AgriPost Sept 26 2014

September 26, 2014 1The Agri Post

By Les Kletke

Terry Buss said that harvest is the ideal time to evaluatewhat went wrong and what went right in this year’s soybeancrop. Buss, a Farm Production Advisor with Manitoba Agri-culture, Food and Rural Development Agri-Food (MAFRD)told farmers attending the Marc Hutlet Seeds field day thatthis was the time to evaluate the conditions of the crop andhow that has translated into their combine hopper. He suggested a few simple tools that could help producersmake quick evaluations of their crop and make plans to dobetter next year. The first tool he suggested was a piece of 2x 4. He referred to a former WWF Wrestler in his openingremarks but had a much more practical application than theformer workhorse wrestler had. “I am not trying to be like Jim Dugan the old wrestler,” hesaid. “But take a piece of 2 x 4 with you to the field and use itas an indicator of how low you should be cutting; the thick-ness of the 2 x 4 is the height of the lowest pods. If you’rehigher than that you are losing beans in the cutting opera-tion.” He suggested that most farmers’ work boots were agood estimate of a foot, and if they placed them at rightangles, they could have a sq. ft. measure. “If you put your feet together you can see a square footand if you have 4 seeds in that area you are loosing a busheland acre,” said Buss. “1-3% loss is all that you can afford;after that you have to adjust your harvesting.” Buss said that in most cases, the speed of the pickup reel istoo much for the ground speed of the machine and it causesshattering. Rather than increasing the ground speed of thereel it should be decreased and he recommends a groundspeed of 3 mph for harvesting beans. Buss was also equipped with a hula-hoop and suggestedfarmers use something that simple to get an accurate ratingof their plant populations. “I use a 28 inch hula-hoop and have done the calculationto convert it to square feet per acre and can do the plant

Simplest Toolsto Use for Crop

Evaluation

Terry Buss of MAFRD says harvest is not only the time to set thecombine but to check plant stands and evaluate seedingpractices. Photo by Les Kletke

population calculations,” he said. “It is not about how manyplants you seeded it is about how many live plants you haveat harvest time.” He explained that number could easily be10% less than at planting time. Buss further added that current research indicates that re-ducing the number of plants might be more beneficial toincreasing yield. Studies being conducted by MAFRD indi-cate that recommended seeding rates are lower than the160,000 per acre than was recommend when the crop wasfirst introduced. He noted the recommended seeding rates for plant popula-tions would be adjusted this winter when results of this year’stests are calculated.

The recent signing the final text of the Canada-Koreafree trade agreement (CKFTA) in a special ceremony onParliament Hill is a major step in right direction accord-ing to many Canadian farm associations. Signed during an official mission by Korean PresidentPark Geun-hye to Ottawa, the agreement between Canadaand the Republic of Korea comes just three months afterthe text of the CKFTA was tabled in the Canadian Parlia-ment. Under the terms of the agreement, the 40 per cent Ko-rean tariff on fresh and frozen beef will be fully elimi-nated in 15 equal annual steps and the 18 per cent tariffon offals will be fully eliminated in 11 equal annual steps. The tariff has been the main impediment to accessingthe Korean market since Korea lifted its BSE prohibitionon Canada in early 2012, said Canadian Cattlemen’s As-sociation (CCA) President Dave Solverson. The impact of the tariff disadvantage is clear. In 2002,Korea was a $40 million market for Canadian beef and itsfourth largest export destination. In 2013, with a grow-ing tariff disadvantage relative to U.S. beef, Canada ex-ported $7.8 million. The CKFTA signals to Korean buy-ers that they can resume their relationship with Cana-dian beef and maintain a long-term competitive position. “This is excellent news for Canadian beef producers,”said CCA Director of Government and International Re-lations, John Masswohl, who attended the formal sign-ing ceremony in Ottawa. “This will put canola on equal footing with other oil-seeds, improving export opportunities for both seed andoil,” says Patti Miller, President of the Canola Council ofCanada (CCC). Under the terms of the agreement, the current 5% tariffthat Korea applies to canola seed will be eliminated im-mediately when the agreement takes effect, with refinedcanola oil and crude oil tariffs eliminated over three andseven years respectively. The CCC estimates that theagreement could double South Korea’s imports of Cana-dian canola seed and oil, which are currently valued at$60-90 million annually.

SignaturesAffixed to

Canada-KoreaFTA

September 26, 20142 The Agri Post

By Les Kletke

A Minnesota canola crusher isbuilding a receiving facility inWinkler to access more Manitobacanola. “Manitoba has always beenthe source of about half of thecanola we crush,” said Jay Bjerkeof North Star Agri Industries inHallock, Minnesota. The facil-ity in Winkler will be a 1,500metric ton high throughput ca-pacity to make it easier forManitoba producers to delivercanola. “Weight restrictions make iteasier for Canadian farmers todeliver b-trains with great pay-load,” said Bjerke. “They can de-liver to Winkler and we willmove the canola to our plant withtrucks that carry a smaller loadbut will have a dedicated runfrom Winkler to Hallock.” While the idea of sourcing isnot new for the Minnesotacrusher, it does have some inno-vative payment programs thatmight be attractive to Manitobafarmers. The company offersfarmers the opportunity to gaina 6% premium over market price. The first option is growing va-rieties that the company has des-

AmericanFirm

WantsManitoba

Canola

ignated as high oil content. If afarmer grows the selected variet-ies, they earn an additional 5%.Varieties are yield competitiveand some are top yield varietieslike Invigor, which has becomean industry benchmark. Theyalso have an option to earn anadditional 1% using thecompany’s VRT program. “VRT is variable rate technol-ogy and any farmer who uses itwill see the premium,” saidBjerke. “Nutrient run-off hasbeen cited as a major source ofpollution in waterways and wewill reward any farmer whomakes an effort to use inputsmore efficiently.” The technol-ogy applies variable rates of fer-tilizer to zones on the field whereit will be used most efficiently. “The program breaks the fieldinto areas of high, medium andlow and applies fertilizer thatwill be used to the optimum yieldwith least run off,” said Bjerke.He believes North Star is the firstcompany to engage in this typeof program. “We are the first ones to putour money where our mouth is,”he explained with a chuckle. “Ev-eryone talks about environmen-tal concerns but we believe thisis a step towards addressingthem.” The company will see nobenefit in the seed derived fromthese fields rather the companysees this as a good corporate citi-zen move. “The higher oil content helpsmake our plant more efficient sowe are happy to do that and pro-vide a return for farmers who helpwith that,” he said. He further added, contracts for2015 production are alreadyavailable and the delivery facil-ity is expected to be operationalthis fall.


By Harry Siemens

Farmers believe that theManitoba government continuesto thwart hog expansion in theprovince with its stringent andnone-bending environmentalregulations. In attempting to change theminds of local MLAs to put pres-sure on the government,Manitoba Pork is asking thebusiness community to get in-volved in the hog moratoriumdebate. Gerald Waldner, hog boss of theNorth Star Producers, BloomingPrairie Colony at Homewood andDistrict Advisor for ManitobaPork said Manitoba needs hogproduction expansion becauseMaple Leaf Foods is runningshort on hogs for their Brandonplant. “The government wants zeropollution on the hog manurewhich is impossible,” saidWaldner. He said no matter what,despite doing the best in lookingafter their business in accordancewith the regulations the govern-ment refuses to budge. “We wantthe public, the business commu-nities and the media to help con-vince their MLAs that the pro-ducers are doing the best we canand it isn’t nearly as bad as gov-ernment makes us out to be,”

By Harry Siemens

Weldon Newton, a pastpresident of two major farmorganizations in Manitoba, aformer hog producer and grainfarmer said grain producerscould face the same regulationperil the hog industry is facedwith in Manitoba. Newton who was President ofKeystone Agricultural Produc-ers (KAP) from 2002 to 2004and served, as head of theManitoba Hog Marketing Boardin the 90s is not happy aboutthe increased regulations. “I’m not very happy rightnow with the hog issues, but thebigger issue facing pretty wellall of agriculture may well be aprecursor to what the grainsindustry is facing already withan abundance of regulations andmost likely more to come thatdon’t make any agronomic andenvironmental sense,” saidNewton. He shut down his hog barnsbecause the government made itillegal to winter-spread theirmanure and they were not bigenough to change to a lagoon

Pork Industry States its Caseto Chamber of Commerce

said Waldner from the colony’shog barn near Homewood. He does not think producersshould be able to expand in allareas, especially where hog pro-duction is at maximum capacityand should instead look for ar-eas where farmers can use themanure for their fields and pro-ducers can expand. “We’re fol-lowing all the manure codes whenwe inject that stuff,” he said. The Blooming Prairie colonyruns an 850-sow farrow to fin-ish system, farms 4,000 acresand can inject manure on at leastthree quarters of the land basewithin three miles of the barn. “Right now we are not lookingat expanding but their mothercolony, Rose Valley, ten mileswest of Carman is short of fin-isher space,” said Waldner. “Andhas the land base to expand, butcan’t.” According to Waldner with hogprices good and feed prices low,the hog industry looks good forthe next year. “With the abun-dant crops coming off in the U.S.,the feed prices will drop evenmore making it still more profit-able to raise pigs.” Karl Kynoch, Chair ofManitoba Pork agrees withWaldner calling on the province’sbusiness community to applypressure on their local MLAs to

rethink provincial governmentpolicies dramatically reducingthe volumes of hogs producedfor processing. Kynoch told members of theBrandon Chamber of Commercerecently that hog production hascontributed greatly toManitoba’s GDP; however, thehog moratorium is jeopardizingthe economic benefits. “Business brings people andagain that turns into more busi-ness, more housing, spin-off,”said Kynoch. “All those peopleworking at the Maple Leafplant, they’re all shopping forgroceries, going to Tim Hortons,going to other coffee shops,they spend money in Brandonand when you spend money itjust generates the economy andkeeps the cycle going.” Kynoch challenged the Bran-don businesses to help educatesome of the MLAs to presentall the positive things produc-ers do in handling the manure. “I think if our chamber mem-bers and members of the publiccan pressure their MLAs to dothat it would be probably oneof the biggest things they coulddo,” he added. “Even if the gov-ernment approved new barnconstruction today, it wouldstill take two years before thosebarns would be producing hogs.”

HogRegulationsPrecursorto MoreGrain

Legislation

and for three to five yearseveryone in the hog businesslost money. The government in Manitobahas reduced those thresholds asthey relate to the spreading ofmanure to the point it does notmake any sense. Now they aregetting into odour and that isreally the perception of thebeholder, he said, not the

government. His biggest concern lies withthe regulation of fertilizerapplication on how, when andwhere farmers can apply it. “There are some attempts atbanning fall application offertilizer and very few farmers,or should I say none of us,have the equipment to applyall our fertilizer in the spring,”said Newton. “To put it downwith the seed, which maybe betheoretically possible but inmost cases you have to have adifferent drill with highercapacity, only adds to thecost.” He is not opposed to havingreasonable protection of theenvironment and LakeWinnipeg, however accordingto Newton the government isgoing overboard and this meansthat no one will be able to builda new hog barn in Manitoba. “I can accept the oppositionto winter spreading to someextent but it isn’t nearly as big

a risk in some areas as theymake it out to be,” saidNewton. “There is a reasonwhy people have not built hogbarns for the last five years andthe government keeps makingthe regs worse. I don’t knowhow many hundreds of millionsof dollars of hog barns sitvacant out there right now thatcould produce much neededpigs.” He stated Maple Leaf inBrandon needs the productionand is concerned on how longHyLife in Neepawa will keepgoing if no one can increaseproduction. He does not thinkthey can keep buying otherbarns to keep their supply up. For Newton, when he retiredfrom the hog business theycleaned out the pits and barnsturning it all into dry storage.

Weldon Newton of Neepawasays it concerns him to thinkthe grains industry could findthemselves in the samepredicament as the hogindustry if the governmentkeeps adding bad regulations.

“There aresome attemptsat banning fallapplication of

fertilizer...”


by RolfPenner

PennersPoints

[email protected] There are times when I am overwhelmedby the choices that consumers have evenfor relatively mundane products. Whowould have thought even two decades agothat flour could become a differentiated

product, there is white, white enriched, whole grain, white for bread machines, white forsome other kind of process. The aisle seems endless at least to me when I am looking forthe one that my wife has put on the list. I won’t even get into the soft drink issue, or the now non-visible tobacco products, Ican’t see them (so I suppose they don’t exist) but can you imagine how many brands ofcigarettes there are? We haven’t even thought about the fruit flavoured ones intendedfor kids that don’t like smoking and just want to be cool. A few years ago, that wasrelegated to the role of menthol, which was a crude hybrid of tobacco and mint. Product differentiation is everywhere it seems and farmers were being told about theadvantages that would be coming to them with the increase of ‘Identity Preserved’ cropsonly a few years ago. We don’t think that it happened, at least not to the degree promisedwhich was to result in bulging wallets but a look at the canola industry has me wonder-ing. Canola is a crop that is less that one farmer lifetime old, I still remember somethingcalled rapeseed and how Double Zero Rapeseed came along and it was so different theyhad to come up with a new name and canola was born. Next was the proliferation of seedcompanies and increased yields and then herbicide tolerance brought on by geneticmodification. Seems the options for farmers who are considering the crop continues to expand andnow there is the traditional herbicide tolerant that has the lion’s share of the market, butthere is a premium being offered for the production of non-GMO and there is also the IPcontracts for specific oil traits. Just this past month there was an announcement of anAmerican crusher building a receiving station in our country and the list goes on. Theoptions for this crop seem endless. After a very short time, it was dubbed the Cinderella crop as it seemed to come out ofnowhere and offered producers a positive bottom line when little else did. It seems thatCinderella is doing her best to stay the belle of the ball and turning into what her suitors

are looking for. What is the right kind of canola? The right kind is thekind that the market wants and now it seems the marketis also dividing into several segments (segments arebigger than niches) extending to producers even morechoices. The market wants canola and you can decidewhich segment you will service. Seems that the market place is working and farmers aregoing to answer the market call as long as the market iswilling to put its money where its mouth is. There isalways that issue.

People who call themselves Libertarians – championsof free markets and smaller government —at some pointor another are confronted with what’s intended to be akiller question that ends the discussion. “So, I guess you’d like to build your own roadstoo!” One might reply weakly, “Yes that might be a problem and let’s talk about it after weagree on everything else,” or, better still, one could say, “You mean like the Swedes?” That’s right. In Sweden, a country famous for socialism, two-thirds of its roads areowned and managed by Private Road Associations (PRAs). They do such a good job ofit that some cities actually hire them to look after the municipal roads that connect toprivate ones. A study published by Britain’s Transportation Research Board details how it all works.Overall, costs are lower and results are better than those of government-owned roadagencies are, the study says. This conclusion is all the more significant when you con-sider that some 283,000 kilometres of Swedish roads fall into the privately owned andmanaged category. History and tradition partly explain what’s going on. The first Swedish private roadarrangements go back to the fifth century, when Christianity was introduced. The churchneeded roads to all villages so they could collect tithes; farmers were required to pay atenth of their harvest income in kind. In the fourteenth century, King Magnus Erikssonenacted the first legislation that applied to all Swedish roads. It stated that, “Everybodyshall be responsible for roads and bridges as far as his property ranges.” Not until 1944 did, the governments start to involve itself with this network of privateroads. After the Second World War, when heavier trucks and more cars started to appear,demand increased for more and better roads. More traffic also meant increased pressurefrom private road owners for compensation from government for the additional upkeep.In the early 1950’s, Parliament created a system that would allow for such compensation. The PRAs come in all shapes and sizes. A good number of them are made up of just afew households that manage only a small distance of roads. Others can include as manyas 3,500 properties and be responsible for 70 kilometres of roads. Finland has a similar arrangement. Surprisingly, the province of Ontario also gets amention in the British study as it too has some cost-sharing arrangements with peoplewho have organized themselves into local road boards. South Africa has had somesuccess with this kind of arrangement as well and some East European countries aretaking a hard look at duplicating Sweden’s system. Because state subsidies help the PRAs, one could argue that the arrangement is notpurely a private enterprise. Yet the study points out that, “The Swedish model for manag-ing low volume roads is simple and efficient and can easily be adapted to a variety ofcircumstances in both rich and poor countries.” It works very well. Our own history and traditions sometimes cloud our thinking on these subjects. Justbecause we’ve always had government, directly looking after our roads doesn’t neces-sarily mean that there’s not another way. The Swedish model certainly shows us there is.How many more goods and services that people think only government can providemight be handled better in the private sector? If you talk to Libertarians, the answer is, “Alot.”

This year, as indeed likemany years over the lasttwo decades, has been ayear when many ofManitoba’s farm fieldswere flooded. With the in-creasing evidence of achanging climate and in-creased wet weatherevents, we need to lookbeyond traditional solu-tions for new ways of ef-fectively addressing watermanagement in our prov-ince. On July 30, I attended asummit on Tile Drainage inWinkler. I first became in-terested in tile drainage

What’s Rightfor the Market?

Private Roads andthe Libertarian Way

TileDrainage -

An EffectiveWater

ManagementOption

By Jon Gerrard

about a decade ago, whenI began asking whyManitoba was considereda much higher risk area forcrop losses than Ontario.One of the reasons I dis-covered was the fact thatin Ontario about 50 percentof agricultural land is tiledrained, while in Manitobait was less than 1 per cent. With tile drainage, the freewater is taken more quicklyout of the top two to threefeet of the cropland result-ing in fewer problems withexcess moisture, less likeli-hood of not being able to

seed the land because ofwet weather and a greaterlikelihood of getting a goodcrop. Studies in Ontarioshowed yields on tile-drained land were as muchas 40 to 50 percent higher,

on average, than on non-tile drained land. The an-swer seemed simple, in-crease tile drainage and wecould reduce risks to farm-ers and increase yields in

Manitoba. Introducing tile drainagein Manitoba has movedslowly, though it is nowapparent that it is gainingconsiderable momentum.As it is being used more inour province, objections orconcerns over its use arebeing answered and eachyear many more acres inManitoba are being tiledrained. As was detailed atthe summit, tile drainageaccomplishes several help-ful functions for farmers.Because much of the wateris taken out of the top layerof the ground, the groundcan act as a sponge whenthere is new heavy rain.Since, the tile takes wateroff the land more slowlythan when water runs rap-idly off the surface thishelps those downstream.Because the water passesthrough the land instead ofrunning off the top, morephosphorous is bound inthe soil as a nutrient for thecrop and less contaminates

the water. Another advan-tage is that it pushes cropsto put down deeper rootsearlier in the growing sea-son; crops are protectedfrom hot dry July days. One of the reasons tiledrainage has moved slowlyin Manitoba is the cost. InOntario, the governmentrealized the many benefitsof tile drainage, includingthe net benefit in terms offarm income and the factthat the costs to the publictreasury would be re-couped in greater tax rev-enue from improved cropyields. Appreciating thesebenefits, the government inOntario provided a subsidyto farmers to help install tiledrainage. Is this an approach thatwe should look at inManitoba? Are we ready topromote tile drainage to alarger extent, or are therestill more questions thatneed to be asked? I welcome comments [email protected].

Field without tile drainage.

Field with tile drainage.


Good things keep happening to farming, especially, grain farming if you don’t look at thegrain prices right now and instead at how the big companies keep building infrastructurein Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Viterra, owned by Glencore Xstrata one of Canada’s grain industry leaders, intends tobuild a new high throughput grain terminal at Ste. Agathe located near the company’scanola crush plant. The new terminal will have a storage capacity of approximately 30,000metric tonnes, including the ability to load up to 124 railcars with access to both CanadianNational and Burlington Northern andSanta Fe rail service, allowing greateraccess to move east, west and south. Kyle Jeworski, Viterra’s President andNorth American CEO, said this signifi-cant investment is another excellent ex-ample of their commitment to continu-ously evaluate and optimize their assetnetwork for the benefit of customers. Jeworski said Viterra has a long his-tory of operating in this area andpartnering with local farmers and thisnew facility will support their continuedsuccess and ensure strategic position-ing to provide superior service. The company plans to start preliminary work this fall, with full construction scheduled toget under way next spring. Jeworski hopes to see the facility completed within the next 18months. The Ste. Agathe cold-press canola plant, beside where this new terminal is going, sat inwater through the 1997 flood, after a German businessman had built it, who many fearedand later proven right, did it to scam off some money. A contractor from Ontario rescuedthe facility to recoup some of his losses and later Viterra bought it. I remember all too clearly, when Saskatchewan Wheat Pool was worth pennies on thedollar, while CEO Mayo Schmidt tried to keep it afloat. Then with a swiftly took overAgricore United, a conglomerate of Alberta Wheat Pool, Manitoba Pool Elevators and theUnited Grain Growers with money from Wall Street financiers, much to the chagrin offarmers in western Canada. Mayo Schmidt told me had they waited six months on thetakeover. Eventually Sask Wheat Pool became Viterra and the rest they say is almost historybecause the buyouts continued with Glencore’s $6.1-billion purchase of Viterra on Janu-ary 31, 2013. Soon after in a deal with Glencore, Richardson International Limited acquired19 country elevators, 13 crop input centres co-located with those elevators and three oat-processing plants in western Canada that were formerly owned and operated by Viterra for$800 million. The company owns the former Viterra elevator west of Winkler and the Can-Oat Milling plant at Portage la Prairie. In a recent news release the company states Viterra is Canada’s grain industry leader,supported by the expertise of its people, a superior network of assets and unrivalledconnections to world markets. Every time I travel to Altona, I see more and more construction at the new Bunge canolaplant. After starting in-ground construction work in the summer of 2011, the plant wasinitially scheduled to operate sometime by mid-2013 and no one knows for sure at whatcost, higher than the 100 million dollars speculated at the first announcement. Be that as it may, the good thing is with the plant replacement that first began just afterWWII, this new one will more than double Bunge’s capacity in Altona, from 1,100 to 2,500metric tonnes per day. Bunge will shut down the current canola crush facility once the new plant comes online.Rumour has it that Bunge might be looking at building a new elevator to handle grain there,but no one knows for sure. While speaking with a company representative recently, I’mthinking this plant may get to crush canola sometime in the new year. Great news for the local farmers and of course the economies in the area. Here is thekicker in all this. Because of several buyouts and hard, persistent work by people in theAltona canola plant even before Bunge finally bought it, the plant was kept alive and nowthey are setting up a larger canola crush facility right in our back yard. While farm production increases so, do those who handle the grain processing, makingit easier for those farmers to sell inexpensively without increasing farm size.

Dear Editor: I just wanted to congratulate you on the article you published in the August 29edition of AgriPost about the GMO debate. I am sure you will feel a backlash fromsome in mainstream agriculture but this science has to come out and the widespreaduse of glyphosate needs to be questioned. I brought this same information to the attention of the Federal Agricultural Minis-ter and the Federal Health Minister this spring and was assured that chemicals are allthoroughly reviewed. With GMO alfalfa, coming on stream it is going to multiply theproblem again.Thanks for your time.Ian GrossartBrandon, MB

Great for Local Economyas Ag Companies

Continue to Expand

The Bunge canola processing plant almost readyfor processing in Altona.

Photo by Ben Dueck

Glyphosate Debate


By Les Kletke

Terry Buss has changed his approach to visiting farmer’s fieldsby now dressing for protection. He is not worried about protect-ing himself from the “Franken plants” that some opponents ofGMO speak about instead he is concerned about preventing thespread of disease from one field to another. The Beausejour based Farm Production Advisor with ManitobaAgriculture, Food and Rural Development (MAFRD) said thatone of the factors that has driven the change is the larger area heservices. “I am visiting fields through a large part of eastern Manitoba,”he said at a field day near Steinbach. “If I were to carry a diseasefrom one field to another I could do it in a large area very quickly.”Another factor that has driven Manitoba Agriculture to increaseprotection methods is the appearance of disease like club root incanola and soybean nematode. “We want to be proactive,” he said. “We know these things areout there and it is a matter of when they hit, not if so, if we canslow down the possibility we need to take every precautionpossible.” Buss said that he now wears plastic bag boots onevery visit to a field as well as gloves and hand sanitizer to cleanhis hands after examining any plants. The program was a trial lastyear and for the 2014 crop has become standard procedure. “The year of trial was good,” he said. “It allowed me to developa system and a kit that I keep in my office and can grab when I goout on a field call.” It has taught him to find suppliers of theoften-needed items like plastic shoe covers. A local vet has be-come an emergency supplier.Buss said the procedure no longer feels that it is slowing himdown. “We have gotten so used to it that it is a part of the visit,” hesaid. “We think of the ramifications of what could happen withthe spread of something like club root and it is pretty easy to takethe precautionary steps.” He has no illusions that he can prevent the spread of all diseasewith these sanitization procedures but encourages everyone totake all reasonable steps in preventing problems. “We see what can happen with the transportation of machin-ery and encourage farmers to be diligent in cleaning machinerywhen moving it and especially bringing it in from another area. Ifthey purchase a combine head from the US where disease prob-lems already exist, it is critical to clean the equipment,” he em-phasized.

Not Quite aHazMat Suit


By Les Kletke

Marcus Dueck knows that dairymen getpaid for milk and that is what he emphasisesin every aspect of their production. Dueck is a livestock specialist with MarcHutlet Seeds and he told farmers attend-ing a recent field day that the measure ofsuccessful silage is the litres per acre itproduces. Dueck who recently received hisCertified Livestock Consultant designationis part of a family dairy operation himself. “Tonnes per acre is important,” saidDueck. “But you also have to consider themilk you get per tonne and relate that tolitres per acre.” He stress that the qualityof silage has a tremendous impact on theamount of milk it translates into profit. “We [Marc Hutlet Seeds] have just pur-chased and infra red camera that allows usto evaluate the silage pile and we can seethe temperature of the pile and what is hap-pening in the pile,” said Dueck. “Thermoimagery is an important management tool.”He said that feed fibre technology has ad-vanced rapidly and new varieties of cornintended for silage have many differences. The tour site that featured silage cornbelongs to Sunny Glade Holsteins and hasused corn continuously for several years. “It is not what we recommend but ifyou’re going to do it take some precau-tions with your variety selection to avoida problem with Goss’s Wilt,” cautionedDueck. “The new Pioneer varieties have a

Good Silage isAll About YourLitres Per Acre

Marcus Dueck of Marc Hutlet Seeds offers dairyproducers a range of tools to help in putting upquality silage. He says the end evaluation is litre(of milk) per acre of silage.

Photo by Les Kletke

higher resistance and while it is not a guar-antee it does reduce the potential problemof Goss’s Wilt.” Dueck also recommends that producers doa good job with inoculating their silage thisyear particularly if they do have a frost onthe crop. “When the corn is late, like this year, wehave high sugar content and that means si-lage that can spoil quickly,” he said. “Thisyear it is important to use an innoculant anduse it well.” Dueck said that the late crop is not due toa lack of heat and in fact, the measurementof heat units showed an average to an aboveaverage year. Rather it is the moisture stressearlier in the growing season that held thecrop back. He offered producers a sample of alfalfathat had been fourth cut from a field, whichwas particularly surprising since the first cutdid not come off until the crop was in fullflower.


By Les Kletke

Craig Linde’s presentation at the Amazing AgricultureAdventure was aimed at the Grade 4 and 5 students at-tending the event yet the information and the style of de-livery would have held many adults spell bound if theywould have had the opportunity to sit in on it. Linde is with Manitoba Agriculture working in the CropDiversification Centre and spoke about industrial hemp’spotential in Manitoba. He was not bogged down on theeconomics of the crop or its competition with weeds. Ratherhe related it to products the students were already familiarwith. “How many of you have had some of these?” he askedholding up a bag of hemp hearts and hand shot up. “They are called nuts, do they taste like nuts?” The an-swers provided mixed reviews as many affirmative as nega-tive. The lactose intolerant students in the crowd recognizedthe product he held up as a possible replacement for milkand several said they had the product in smoothies. To a crowd who remembers reaching a metre in heightonly recently as he told them that plants could grow asmuch as 3.5 centimetres a day in the height of growingseason, he was releasing impressive facts. Linde went on to explain the strength of the fibres andthen had the audience twist pieces of stalk revealing fibresand then try to tear them. “The straw was used to bed horses at one time and is

Craig Linde tells students about the usage of industrial hemp.

Photo by Les Kletke

used to strengthen building materials like cement andfibreglass for cars,” he said to looks of surprise. He went on to explain that the fibres were used in ropeand that is was brought to America on the first sailingships. In what seem like ancient history to the crowd, he ex-plained that the crop was banned in 1945 and only re-introduced in 1998 and how THC had been removed fromthe plant. The mention of THC and that the plant was re-lated to marijuana did not shock students but was acceptedmatter of factly. Craig Linde does a good job of explaining the potential ofnew crops like hemp to audiences in Manitoba and heespecially held the attention of the young audience at theAmazing Agriculture Adventure. It is also a message thatwould not be lost on many adults throughout the provinceif only they could go on an amazing agriculture adventure.

Lessons Learned NotJust for Kids

The Canadian Pork Coun-cil (CPC) recently hosted ameeting of North Americanpork industry leaders, find-ing several areas of com-mon interest and concern.The meeting took place inMontreal, Quebec, whererepresentatives of the CPCmet with their counterpartsfrom the National Pork Pro-ducers Council (NPPC) andthe Mexican pork producerorganization, theConfederación dePorcicultores Mexicanos(CPM). “We agreed that herdhealth is a critical compo-nent to the success of theindustry and I’m pleasedthat we have a common in-terest in preventing a resur-gence of PEDv as well as aneed to keep this virus incontrol,” said Jean-GuyVincent, Chair of the Cana-dian Pork Council. The Mexican, U.S. andCanadian producer repre-sentatives also discussedseveral others areas ofcommon interest includingthe potential for Trans Pa-cific Partnership (TPP) ne-gotiations to open up ad-ditional export opportuni-ties for the North Americanpork industry, a desire forthe United States to comeinto compliance with WTOrulings on Country-of-Ori-gin Labelling (COOL) andto thus avoid retaliatoryactions by Canada andMexico, and the need forscience-based food safetyand animal health regula-tions that avoid unneces-sary disruptions to trade.

Pork IndustryLeaders Meet to

Discuss Trade


By Les Kletke

Certainly one teacher wasready to admit that sheenjoyed the AmazingAgriculture as much as thestudents in her class. LeahRoss teaches a grade 3 and 4class at Governor SempleSchool in the Seven OaksSchool Division and she saidthe day was as good for heras the kids. Amazing Agriculture is a 3-day event at Richardson’sKelburn Farm and theGlenlea Research Station ofthe University of Manitobathat gives elementarystudents an opportunity toexperience agriculture withhands on point of view.Classes visit various stationsat both facilities to see firsthand livestock production,animal care and how grainbecomes food. Ross said that hergrandfather had a seed farmat Boissevain and sheenjoyed visiting when shewas growing up but otherwise was not familiar withmodern agriculture practices.She made the switch to teachlast year after working as alawyer and in the politicalsystem in a provincialleader’s office. “I dealt with farm casesfrom the legal aspect,” shesaid. “But the hand on

Leah Ross, a teacher attending the Amazing AgricultureAdventure captures a few moments on video for viewing laterin the classroom. She says that lessons learned on the fieldday will reappear in the class room through the year.

Adventure Excites the Teacher

Photo by Les Kletke

approach was so much moreinteresting.” Her favouritewas the bee and honeydemonstration. “It was great for thestudents to be able to get upthat close and see the beesand identify the queen. Thestation had so manyapplications like the patternsin the honeycomb and thescientific research being donewith animals. There a somany lessons from the daythat we will be revisitingthroughout the year in ourclassroom,” said Ross. The class had to leaveearly because of the long busride back to Winnipeg andthe ride proved too much ofsome of the students on theway back. “A few of them nodded offin the bus on the way home,

but they were ready to gowhen we got back toschool,” said Ross who putthem right to work. “We hadthem record what was therefavourite part of the day andmake some notes on theday.” Ross had only praise forthe Ag in the Classroomsponsored event. “It was recommended tome by the teacher that ismentoring me and she wasabsolutely right,” said Ross.“It was a great event and Ihope that my class can takepart again next year.” “The organization wasexcellent and the volunteerswere great. There wasalways someone to help usto the next station and keepus on time, it really was anamazing adventure,” saidRoss.


By Les Kletke

Viterra wants farmers to grow non-GMO canola, at leastsome farmers and they are willing to pay a premium. Russel Erb of Viterra told farmers attending the MarcHutlet field day at Steinbach that the company is now of-fering production contracts for delivery to the company’sSte. Agathe facility for the production of non-GMO canolain the 2015 crop. Erb said the company has found a significant market inthe US that wants non-GMO canola and his company iswilling to pay a 50-80 cent a bushel premium to farmers. “It is a positive basis of $36 to $60 a tonne on the marketprice,” said Erb. “And there is an ‘Act of God’ clause in thecontract.” He said there is no yield drag with the hybridvariety the company offers. It is a Pioneer variety and yieldis similar to current industry standards. The Act of God clause is for producers who sign a con-tract before seeding and they are eligible for the first 15 bu/ac on their first contract tonnage. The bonus clause ap-plies only to the contract basis portion that is based off ofthe actual reconciled seeded acres reported by June 30,2015. The company’s non-GMO premiums range from $5-15 in Alberta, $15-25 in Saskatchewan and $25-35 inManitoba. They are also offering free on-farm pickup al-though quantities less than 20 metric tonnes may be con-sidered primary delivery. “The Clearfield chemistry works well with the variety,”said Erb who grows the variety on his own farm. “Yieldsvary tremendously so I am hesitant to give numbers butwe were very pleased with the way it yielded this year.” The company’s Ste. Agathe facility crushes 900 metrictonnes of canola a day and requires 250,000 acres of pro-duction for its 2015 run. The plant operates on a strictlymechanical process, which further adds to the attractive-ness of the oil into the American market. The process is notas efficient as traditional hexane extraction and leaves ahigher content of oil in the meal. “We have some response to the higher energy meal andit sells into the feed market against other canola meal,” saidErb. No word on whether the company will find a premiummarket for non-GMO meal but it could be an option in thefuture.

Non-GMO OffersPremium Profit Margin

Russ Erb says that Viterra will be crushing non-GMO canola atits Ste. Agathe facility and is willing to pay a premium for theseed. The Clearfield varieties do not have a yield drag.

Photo by Les Kletke

Erb does not believe canola production will change en-tirely however he said there is good interest in a portion ofthe crop going non-GMO. “We have found a market for the non-GMO oil and aretreating it as a niche market,” he said. “We are looking toservice that from our Ste. Agathe plant and it will provide agood pricing option for farmers.” Production is identity pre-served and each load delivered is tested to see that it is infact non-GMO. “We do the testing on each load to make sure,” he ex-plained. “There is always the possibility with farmers grow-ing both types and things could get mixed up and we do notwant to contaminate a large volume of seed.”

On August 22, Treherne RCMP received a report of atheft that occurred during the previous evening. Initial investigation revealed that between 8 pm on Au-gust 21 and 8 am on August 22 an unknown number ofindividuals entered the property of Drummond’s FarmServices Ltd. in the RM of Victoria and stole 2 tractors. One is a Kubota tractor with a Kubota backhoe andloader. The other is also a Kubota tractor with a Kubotaloader and belly mower and a Wallenstein log splitter. Anyone with information regarding this or any othercriminal activity is asked to contact their local police de-tachment or Manitoba Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477(TIPS) or manitobacrimestoppers.com, or text ‘TIPMAN’plus your message to Crimes (274637).

RRRRReady Yeady Yeady Yeady Yeady Your Grain-Dryersour Grain-Dryersour Grain-Dryersour Grain-Dryersour Grain-Dryers A soggy harvest season means farmers will be rushing tobuy and install grain dryers and then lining up to have theinstallation approved for use by the Office of the Fire Com-missioner (OFC). Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) is advising that theprocess should begin as soon as possible to avoid delayslater. Moreover, KAP urges the OFC, which does the on-farmchecks of all new grain dryer units prior to start-up to make anexception this year and allow dryers installed by licensed in-stallers to be used prior to inspection. “There is a two-week service level commitment by the OFC,but we have already heard it cannot meet this because of thedemand and we’re not even at the peak of dryer use yet,” saidKAP president Doug Chorney. “I recognize the OFC is making dryer inspection a priorityand has hired additional inspectors, but the extremely wetconditions call for the extra measure of allowing grain-dryeruse prior to inspection. A bin of grain will spoil if a farmer hasto wait weeks to use a dryer because it hasn’t been inspected.For example, a 25,000-bushel bin of wheat that spoils be-cause of high moisture would result in a loss of $150,000,”said Chorney. “Farmers have been hit hard this season with flooding,drought and now a very wet harvest. The last thing we need isfor our lower-than-average yields to spoil,” added Chorney. Producers can book their inspections by calling 204-945-3373.

Police Continue to InvestigateBrazen Tractor Thefts


A national pollster once told me, “Canadians really likefarmers, but they don’t always like what farmers do.” Hefollowed that up by noting that the second half of thestatement was the more important part, and that it is theagriculture industry’s responsibility to address the misin-formation circulating about modern day farming and misin-formation, unfortunately, is large contributor to Canadianopinion. The majority of consumers have become disconnectedfrom the reality of modern day agriculture. The picture theyhave in mind as the ‘right’ way to do it seems to come outof the 1930s. Farming practices from that era are seen bymany as idyllic, pure and healthy. Conversely, farms thatdon’t conform to this image are viewed as somehow un-healthy or unsustainable. This view is inaccurate, but an opinion does not have tobe right to have influence. Food companies and marketersknow this; the warped view of what agriculture is and whatsome think it should be is a big driver behind many of thefood fads we see today. Urban consumers in our cities (or even our small towns)don’t see the economic powerhouse that agriculture hasbecome. They don’t realize that modern agriculture is onthe cutting edge of science and technology. They don’tunderstand the benefits of precision agriculture. Theydon’t know about the environmental advancements farm-ers have made since the dust bowls of the dirty 30s. We need to do a much better job of telling agriculture’sstory and by ‘we’ I mean every part of the value chain,including crop developers, farmers, grain companies andfood companies. Part of telling our story is having the facts to back thingsup. People are bombarded with ‘facts’ today – but many ofthese facts are not all that factual. Consumers can’t beblamed for asking us to prove our claims of environmentalsustainability and food safety. Ronald Reagan made thephrase ‘trust but verify’ famous. While we are not talkingabout nuclear disarmament, we do need to honour the trustour customers have placed in us and be prepared to dem-onstrate why Canadian agriculture has a well-deserved repu-tation for safe food that is sustainably produced. Farmers are integral in telling agriculture’s story. I knowmany producers wince when they hear words like‘sustainability’ and ‘verification’. Nevertheless, these arenot swear words invented in some downtown office andthey are not designed to simply increase farmers’ paper-work and costs. It’s quite the opposite – these are toolsthat Canadian agriculture will need to maintain marketsand continue to attract a strong premium from domesticand international customers. The industry, including farmers, is working on this issuethrough the newly formed Canadian Roundtable for Sus-tainable Crops. This roundtable includes all parts of theagriculture value chain. The goal of all those involved is toadd value to Canadian agricultural production. Farm groupsfrom coast-to-coast are at the table and are able to providefeedback on the work being done to any of their memberswho are interested. This is an important issue for indi-vidual farmers and I encourage you to become directlyinvolved. I am proud of the Canadian agricultural record. Modernpractices like minimum and zero tillage conserve soil andwater and help deliver a crop in drought conditions thatwould have been considered a disaster a generation or twoago. Modern precision agriculture helps ensure that fertil-izer and crop protection chemicals are not wasted by run-ning into our streams and rivers. The science behind plantbreeding techniques is truly cutting edge and will helpmeet the demands of a growing global population. Canada’sscience based regulatory system is envied around the worldand is a key reason why consumers can have confidencein the food that we grow. This is the story that needs to betold. This is the story you need to help tell. Cam Dahl is President of Cereals Canada.

Does your insurancepolicy pay for repairing themachinery without deduct-ing any depreciation on theparts and what happens ifyou have a collision with thetractor or if your combinecatches fire? If you are the first owner

Sustainability – It is Not aSustainability – It is Not aSustainability – It is Not aSustainability – It is Not aSustainability – It is Not aFour Letter WFour Letter WFour Letter WFour Letter WFour Letter Wordordordordord

of your machine unit and it isless than 5 years old, are youcovered for the full cost of re-placing it with a brand newmodel? Check your policy tomake sure you have the rightcoverage on your policy.

If you have the MachineryDual Valuation Coverage en-dorsement on your policy, itwill pay for the repairs with-out deducting a percentage fordepreciation because of its ageand if the claim is a complete

loss and the piece of ma-chinery is less than 5 yearsold, your policy may payfor the newest model avail-able. Some insurance compa-nies have been slow to pro-vide this enhanced coveragewhile another has stoppedoffering it all together. Thisis all part of relying on yourbroker to advise you ofthese important changes. Be sure to seek advice andpurchase insurance fromthose who understand yourbusiness!

Andy Anderson is an Associate Insurance Broker specializing in General, Life and Group Benefits for Farm,Commercial/Agri-business P: 204-746-5589, F: 866-765-3351, [email protected]/rempelinsurance.com/valleyfinancial.ca.

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High quality calf starter is the first dryfeed that most milk-fed dairy calves eat.It not only provides calves with supplemen-tary nutrients to milk, it promotes goodhealth, optimum rumen development, andgood body growth and facilitates weaning. Fed between the first 2 to 12 weeks ofage, dairy producers should be aware thateven the most palatable and nutritious calf starter might lead to digestive upsets. To reducesuch calf starter slowdowns, good management of calf starter feeding recommendationscan be implemented as part of any successful pre-weaned calf raising programs. Initially, many dairy specialists recommend that a high quality calf starter should beprovided to one-week-old calves in order to get them to nibble on dry feed, although theyhave a very limited digestive system to process it. That’s because at birth, a baby dairy calf starts with a small-undeveloped rumen withoutan established microbe population (it gets this from its surrounding environment later on).It must rely upon a few select enzymes released by its own abomasum and small intestine tobreak down essential nutrients found in milk, such as casein and other milk proteins, lactosesugar and saturated animal fats. All of this changes by 4 weeks of age, when the calf’s abomasum and small intestinesbecomes more developed. Varieties of new digestive enzymes are now manufactured intheir bodies to breakdown different types of feed ingredients found in dry calf starters.Concurrently, the calf’s rumen becomes populated with fibre and grain digesting microor-ganisms, which convert calf starter carbohydrates, such as starch and sugars into volatilefatty acids (VFAs), which are absorbed and metabolized across the rumen wall. It is these absorbed VFAs, particularly butyric and propionic acids that stimulate theabsorptive tissue lining of the young calf’s rumen to become very active; rumen papillaeelongate and the rumen walls thicken. The whole rumen grows in size and the small calf is onits way to become a true ruminant much like a mature dairy cow. Dairy producers should realize such rumen development of 3 – 8 week old pre-weanedcalves that is driven by feeding even the highest quality calf starter is not without prob-lems. It has been proven highly digestible starches and sugars of conventional calf startersfermented in the calves’ rumen (into butyric/propionic acids) often leads to digestive up-sets such as subclinical acidosis or SARA in these dairy calves. For example, the University of Tennessee (U of T) (1998) fed a conventional calf starterpellet formulated with corn, soybean meal, wheat middling and other common feed ingredi-ents to a group of milk-fed calves from one week to twelve weeks of age. The diet was fedon a free-choice basis and calves were weaned at 8 weeks of age, but continued on a diet ofwater and the same calf starter pellet for another month. The researchers measured (by rumen-cannulation) a consistent weekly decline in thecalves’ rumen pH from 6.4 to 5.0 by 12 weeks of age. In addition, they found that SARAdepicted when pH in a cow’s rumen falls below a threshold of 5.8 was reported in this groupof experimental calves at 2 weeks of age.In a second study, the U of T researchers fed another group of pre-weaned calves, similardiets without or with added grass hay. In this study, calf starter was limit-fed and pH of thecalves’ cannulated-rumens was recorded; initially at 2 hours after each daily meal andafterwards at 2 hour intervals up to 12 hours, post-feeding. Their data indicated that therumen pH of these calves dropped to a consistent SARA pH of 5.0 by the first 2-hour recordand remained flat-line across 2-hour intervals until 10 hours after calf starter was consumed. From these experiments, the main implication reveals that when SARA materializes duringa seemingly routine calf starter feeding program; it could significantly slow down rumendevelopment as caused by: (1) limited total VFA production, (2) keratinization of rumenpapillae (slows VFA absorption), (3) digestive upsets and (4) reduction in microbial popula-tions (reduces calf starter digestibility). In the calf barn, we might see visible symptoms ofSARA as unthrifty calves that go through off-feed on-feed cycles on both milk and calfstarter meals and in-line with diarrhea-like pasty manure that contains small bubbles. Because feeding calf starter is a fundamental part of most good calf rearing programs, theincidence of a few SARA-affected pre-weaned calves seems unavoidable. However, thereare a few good scientific and common sense recommendations that should limit SARA inpre-weaned calves and make better calf starter feedings. Consequently, dairy producers should feed a high quality calf starter that contains about20 – 22% protein and 1.15 – 1.25 Mcal net energy for gain/kg. Small meals (100 - 200 gm/head) should be offered to newborn calves at about 7 - 14 days of age and increasedamounts should be positively correlated with the calves’ age and bodyweight, withoutoverfeeding it, (significant amount is leftover, daily). Calves are weaned when they con-sume about 1 kg of calf starter for 2 consecutive days at about 6 – 8 weeks of age. Free-choice water should be also be provided next to the bucket with calf starter, despitecalves being milk-fed, since their natural water requirement is higher than what water in

whole milk or milk replacer solution can provide. Extra wa-ter also helps maintain rumen pH by dilution of built uprumen acids as well as water forces small particles of starchand sugar into the abomasum to be completely digested. Some producers also feed digestible grass forages tocalves less than ten weeks of age, but this recommenda-tion is highly debated within the scientific and farm com-munity. How such calf starter feeding recommendations are actu-ally managed into the larger picture of raising successfulnewborn dairy calves to weaning is going to be measuredby a few final and prioritized objectives: healthy weanedcalves, functioning mature rumens, and good body size.All three of these accomplishments will also underlie thecontinued success of dairy replacement heifers in theirpost-weaning future.

The seventeenth annual pre-sentations of the Manitoba 4-H Young Horse DevelopmentProject (YHDP) were heldSeptember 1 at the WestobaAgricultural Centre of Excel-lence, in Brandon. The project provides avenue for senior 4-H membersto demonstrate knowledgegained through the 4-H EquineProgram and highlight thestock being bred and raised onManitoba’s equine ranches. Each year, senior 4-H mem-bers, apply to the YHDProject’s Advisory Commit-tee. Upon selection, membersreceive a list of participatingManitoba Equine RanchingAssociation (MERA) andSaskatchewan Equine Ranch-ing Association (SERA)ranchers from whom theymay purchase a weanling.Prices are pre-set and ranch-ers receive half of the pur-chase price; the balance isplaced in that year’s ProjectEnhancement Fund fromwhich members are paid outfunds based on their partici-pation in presenting their cho-sen weanling as a yearling andtwo-year-old at this event. This years event had, four4-H members exhibiting theirQuarter Horse yearlings ‘inhand’. They were evaluatedon the elements of their ownbasic showmanship skills,their horses’ physical condi-tioning and willingness towork on a longe line and loadinto a trailer. Scores ranged

Manage Good Calf Starter Feedingsfor Successful Dairy Calves

4-H Young Horse Development ProjectPresentations Highly Successful

from 195 points to 229.5points, out of 260 possiblepoints and members are paid$0.61/point, based on theirindividual scores. Five 4-H members pre-sented their two-year-oldQuarter Horses ‘undersaddle’. Each horse and rider

was scored based on their in-dividual performance over apredetermined horsemanshippattern. Scores ranged from182.5 points to 242 pointsout of a possible 270 pointsand members receive $1.14/point based on their indi-vidual scores.

Yearling presenters at this years 4-H Young HorseDevelopment Project Presentations (l to r) AmberHiebert, Michelle McCuaig, Lisa Coffey and Will Mantik,with evaluator Bev McLeod.

Photo by Wilf Davis

4-H Young Horse Development Project two-year-oldpresenters (l to r) Destiny Sawatzky, Esther Funk,Kaelyn Dreger, Sara Meisner and Karleigh Lewis withevaluator Bev McLeod.


By Les Kletke

Bob McFadden acknowl-edges there is little that can bedone about the threat of frostto a corn crop when theweather turns cool in mid Sep-tember. McFadden is the Dis-trict Sales Manager with Pio-neer and knows very well thechoices that producers facewhen choosing a variety andconsidering the options ofearly varieties and high yieldsof mater maturing varieties. “There are some varietiesthat our company has in thepipe line that will be 70 or 72day varieties,” he told produc-ers attending the Marc HutletSeeds field day. “They will berated a 2,000 heat unit vari-ety.” He said the company is con-centrating on expanding thecorn growing area north on theCanadian prairies and sees realpotential for the earlier matur-ing varieties in Saskatchewanand Alberta where crop pro-duction goes much furthernorth. He acknowledged that therewill be a yield drag with theearlier maturity and in a yearlike 2014, they might providean option for Manitoba pro-ducers. He said genetics havecome a long way from the timeof planting corn and hoping itwould mature for grain and ifit did not, then chopping it forsilage was the insurance plan. With the prospect of frostbeing real for September 2014

Assessing Frost Damage in Corn

Bob McFadden of Pioneer offers some tips on evaluating frostdamage to corn. Photo by Les Kletke

McFadden walked producersthrough the evaluation of cornplants and the affects of frostthat can be seen. “Break a cob in half and takethe tip part, that is what mat-ters,” he said. “Now look atwhere the milk line is on thekernel. If it is 3/4 way downthe kernel you will lose about5% of the yield, which is nottoo bad, but if that line is halfway down the kernel the lossincreases to 10-12% and if itis only a 1/3 way down thekernel you will lose about 30%of the yield.” He faced numerous ques-tions about what the frostwould do to the bushel weightof the crop sample, and saidthat at the higher yield lostpoints weight could be re-

duced to 40lbs per bushel,“That is very variety depen-dant.” He said the time to evaluateis two days after the frost andproducers should be lookingat the shank of the cob to seeif the plant had been affected. “If the cob drops over, it hasbeen affected,” he pointed out.“If it is white in the shank theplant is still alive and you willbe alright.” McFadden said the issue ofmould would not be as great aproblem was it was in 2009. “That year there was a lotof corn written off and de-stroyed that could have hadsome value,” he said. “ButCrop Insurance was not as fa-miliar with the problem, thatwon’t likely happen again.”

AgriPost Sept 26 2014

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