusedon Pork Production

Americans are furtherahead.” After spending a daywith the visitors, Peters re-iterates making friends isa good thing. “They aregood people that are nowour voice in Washington,DC and the United States,especially in terms of M-COOL, Ag education andawareness,” he said. “Weput our best foot forwardand we came out a winner.I think we showed themthat Manitoba is a greatplace to farm, raise live-stock, to make food and toraise grain.” He said a year ago, thechallenge was stayingclean of the PED virus andproducers did fairly well inmost cases in Manitoba.Peters commented thatsome of the productionholes have filled up; cre-ating a surplus of pigs andpork that is affecting

The tour group visited Starlite Colony near Starbuck, a hempfield near Miami, a mixed farm near Roland, the bordercrossing at Emerson and the Bruce D. Campbell Farm andFood Discovery Centre. Here the group is visiting with StarliteColony hog boss James Hofer.

Photo courtesy of Manitoba Pork Council

prices too. “In terms of themoratorium and barn build-ing, I think we’re makingheadway in being able to ex-pand at some point if we staypatient and stay focused,”said Peters. “We are seeing progresson that issue. ManitobaPork Council is workingvery closely with theManitoba government andwe continue to create astrong relationship andmake headway,” he said. “Ithink moving forward wewill see some positive re-sults in barn building inManitoba. I’m confident ofthat, but don’t have a ton ofbacking for that right now,but my gut feeling says so.” He added that there aresome positive signs in be-ing able to do pilot projects,closely working with theregulations and guidelinesthat the government has putin place. He feels the indus-try has taken some goodsteps forward.

At the General Councilmeeting of Keystone Agri-cultural Producers (KAP)recently, farmers expressedconcern over the conditionof roads in rural Manitoba. “Our members are tellingme many roads, includingthose in the southwest area,are deplorable,” said KAPPresident Dan Mazier. “Forexample, Highway 10 southof Brandon, the second larg-est north-south trade routein Manitoba, is crumbling. “Speed has to be reducedto 20 or 50 km on somestretches of this highwayand this is certainly not ac-ceptable. Much ofManitoba’s cattle areshipped to the US down thisroute, and producers are us-ing it more to ship grain tothe US due to our poor railservice. For shippers andresidents alike, this road isan accident waiting to hap-pen.” Mazier also said the lengthof time it is taking for someroads to be repaired is un-reasonable, noting that onHighway 21, bridge repairstook three years. The samething is happening now onHighway 83. In both in-stances, the traffic was downto one lane. KAP member representa-tives to the meeting calledon the provincial and federalgovernments to addresssouthwest Manitoba’s dete-riorating transportation in-frastructure. Also at the meeting, mem-bers highlighted the need forbetter biosecurity measureson livestock farms, espe-cially in light of the recent

Rural Road Repairs, BiosecurityRaised at KAP Meeting

outbreak of avian influenza thathas seen cases in neighbouringMinnesota and Ontario. TheManitoba Turkey Producersasked KAP to work with util-ity, transport and supply com-panies, as well as governmentofficials and anyone else en-tering a poultry farm, to fol-low proper biosecurity proto-cols. Other resolutions included acall for the Manitoba govern-ment to maintain weed control,

via mechanical means wherepossible, on completed roadconstruction sites until the areahas recovered its vegetation. As well, representativescalled on utility companies andoil/gas companies to ensurelines and pipelines on farm-lands are buried far enough toaccommodate farming prac-tices, and that information onhow far down lines and pipe-lines are buried be made avail-able upon request.


The following letters from two Manitobafarmers appeared in the August 1913 edi-

tion of the Canadian Thresherman and Farmer. The two farmers both operated Hart Parr 30-60 tractors and got along quite well with the units.

Absolute FAbsolute FAbsolute FAbsolute FAbsolute Faith inaith inaith inaith inaith inthe Hart-Pthe Hart-Pthe Hart-Pthe Hart-Pthe Hart-Parrarrarrarrarr

TTTTTractorractorractorractorractor

Absolute Faith in the TractorDear Sirs, In reply to your request as to the success of the past season’soperations by the use of the traction power which I have used Iam pleased to state that in spite of the unfavourable season,which we experienced in the Red River Valley that my opinion hasnot been altered as to the feasibility and advisability of the use oftraction power on a farm where acreage consists of a section ormore. Owing to the lateness of the season and the previous fall’sunfavorable conditions, we found that we required to do a largeamount of spring plowing, and without the traction power, wewould have been unable to do it. Our engine is a Hart Parr 30-60 and we estimate that the amount of fuel oil used will beabout 3 gallons per acre. The oil laid down at the station costsus about 15c per gallon and the oil has to be drawn a distanceof from one to four miles, according to the place where theengine is working. I estimate the cost of plowing to be from 55 to60 cents per acre including fuel oil and lubricating oil. We donot perform any seeding or discing with our engine, as, owing tothe heaviness of the soil, and in my opinion, it is not conduciveon the best conditions to run heavy engines over plowed groundfor seeding purposes unless the ground is much drier than weusually find it at seeding time. I have found the Traction Power very satisfactory for plowingand threshing purposes. This is the only power work I have per-formed.Yours Truly,H.B. RobinsonCarman, MB

Ideal for Fall PlowingDear Sirs, I purchased a Hart Parr Gas Tractor 30-60 and a 32 by 52 RedRiver Special separator about the last of November 1911 andowing to the facts that I had no experience, the lateness of theseason and the cold and rough weather, we got along extremelywell. In the spring of 1912, we did a little plowing using a lightfurrow 14-inch Cockshutt gang and broke 185 acres for our-selves at the cost of about $1.60 per acre and summer fallowed100 acres in about 4 1/2 days using harrows behind at the costof about 75 cents per acre. We use on an average of 60 gallonsof gasoline and kerosene per day, and about 35 gallons of water. We have not used it for any seeding operations so far, and donot think it would be a profitable speculation to equip ourselveswith the necessary machinery, as some years we would be unableto make use of it on account of wet seasons, for instance, 1912.I do not consider it would be detrimental to land that might bein a condition to use an engine on. In conclusion, I might just say that I consider the gas tractor anideal outfit for fall plowing, summer fallowing and threshing, inconsideration of the fact that we do not have to employ so manymen.Yours Truly,W.H. StewardMiniota, MB

Just what is meant by theline in Steward’s letter, “Ido not consider it would bedetrimental to land thatmight be in a condition touse an engine on,” is notknown. Perhaps the printermissed inserting the word“it” at the end of this sen-tence? The Manitoba Agricul-tural Museum’s collectioncontains two Hart Parr 30-60s, both in operating con-dition. One tractor was do-nated by the Sims Brothersof Snowflake, Manitobaand the other 30-60 wasdonated by F.T. Venablesand J.E. Kirk of Hamiota.Hart Parr began building 30-60s in 1907 and the designremained in production un-til 1918. While Hart Parralso built a 22-45 and 20-40model during this time, the30-60 was by far the mostpopular. Both 30-60s in thecollection were built in 1912. The 30-60 tractors fea-tured a two-cylinder enginecooled by oil circulated us-ing a centrifugal pump. Theradiator was cooled by aninduced draft from the en-gine exhaust, a very com-mon feature on tractorsuntil the late 1910s. Theengine had a “hit and miss”governor. The engine was startedon gasoline and thenswitched over to kerosenewhen the engine was hot.Oil as a coolant was com-mon in the early years oftractors, as oil did notfreeze, and oil cooling re-sulted in the engine run-ning hotter which was anadvantage when runningthe tractor on kerosene.Water was injected into the

carburetor in order to pre-vent the kerosene from pre-igniting in the hot cylindersor knocking which explainsStewards comment aboutburning 35 gallons of wa-ter a day when the tractorwas working. Steward also made a com-ment about plowing with alight furrow 14-inchCockshutt gang, whichwas a Cockshutt enginegangplow equipped with14-inch moldboards. Justwhat he meant by light fur-row is not known at thistime. As well he does notsay how many bottoms thisplow possessed. TheCockshutt enginegangplow came in 3 basic

One of the two 30-60s in the Museum’s collection, this tractorwas donated by F.T. Venables and J.E. Kirk of Hamiota.

sizes offering from 6 to 12 bottoms. The Museum is open year round and operates a websiteat ag-museum.mb.ca, which can provide visitors with in-formation on Museum events and location.


By Les Kletke

Consumers may not be real-izing the true value of shop-ping locally, and eatingManitoba produced foods.That does not mean switchingto a 100-mile diet eating onlywhat is produced close tohome however it could meanmaking some choices that in-clude a Manitoba food prod-uct. Lee Anne Murphy is the Ex-ecutive Director of theManitoba Agri-Health Re-search Network and she saidthere are multitudes of foodproducts produced in our prov-ince that have specific healthbenefits. “We are past the timeof believing there is a magicfood that if you eat some of aspecific food every day it willensure your health,” saidMurphy. “It is a matter ofmaking the right choices andwe believe that there is a realbenefit from some foods pro-duced here.” When asked what are thechoices that lead to greaterhealth Murphy said,“Manitoba produced oats arehigh in beta-gluten.” “It is a matter of reading thelabel and being aware of theraw product that went into thefood,” she added. She said con-sumers are paying much moreattention to labels and whilethere are still discrepancies,

By Les Kletke

Dean Harris has farmedat Melita for more than 40years and he cannot recalla succession of wet yearslike the previous andcurrent one. “We are not used tothis,” said Harris referringto only seeding about 2/3of his acreage and thengetting much of that hurtby excessive moisture. He said that it is hard toput an exact number onthe acres he seededbecause he was able toseed only one field cornerto corner and the restwere a succession ofworking around puddlesand low spots. “Someplaces there was standingwater and others it wasjust too wet to drive sowe worked around that,but now those low spotshave grown with the

Manitoba Foods Under Valuedthey do provide good infor-mation. “Labelling regulationsvary around the world andthey are not all held by thesame standard but consumersneed to look at the label as asource of information aboutwhat went into the product.” The Agri Health ResearchNetwork is made up of theRichardson Centre for Func-tional Foods at the Universityof Manitoba, The Food Di-versification Centre at Portagela Prairie and the Heart andStroke Research Centre at theSt. Boniface Hospital. Dr. Grant Piers is the Ex-ecutive Director of Researchat the St. Boniface Hospitaland he said, “We put groundflax in muffins, granola andbagels and other products andgave patients one of theseproducts everyday for a year.We saw that there was an ex-tremely large decrease in bloodpressure, which could resultin less heart attacks, stroke,and death,`` he reported. Murphy said that it is esti-mated that Manitoba food

products could contribute asmuch as $400 million in sav-ing to healthcare costs if theywere added to the diet. “Thisis not a radical change in eat-ing habits, this is merely mak-ing choices that include somehealthy foods that are pro-duced in Manitoba,” she said. A study currently underwayis evaluating using Saskatoonberry powder in yogurt tomanage pre and type II diabe-tes. The fruit’s deep red-purple colour is suggestive ofhigh levels of antioxidants.Studies indicate that antioxi-dants in Saskatoon fruit aregreater than blueberries, straw-berries or raspberries. Theberry is known as a ‘SuperFood’ containing more pro-tein, fat, fibre, calcium, mag-nesium, manganese, barium,and aluminum than blueberriesand is source of Vitamin A andVitamin C.

Dr. Peter Jones is the director of the Richardson Centre forFunctional Foods and Nutraceuticals (RCFFN).

TooMuch

MoistureNear

Melita

excess moisture thissummer.” He estimatesthat he got close to 2,000of his 3,000 acres seededand of that another 500has been lost to excessivemoisture during thegrowing season. “We used to be thedriest part of the prov-ince,” he said. “We wouldgrow malt barely believingthat the dry fall would letus get it off in goodcondition. I don’t thinkthere is any malt barelyaround after last year andit sure won’t be making acomeback.” He said his wheat hasbeen able to withstandthe excess moisture morethan his other crops andis hoping for a slightlybelow average yield. “Wewill be harvesting reducedacres and what we doharvest won’t be quietaverage but that is thecrop that is holding onthe best,” said Harris. He has given up hopeon his sunflowers and isdoubtful he will plant thecrop next year. “Theywere a part of the rotationbecause they could comethrough the dry years andstill give you a crop, thathas not been the case lastyear and this year, and Idon’t think I will plantthem again until the

weather pattern gets backto normal.” Manitoba Agriculture’scrop report indicates hisarea has received 120% ofnormal precipitation andhe feels his farm mighthave gotten even more.“There have been someisolated showers thathave dumped up to twoinches on us and whenthings are wet that is a lotof extra moisture,” saidHarris. He noted that hay cropsin the area have done welland pasture looks goodbut even they aresuffering from excessmoisture.


By Peter Vitti

As a beef nutritionist, I have advocated creep feeding spring calves for years. That’s because as feeder cattle priceshave steadily risen, there was a real profit due to creep feeding as well as some decent side-benefits. I haven’t changedthis position for 2015 and advise each cow-calf operator to calculate their own situation and see the magnitude of such apositive impact can make to one’s financial bottom-line. I believe creep feeders should be moved onto pastures at the start of the summer, even when calves are receiving lots ofmilk from their cows and grazing lush grass. Calves might only be eating only about 2 – 3 lbs of creep feed, but by mid-summer (3 – 4 months after calving); their dam’s milk production is declining, such that the average beef cow might bemeeting only about 50% of her growing calf’s requirements. In addition, pasture quality is also declining; once lush grasses are maturing and essential nutrients such as energy andprotein are not so readily available. As a result, the same calves are being drawn to the feeders and dramatically consumeabout 8 – 10 lbs of creep feed by summer’s end and well into autumn months before weaning. Consequently, these creep feeders should be filled with a well-balanced creep feed; 14% protein, medium level energy(65 – 70% TDN), balanced with calcium, phosphorus, salt, fortified trace mineral pack (especially copper, zinc and sele-nium). Ingredients that I like to use in creep feeds include: barley, wheat middling, corn distillers grain, and soybean meal,while avoid all types of feed screenings in particular. A growth promotant and coccidiostat such as monensin sodiumshould added to the final creep formula. Let us consider the economic dynamics of creep feeding for 2015 as well as for the last four years of 2011 – 2014 usingpresent and past dollar values on weaning calves and feed costs. Parameters include: I am creep feeding a group of large-framed calves with solid genetics (re: segregate out replacement heifers to other pastures and feeding programs). I also setup the actual selling price of $350 – 375/mt for 14% protein – medium energy commercial calf creep pellet that was made upof ingredients and nutrient specifications that I outlined above. My calculations also included the feed conversion ofthese pellets of 6.0 lbs of creep feed per lb of weaning weight gain and fed in about a 100-day creep feeding program.Calves are weaned at 600 lbs in the fall. Record high prices for weaned feeder cattle and modest creep feed prices, makes the decision to creep feed spring calvesduring this season attractive to myself and many people. I summarized my comparison for creep feed profitability in 2015and recent years:

Net profitability due to creep feeding range: a nominal loss (2010) to $84.60 per weaned calf (2015); a market discount of$5 per cwt gain was accounted to determine the net worthiness due to creep feeding compared to “not” creep feeding.Otherwise, creep feeding in 2011 would show $23 profit.- ROI ranged from -6% (2011) to a steady increased ROI, topped at 142% in 2015.- Value of creep gain has increased every year since 2010, mainly due to a steady increase in weaning weight calf prices.Highest value of creep gain is projected for 2015. Given the current profit picture due to creep feeding in 2015, I hear from producers that still don’t believe in the value ofcreep feeding. Some of their reasons for this year and past years are, “My pastures are good and green all summer, socalves don’t pick up creep feed.” “My calves pick up all the nutrition that they need from good grass,” or “My calves oncreep feed get too fleshy and replacement heifers get too fat.” Lastly, “Weaned calves prices are so good anyways andcreep profit adds little to my bottom-line.” Some of these arguments could be very valid for one’s own situation, but in today’s cattle market there is money to bemade by creep feeding spring calves. A custom feeding program should fit most people’s operation. When an approximate$85 per calf return due to creep feeding can bring a potential $25,000 to a 300 cow-calf operation, it’s time to creep feedcalves.

Dairy Day at the Farm and Food Discovery Centre Bring your family out to Dairy Day at the Bruce D. CampbellFarm and Food Discovery Centre on Thursday, August 6,from 10 am – 2 pm. Visit the dairy barn to learn how cowsare milked. Turn cream into butter and strawberry, choco-late or vanilla ice cream. All ages welcome. Space is limited;reserve your spot today. Admission cost is adult $5, youth(6-16) $3.50, Child (15) is free and a family (2 adults and 1-4youth) $14.50. For more information, [email protected] or 204-883-2524.

The Richer Roughstock Rodeo will take place from Au-gust 7-9. Bull-nanza, HRA rodeo, concert, social, giant Trad-ing Post, lots of kids and family activities! Visitwww.richerrodeo.ca for more info.

Canadian Cattlemen’s Association – From Tuesday, Au-gust 11- Friday, August 14 at the Holiday Inn, WinnipegAirport, Polo Park 1740 Ellice Ave. Semi-annual meetingand convention for producers and industry affiliates, net-working, entertainment, information sessions and policysetting, animal health and meat inspection, foreign trade,environment, value creation and competitiveness. ContactRSVP to Paula Jenkins at 403-275-8558, [email protected] or visit cattle.ca.

2015 Rock The Harvest – From Thursday, August 14 – 16at the Manitoba Agricultural Museum 3km south of thejunction of Highways 1 and 34, at the Austin Corner. Foodbooths, pancake breakfast, music, bringing back some ofyour favourite bands; and some new talent up on stage.Cost $60 until April 30, $70 from May 1 until the show.

Manitoba Great Western Harness Racing Circuit - OnSaturday, August 15 – Sunday August 16 and on Saturday,August 22 – Sunday, August 23 in Morris.

Last Chance – U of M Organic and Non-GMO SoybeanVariety Field Walk – On Monday, August 17 at St. Pierre-Jolys from 3 - 4 pm. The soybean field “walkabout” givesthe opportunity for farmers, agronomists, and communitymembers to see non-GM soybean varieties from Quebec,Ontario, Manitoba, and North Dakota grown under organicmanagement. A unique chance to see the varieties whenpod development and yield potential are evident, and mayshow differences between maturity ratings. It is the lastyear of the study to see some varieties grown in Manitobaunder organic management. From the junction of Hwys. 59and 205 just south of St. Pierre-Jolys, travel east about 2miles on Hwy 205. The site is on the north side of thehighway. Contact Joanne [email protected] or 204-474-6236, 1-800-432-1960 ext. 6236.

By John McGregor

The timing of rain can make it difficult for cattlemen who are trying hard to put quality hay in the bale for nextwinter’s feed supply. All producers that harvest hay occasionally will put up hay that “gets wet” from time to time.Therefore, ranchers and hay farmers need to understand the impact of “wet hay” in the tightly wound bales. Extra moisture in hay can cause heat inside the bale. Heat produced by the bale comes from two sources:1. Biochemical reactions from plants themselves as hay cures. This heating is minor and rarely causes the haytemperature to exceed 43°C. Very little if any damage occurs if the hay never exceeds 43°C.2. Most heat in hay is caused by the metabolic activity of microorganisms. They exist in all hay and thrive whenextra moisture is abundant. When the activity of these microbes increases, hay temperature rises. Hay with a littleextra moisture may not exceed 50°C, whereas, wetter hay can quickly exceed 65°C. If the hay rises above 77°C,chemical reactions may occur that produce enough heat to quickly raise the temperature above 200°C, causing thewet hay to burn. Heat damage causes hay to be less digestible, especially the protein. Heat damaged hay often turns a brownishcolor and has a caramel odour. Cattle readily eat this hay, but because of the heat damage, its nutritional valuemight be quite low. Some ranchers have reported that, “The cows ate the hay like there was no tomorrow, but theydid very poorly on the hay.” Testing the protein and energy content of stored wet hay will allow for more appropriate supplementation nextwinter when that hay is fed. Mouldy hay could be a source of mycotoxins that could present several healthproblems for cattle. Many animal disease diagnostic laboratories can examine feedstuffs for mycotoxins or canrecommend laboratories that do such testing. John McGregor is with Manitoba Forage and Grasslands Association.

It’s Time to Creep Feed Beef Calves in 2015

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By Les Kletke

Few topics attract as much conversation as the weatherand in farm communities more than anywhere. Now members of the Manitoba Forage and Grassland As-sociation are being offered to do more than talk about theweather, they can be a part of it by joining CoCoRaHAS.The acronym for the organization may justify monitoring itas a secret society but the name of the group is the Commu-nity Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network. The organization is intended to turn backyard informa-tion into more than coffee shop exchanges and asks mem-bers to report their conditional daily or as often as possibleto the CoCoRaHS.org website, where it will be compiledinto a larger database that is used by flood forecasters,conservation groups and Emergency Response Manage-ment teams. The organization also offers a fee app to use onmobile devices. Provincial Coordinator Tiffiny Taylor said that severeweather events are on the rise and accumulating more datafrom a larger base will help forecasters in the future as wellas preparation of maps detailing rainfall and extreme weatherevents. The cost for registering with the organization is $30 forthe kit, which includes a rain gauge certified in both metricand imperial systems. Manitoba Forage and Grasslands Association is hopingto have enough of its members enrol in the program to holda training session for those who become a member of thenetwork. Those who do register will be included in a drawfor a rain gauge.

Some people look with nostalgia at the “good ol’ days”thinking that the world would be a better place if we couldjust go back in time, give up on technology and returnfood and farming to the way it used to be. To these peopleI say, “poppycock!” These garbled views of the past arenot only wrong-headed they are dangerous. The days before science delivered modern agriculturalpractices, such as advanced plant breeding and effectivecrop inputs, saw the rural Canadian landscape filled withpoverty, hardship and reduced life expectancy. And this isnot that long ago – a generation or two at best. No onewho lived through these times would want to go back.People, who live in these conditions today, in developingparts of the world, deserve the chance to get out. Agriculture’s best days are not in the past they are aheadand science and research is the path that will take us there.Science and research have already delivered. Never in thehistory of human development has food been as cheapand abundant as it is today in the developed world. Neverin the history of human development has food been assafe to eat as it is today in the developed world. And Iwould argue that never in the history of human develop-ment has agriculture been as environmentally sustainableas it is today. Modern agricultural practices like zero and conservationtillage mean that Saskatchewan does not blow into Ontarioanymore like it did when my dad was growing up. Precisionagriculture and modern crop inputs minimize greenhousegas emissions and maximize the efficiency of crop nutri-ents. New varieties developed through modern plant breed-ing are delivering more and more food without having tocut down more trees. Safe food abundantly produced in a sustainable manner.Brought to you by science, research and modern agricul-ture. The forecast for the future is more of the same, onlyfaster. You might not see this message on the internet muchbecause agriculture has been particularly bad at communi-cating the benefits we deliver to society. Too often weassume everyone knows and just go about our businessproducing more food. But in an increasingly urban coun-try with generations of separation between the city andthe farm (if there ever was a connection) this assumption isdangerously wrong. It is dangerous to assume that consumers are aware ofthe benefits of modern farming because the vacuum cre-ated by the lack of communication from agriculture is be-ing filled by those who want us to reject science and turnour backs on the future benefits that research can deliver.Farms and industry must speak out in defense of scienceor we will lose our ability to advance the industry. Examplesof the anti-science message are all around us, from thosewho put us all at risk because they don’t trust vaccina-tions to those who want to ban pesticides, seed treatmentsor varieties developed through modern biotechnology. Fortunately, we are seeing renewed investment in Cana-dian agriculture research. Recently the French firmLimagrain and Canterra Seeds announced a major researchpartnership. Alberta Wheat Commission and Agricultureand Agri-Food Canada are partnering with private indus-try to deliver new varieties to Canadian farmers. Bayer hasrecently announced significant investments in wheat breed-ing in western Canada. Richardson has recently completedexpansion of their research farm in Manitoba. These arejust a few examples demonstrating great optimism in thefuture of Canadian agriculture. The economic benefits delivered by agriculture researchand development are part of the Canadian DNA. In 1904Dr. Charles Saunders’ first planting of Marquis Wheat was12 seeds. Less than 20 years later, there were 20 millionacres of Marquis grown in western Canada and the US.This research, these 12 seeds, opened up the CanadianPrairies, delivered jobs and growth and was the backboneof communities that seemed to spring up overnight. Mar-quis Wheat is powerful demonstration of what researchdelivers. I have a sheaf of Marquis Wheat (a little sheaf) onmy mantle at home. To me, it is a symbol of what agricultureresearch will accomplish again – if society lets it happen. Cam Dahl is President of Cereals Canada.

By Les Kletke

Peter Fehr acknowledgesthat putting up quality feedhas been a challenge thisyear although a challengehe does mind when the re-wards are like this. “We put our first cut intosilage so that makes iteasier than it used to bewhen we put it up as hayand need more drying timebut this year the rains kepton coming and it was achallenge to get the silageup as well.” Fehr has 300 dairy cowsnear Grunthal and puts themajority of his feed in si-lage. He might have someextra feed this year becauseof the same rains that

Agriculture’s Best Days AheadAgriculture’s Best Days AheadAgriculture’s Best Days AheadAgriculture’s Best Days AheadAgriculture’s Best Days Ahead

A Chance to DoSomething About

the Weather

The Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association is encourag-ing their members to become a part a weather recordingnetwork.

The organization’s website also has a survey page toevaluate the commitment involved in becoming a mem-ber. The Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association is en-couraging its members to be a part of the network andmake up for the gaps that exist between automated weatherstations across Manitoba. There is little or no reportingdone from these areas and isolated events are lost fromrecord. This is a chance to do more that talk about the weather.

Excess MB Bales Could Move Westproved a challenge for thefirst cut. “It has been rain-ing and significantamounts,” he said. “Thatand the warm weather haveaided in the growth of a sec-ond cut.” He is hesitant tosay there is the possibilityof a third cut even with rapidgrowth and adequate mois-ture. He knows that feed will bein short supply in manyparts of the prairies but hasnot yet decided what he willdo with any excess. “Theprice is tempting but we alsoknow that next year it couldbe us that is short of qualityfeed and I like to have someon hand in case things gopoorly of us,” said Fehr. He thinks he might have

partial excess amountsfrom his second cut and ifa third cut were to de-velop; he could bale it andsell it to producers inAlberta. Some predictionsare for feed prices to hit$300-350 a tonne in Albertathis fall. “That would cer-tainly be tempting but wedon’t have excess feed yet,we have a good secondcut standing in the fieldand it could provide uswith a good amount ofquality feed but until it isin the yard we aren’tcounting on it.” In Fehr’s judgement thecorn stand looks to be anabove average yield oncorn silage as well. “Theheat and moisture havedone well for the corn andwhile it got off to a slowstart it is well ahead of av-erage now,” he said. He

will cut some corn silage tomix with the forage he hasalready put up and to thispoint is pleased with theway the year is shaping up.“We struggled throughsome of the wet times thisspring, and have somegood feed, not the samechallenges to get the sec-ond cut put away.”

A more liberalized trade agreement between Canada andthe Ukraine is a positive step according to the CanadianPork Council (CPC). “This will provide important additional export opportuni-ties for the Canadian pork industry”, said Rick Bergmann,CPC Chair. “Given that we export well over two-thirds of ourproduction, such new market possibilities help us to achievethe best overall return.” “We look forward to the upcoming visit by Ukrainian gov-ernment inspectors which should allow additional Cana-dian pork processing plants to become eligible to export toUkraine,” added Bergmann, who farms in the Steinbach area.“The industry estimates that the duty-free access whichthis new agreement will provide for pork would be between30 and 40 million dollars in value.”

Canada-Ukraine TradeAgreement Welcome News


By Elmer Heinrichs

Agriculture and Agri-FoodCanada has assumed belowtrend yields in its July pre-liminary estimates of princi-pal field crop areas due toextremely dry conditions inAlberta and Saskatchewan. Total production of fieldcrops is forecast to decreasemodestly but total supply isexpected to fall by about 10%due to significantly lowercarry-in stocks and imports.For grains and oilseeds, pro-duction in Canada will de-crease slightly. Area seeded to wheat inCanada fell by 5% from 2014-15 with a marginal decrease

By Bill Stilwell

A turkey vulture spottedresting near Wellwood,Manitoba has good reasonto be tired. This raptor hadjust completed a flight ofmore than 6,000 km. Thisinformation was learned, inpart, from a highly visibleband attached to the bird’swing. The Turkey Vulture,wearing a green wing tagwith white letters, wassighted while perched ona dead tree limb three mileswest of Wellwood. Theband, #74E, was recordedand submitted to the birdband website. The resultscame back almost in-stantly stating the bird wasbanded as a nestling byDr. Stuart Houston and histeam, at a location six milessouth of Debden,Saskatchewan on July 8,2012, making the bird threeyears old. Turkey vultures are largebirds, with a wingspan ofup to nearly six feet. Theyare scavenging birds ofprey that are easily identi-fied by their featherless redheads and dark brownplumage. In flight, theyhold their wings in a slight“V” above their backs.Vultures have an acutesense of smell, which

Banded Turkey VultureShows Up in Manitoba

helps them find carrion,which is their main foodsource. Often their nests arefound in abandonedhouses, barns, granariesand other farm buildings. A call to Dr. Houston pro-vided additional informa-tion. Theirs is the largestnestling Turkey Vulturewing-tagging program inNorth America. It started in2002, with 1,226 nestlingstagged in 227 buildings. Heexplained that vultureslikely spend their first win-ter in Costa Rica. Duringtheir second migration, theylikely travel all the way toVenezuela. Turkey Vulture#74E had made the long tripsouth three times. Back in 1976, I spotted my

first turkey vulture in theextreme southeast corner ofthe province, near Sprague.This was a very rare obser-vation at the time. Sincethen they have graduallyexpanded their rangeacross the entire province,and now they nest here ona regular basis. If you happen to have anabandoned barn, granaryor other buildings on yourproperty take a look and seeif there is a turkey vulturenesting inside. If you havethe misguided notion ofgetting up close and per-sonal with a nestling, thinkagain. Young turkey vul-tures have a unique de-fence technique. They canproject vomit of rottenflesh.

Bill Stilwell is an award winning outdoor writer, author and naturalist based in Neepawa. He isthe author of three best-selling nature books. His most recent book is Manitoba Wild, a bookabout amazing nature secrets found throughout Manitoba. His website is Manitobawild.com, oremail [email protected].

SmallerCrop

ForecastDue to Dry

PrairieConditions

for spring wheat and a 32% de-cline for winter wheat, whichfell due to the late fall harvest.Hard red spring, other springand extra strong wheat acresrose, while Canada PrairieSpring and soft wheats fell.Production is forecast to fallby 9% to 21.9 Mt due to theloss in acres and lower yields. The price of barley this yearhas been supported by dryconditions in Alberta and thewestern half of Saskatchewan,where 70-80% of prairie pro-duction is grown. Manitobabarley is generally in goodshape but barley crop condi-tions deteriorate as you movefurther west. Barley produc-tion in Canada is expected todecrease to the new record lowof 6.9 Mt. While poor corn plant popu-lations and emergence, andearly insect damage, causedsome area losses, Manitoba’scorn crop is now in generallygood shape after a rebound inthe weather. Growing conditions on theprairies have been less thanideal however; the main oat-growing region on the prairies(Manitoba and easternSaskatchewan) has had the bestof the poor conditions with

oats being in generally reason-able shape. But even in these areas, con-ditions can vary widely withnear record yields suggestedin parts of southern Manitobato only fair crop conditions inparts of Saskatchewan. Yield forecasts for canolahave been lowered by 10% forAlberta, by 5% forSaskatchewan and left un-changed for Manitoba. Grow-ing conditions are extremelychallenging across the westernhalf of the prairies, as theweather remains hot and dry.Total production is forecast todecline slightly. Canada’s soybean crop ispredicted to rise by 2% as thefocus of the crop continues toshift westward. WhileQuebec’s soybean acreage fell10%, both Manitoba andSaskatchewan added acreage. The area seeded to dry beansis down by 8% from 2014-15because of lower potential re-turns compared to other crops,particularly soybeans andcorn. Next to Ontario,Manitoba is Canada’s largestproducer of soybeans. A re-duced yield and price are fore-cast.

The Barley Council ofCanada (BCC) has signed anagreement to collaboratewith China AgricultureUniversity (CAU) in thedevelopment of a jointCanada–China feed barleystudy. The official signingceremony was held in Beijingwhere signatories Dr. Hu,Professor at CAU, and Philde Kemp, Executive Directorof BCC, signed a letter ofintent to work towards thedevelopment of a three-yearCanadian feed barley studyin China. “Our council is verypleased to solidify thispartnership,” said de Kemp.“The door is now open todevelop a strong relationshipwith the most prestigiousagriculture university inChina.” The three-year feed barleystudy will consist of threeindividual feeding trialsconcerning dairy, hog andcattle operations in China.The scope of the research tobe developed will evaluatethe use of Canadian feedbarley in feed rations and itseffects on dairy milkproduction, animal health,weight/carcass gain efficien-cies and all aspects of cattle

Barley Council Announces JointCanada–China Feed Barley Study

and hog meat quality. “This opportunity is hugefor Canada’s barleyindustry,” said de Kemp. “Itis our hope that the resultsof this collaborative study

will provide additionalcommercial and economicbenefits for barley farmers inCanada, as well as dairy, beefand pork producers andconsumers in China.”


By Joan Airey

Naomi Best is lookingforward to attendingManitoba Beef Round-Upin Neepawa. She liveswith her parents Wendaand Donald Best on ClayHills Livestock farm southof Harding. Three yearsago, she became anAngus representative onthe MYB Round-UpBoard with many dutiesincluding contactingsponsors about Round-Up. Another duty is toplan some of the funevents for the juniors toattend on the weekend. “This year I haveorganized an Ag Chal-lenge which is a timedevent for all of the teamsto compete in. It is aneducational challenge aswell. Some of the stationsare names of feed, makinga halter, tagging andtattooing cattle,” saidBest. She enjoys beingactively involved in thelivestock industry andhas never missedattending Round-Upsince its inception in 2008.She turned sixteen andhas eight years in herlocal 4-H Beef Club. This Naomi Best receives an award from Cody Nolan for top

placement in Senior Judging in the Rivers Beef 4-H.

Round-Up Great Experience for Next Generation of Cattle Producersyear she donated tenpercent of the money shereceived for her 4-H steerto help her school friendwho is battling cancer. “It’s a three event forenthusiastic livestockexhibitors. We have manyfun activities like the AgChallenge and Quiz Bowl.Friday evening all thejuniors arrive, register andget their cattle settled in.We have supper alltogether and then we getour teams for the weekend

to compete in Ag Chal-lenge. This is a chance foreveryone to get to knowwho’s on their team andwho they can go to forhelp throughout theweekend. On Saturdaythings kick-off withbreakfast and then westart our compulsoryevents like individualjudging, sales talk andimpromptu speeches. Thepeewees and juniors takepart in sales talk andintermediates and seniors

do the impromptuspeeches. After lunch, we haveteam grooming followedwith team marketing andteam judging. For supperon Saturday evening theteams are involved in acook-off. To wrap thingup we have a quiz bowlfor all juniors, which is aseries of livestock, andnon-livestock relatedquestions. Sundaymorning is showmanship

and after lunch we haveconfirmation classes.Once the awards startafter supper you realizehow fast the weekendpasses,” said Best. “It’s the highlight of thesummer for me becauselots of my friends attendand we can wrap up ourfinal summer showtogether attendingRound-Up. I decided tobecome a board memberto express some ideas that

we could have in ourshow and take on the roleof becoming a leader tomany other juniorparticipants,” said Best. Best’s enthusiasm forthe livestock industryshows as her summervacation was spentattending the CalgaryStampede to watch theUFA Junior Steer Classic.Round Up takes place inNeepawa from July 31-August 1.

AgriPost July 31 2015

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Transcript of AgriPost July 31 2015