I was at the FarmTech conference in Edmonton this past week and I may have crossed over to the dark side. At least I am moving from the bright white light of confident skepticism into a grey area. The dark side may be just around the corner.

I am talking about moving over to the dark side of micronutrients. Maybe they do work. I am still at the maybe stage, but I have seen a number of products around for years, I look at the research and testimonials and it seems to make sense and certainly the with-and-without pictures look good.

(Photo Caption: As you can see by these comparison photos supplied by the Hart FixAll Company, five ounces per 1000 acres of an enriched “tea” made by soaking old Grainews in 

tap water can make a huge difference in wheat yields. Okay, I am just being a smart ass here, these photos have nothing to do with micronutrients. I just needed an illustration to break up the grey copy.)

But at the trade shows plenty of farmers stop to talk to these micronutrient guys. The micro companies all have nice displays. I don’t see any of their representatives riding bicycles to get to the shows. Somebody must be buying this stuff.

However, I have to balance that with the fact, Independent, Third Party, Western Canada Research Scientists (ITPWCRS) are reluctant to give these products a ringing endorsement. Some argue there isn’t enough micronutrient in any specific treatment to make a difference to the crop, some say studies show there is no general deficiency for X nutrient in Western Canadian soils, most dismiss farmer testimonials as being unreliable — who is going to buy or use something for five years and then tell you it doesn’t work, and others simply say there is no evidence collected by ITPWCRS to show these products are effective. And that may all be valid, too.

SOMETHING TO IT

 But there is something in my head that keeps telling me, I think these products have a role. Maybe soil scientists don’t fully understand plant physiology. Maybe there are personality clashes. Maybe there are some old dogs not interested in learning new tricks. I have heard sometimes in life it is hard for people to admit they were wrong. Maybe it requires a leap of faith. There are lots of powerful things in life, like love, electricity, and God, that aren’t easy to see or quantify, but I know those forces are there.

I am not suggesting that God is out peddling Omex’s C3 foliar product, or ATP’s ReLeaf, but maybe he has a couple disciples on the micronutrient sales force.

That’s the other thing. I look at the people selling these products and most don’t look like crooks. Most are pretty good talkers, but that’s not a crime. I have known a few farmers and ITPWCRS who can bend your ear, too. Most micronutrient product promoters are well educated and look like people of conscience. I don’t get the impression they are leaving the house in the morning with “another big day of screwing farmers” purpose in mind. They believe in the products they sell.

I am not a farmer, or an agronomist, or an ITPWCRS so have very little technical standing in this discussion. I did ask wise old, former Grainews editor Jay Whetter for his opinion and the advice he recalled from a researcher, “If farmers are doing all the proper things to produce a crop, and yields seem to reach a plateau, then maybe they should look at micronutrients.”

 NO MIRACLES

And that may be the key to this whole product line. If you are a low-budget, corner-cutting producer to begin with, don’t expect a $5 or $7 per acre micronutrient treatment to double your yield or do anything at all really. But if you are following all the good agronomic practices — good seed, proper seed bed, proper seeding rate, proper fertility, wear newer jeans and have a nice pickup, and you expect more from your crop, micros may have an effective fit. And as I have heard enough times over the years about any product — you don’t have to do the whole farm, make your own on-farm test strips to see for yourself.

One of the companies is planning to buy me lunch this week and as is well known in the ag media world, a good lunch, nice pen, or an attractive ball cap is pretty well all it takes to win over a skeptical writer. And geez, if they throw in dessert I might get evangelical about how a little micro can change your life —  so praise the Lord and pass the boron.

Lee Hart is a field editor for Grainews in Calgary, Contact him at 403-592-1964 or by email at lee@fbcpublishing.com

I, like everyone else, am delighted the South Korean market is now open to Canadian beef — go forth all you dedicated Canadian cowboys and cowgirls and produce and sell more beef —  but honestly one of my first thoughts when I saw the release about the agreement was of the movie “Dumb and Dumber” (it is one of my favorites).

 But who was the dumb one in this situation? Have we Canadians been dumb for trusting the quality and safety of

 Canadian beef all these years — we never stopped eating Canadian beef after the BSE crisis — , or were some bureaucrats in South Korea dumb for taking nine years to issue their approval of the Import Health Requirements? (Photo caption – a friend of mine who use to live in South Korea sent me this photo of beef in China foraging on a landfill, and according to South Korean media reports some of these beef end up being exported to South Korea. And South Korea is worried about the safety of Canadian beef? Hello!)

I will never be in politics and my chances of being picked for some plumb diplomatic posting are dwindling daily, but I look at the situation where we as Canadians —our government agricultural, trade and beef marketing people — are dealing with the relatively modern and progressive democratic country of South Korea and I have to wonder “what the hell took nine years to figure out?”

How many pounds of Canadian BSE-laden beef was ever shipped? None. How many cases of Mad Cow Disease were found in humans because they ate BSE-laden Canadian beef? None. How many people have died (or even got sick) from eating Canadian BSE-laden beef? None. Is there such a thing as Canadian BSE-laden beef? No.

How long did it take leading world food science and human health communities to decide, after the BSE crisis, that Canadian beef is of high quality and safe to eat? Almost since Day 1. What country has strict and costly rules about removal and disposal of Specified Risk Materials from beef carcasses, now considered to be hazardous waste? Canada. What country has implemented a national livestock identification and traceability program and has a pretty stringent program for random animal health testing? Canada.  

How many people have you coaxed, cajoled and catered to for nine years to eat a steak dinner at your kitchen table? I don’t know about your household, but at mine the answer is….None.

Here is where my resume` for a plumb diplomatic or marketing job gets a little weak.  But my approach on this whole post BSE marketing thing would be to approach the South Koreans, or any market for that matter and say: “Yes, we had a problem. We have dealt with it. We have put every possible safe guard in place. We have stacks of scientific evidence that shows that our product is safe. We are here today, with a high quality, high value, product that is completely safe. Do you want it or not?”

I am a slow reader, but it probably wouldn’t take much more than 30 seconds to read that off. It certainly wouldn’t take nine years.

I am hoping in this whole business there was an enormous, unbelievable quagmire of politics and many other wide ranging trade issues at play, and this really wasn’t a simple question about whether Canadian beef is safe to eat. Was it any safer on January 20, 2012 when this agreement was signed than it was five years ago?

All the cattle organizations are thanking federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz and trade minister Ed Fast for 

hammering out this agreement with South Korea. And the Canadian Cattleman’s Association was also very dedicated in it’s efforts over the past decade to get this market open. God love them for their patience and persistence.

And it is good. Another $30 million beef market is a great thing. I know I sound a bit like one of the predictable, whiney, never satisfied, too-little/too-late opposition parties, but I still have to go back to my original point — if it takes nine years to convince a customer that you have a good quality, safe product they really enjoyed at one time, either your message isn’t very clear, or they are so thick headed that maybe you don’t want them as a customer anyway. I hear that garbage-grazing beef from China is really tasty, but it needs a little HP Sauce.

Lee Hart is editor of Cattleman’s Corner based in Calgary. Contact him at 403-592-1964 or by email at lee@fbcpublishing.com

I have always ascribed to the theory if you can get your point across with a bit of humor it has much more impact than a hardnosed serious message — unless of course you are selling funeral services, but even then I’m not so sure.

So I have to give credit to this Australian company promoting Angus beef pies for this advertisement. I think I have attached a clip here if you visit this YouTube website http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqviCx3BsrQ  .

I just think it is pretty clever, and has much more impact on me than a bunch of attractive 30-year-olds, laughing and chatting in a restaurant as they wait for someone to grill the most perfect steak. Maybe if I was an attractive 30-year-old I might feel differently, but unlike these commercials I have never been anywhere with that many attractive, happy people.

Right after you view the commercial you may want to make plans to attend a feedlot conference sponsored by Certified Angus Beef and Elanco Animal Health, coming up Jan. 25, 2012 in Lethbridge.

It is a one-day event with registration at 9 a.m. and an Angus beef lunch. Theme of the conference is “Hitting The Consumer Target” so several speakers during the day will be talking about what different sectors of the beef industry want in terms of cattle and meat quality as they supply their consumers.

The Certified Angus Beef and Elanco Animal Health folks have their messages, and you can also hear about the Canadian packer perspective, the retailer perspective, and the foodservice/restaurant perspective. There will be a talk on carcass traits, and a presentation by a U.S. feedlot manager on hitting quality targets.

The conference will be held at the Coast Lethbridge Hotel (which use to be the old El Rancho on Mayor Magrath Drive.) I think you just have to show up and grab a seat.

For more information contact: Janet Kanters at office 403-644-2966; cell, 403-901-4559 or by email at: jkanters@mccormickglobal.com

Lee Hart is editor of Cattleman’s Corner based in Calgary. Contact him at 403-592-1964 or by email at lee@fbcpublishing.com

Well my jeans are too tight today, so I think that speaks volumes about how 2011 went, as well as what’s ahead for 2012. It was generally a pretty good year, but there’s always room for improvement and a place for “change” in the coming months.

I didn’t make any New Year’s Resolutions because they never really seemed to work or last much beyond January 

9 most years. I guess if there is any plan or goal for the year it is generally try to do a bit better at correcting all the flaws. A friend of mine sent me an email with this photo of a rooster with a caption “Made it through another year”….well I have a little more meat on my bones than this bird, but it does illustrate how I feel some days.

I got a year older in 2011 which for some reason didn’t mean much when I was 30, but now that I am 60 there seems to be more urgency to make the best (or better) use of my time. As friend Terry Hockaday, the brains behind Meristem Information Services, and I were discussing again the other day, time sure seems to speed up as you get older. Terry and I both have a habit of reading the obituaries in the Calgary paper every day. Part of that is to “make sure my name isn’t there”, as Terry says, but also unfortunately there are often names there we do recognize. And even if I don’t know people, I can’t help but note there seems to be more names of people born in the late 40s and early 50s making those pages. I don’t think I am on death’s door, but I start to feel a certain reality there are probably more years behind me than ahead.

My Dad died when he was 89 and my Mom turned 86 last year and I know one of the tough realities for them over the past 20 years was that all their friends on “the road” were dying off. My Mom has two life-long neighborhood friends left — one has issues with dementia and the other lives in a senior’s apartment about 15 miles away. And although my Mom still gets around pretty good there seems to be more days when she doesn’t feel like going out to warm up the car, load up the walker, and head off somewhere to fight with heavy doors and perhaps do more walking or standing than she likes, so she stays put beside the fireplace and occasionally naps.

I think one of the messages in that story is that I not only have to take better care of myself, but I also have to encourage friends to live healthy so I have someone to talk to when I am 90.

My plan or pledge for the year is to be more productive and be a bit more efficient with my time — at least that’s what I say in public…it is a bit like the Pope calling for world peace (it may not happen). Grainews editor Lyndsey Smith is off for a few months doing the maternal thing, so I have to break in acting editor Leann Minogue. She and her husband farm in southern Saskatchewan. I have only spoken to Leann a couple times as we plan stories over the coming months, but she seems to be okay with my long-standing policy of over-promising and under-delivering. So we should get along fine.

And I really have to have a serious sit down talk with Scott Garvey, machinery editor. He is being way too productive and that reflects poorly on everyone else (i.e. me)…Remember Scott, it is over-promise and under-deliver.

But enough rambling…it is January 2 and I really need to get working on this pledge for the year — being more productive. I could go talk to a farmer today but do I really feel like warming up the car, loading up the walker, and heading off somewhere to fight with heavy doors and perhaps do more walking or standing than I like. Maybe I’ll just stay put beside the fireplace and think about it. But no naps…napping is for old people.

Lee Hart is a field editor for Grainews in Calgary, Contact him at 403-592-1964 or by email at lee@fbcpublishing.com

I was going to write something cute and clever this morning, after the big Christmas break, until I read the news report that Manitoba beef producer Major Jay Fox was being laid to rest today (Wednesday) after dying from injuries suffered in a farm accident last Friday. He was 32.

It is one of those head-shaker stories involving someone “young” being taken too earlier. I felt similar disbelief in late November when another good person and a long-time agriculture industry leader, Denise Maurice, died suddenly at the age of 56.

I didn’t know Jay and his wife Angie super well. I interviewed them in 2008 after they were named Manitoba’s Outstanding Young Farmers, met them at the national OYF awards ceremony and I talked to Jay a few more times over the past couple years in his role as president of the Manitoba Beef Producers.

My impression of him is of a big, healthy, robust young man. But, as events like this make us all realize, we never know what’s around the corner…life can change on a dime.

According to the news report, Jay was injured as he was helping to remove a front-end loader from a tractor. RCMP say the loader arms were raised but not blocked when the hydraulics were released and the bucket dropped, pinning Jay beneath. He was transported to Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre, where he died Friday.

Jay and Angie were both raised on mixed farming operations in Saskatchewan. They moved to the Eddystone, Manitoba area (near Dauphine) in 2006 to take over Jay’s parent’s ranching operation.

It was a relatively big spread. They had about 12,000 acres of mostly native hay and pasture land and were running a 400-head commercial Hereford/Angus/Black Baldie cross cows and as well as a few purebred Black Angus.

From what I knew he was a good rancher, always interested in improving production efficiency, and he was also involved in the industry. He had just completed a two-year term as president of the Manitoba Beef Producers.

It is a sad story to end the year on, and always tough to find some meaning when something like this happens. We’re supposed to get old and slip away in our sleep after a long and good life. That’s the theory but certainly not always the reality.

Donations can be made in Jay’s memory at any branch of TD Canada Trust for a trust fund for his four children Devon, Charlie, Porter and Major.

Rest in peace Major Jay Fox. Even beyond your family and friends your presence is felt and you made a lasting mark on the world. You will be missed.

Lee Hart is editor of Cattleman’s Corner based in Calgary. Contact him at 403-592-1964 or by email at lee@fbcpublishing.com

Grainews App works

A few months ago I was lamenting in this column that the Grainews app you can download to have Grainews news, weather and sports on your cell phone didn’t work on my Blackberry.

That complaint didn’t go over so well.

But, regardless I am happy to report that the Grainews app does now work on my cell phone. So if you had trouble getting the app working on your Blackberry, try again. The only link I can suggest is: http://agreader.ca/gn?ref=enews&AF=&utm_source=GRN&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EN12082011 . Click on it and see what happens and no doubt you can find it on our website too at www.grainews.ca . If you’re still having trouble, call me and I will be right over to fix it.

I checked the weather Thursday morning on my Grainews app and it was -20 C at Springbank (just on the west side of the city). And the lead news story is that the Harper government was elected with a majority…no body said it would be current news, just news. (No, seriously there is current ag news on the site). 

Anyway, just download the app and then I can be with you 24/7.

CWB court ruling

It was interesting to read Wednesday the Federal Court of Canada has found the federal government, i.e. Ag Minister Gerry Ritz, in breach of the law when he proceeded to change the Canadian Wheat Board Act without proper consultation with Prairie farmers.

There is a lot of legal phrasing in this decision, but what I read is that it is to some degree a matter of interpretation of the law, and Judge Douglas Campbell, interpreted it as a breach.

The federal government says it will appeal the ruling, and in the meantime proceed with plans to change the CWB Act to allow for an open market — remove the CWB monopoly.

I am no lawyer and not even a farmer, but in my 25 years of kicking around this industry, I believe there has been tons and tons of consultation. If there is anyone out there today farming who was surprised by the federal government’s decision to create an open market for Western Canadian wheat and barley and feels their views haven’t been heard, then I really don’t know where they have been.

There are two philosophical sides and arguments to this issue and I feel they both have been heard time and time again.

Judge Campbell in part of his decision said: 

“Generally speaking, when advancing a significant change to an established management scheme (changing the current CWB), the failure to provide a meaningful opportunity for dissenting voices to be heard and accommodated forces resort to legal means to have them heard. In the present piece, simply pushing ahead without engaging such a process has resulted in the present Applications (friends of the wheat board) being launched. Had a meaningful consultative process been engaged to find a solution, which meets the concerns of the majority, the present legal action might not have been necessary. Judicial review serves an important function; in the present Applications the voices have been heard, which, in my opinion, is fundamentally importantly…”

Maybe this is the first time Judge Campbell has come across the CWB issue, but my gut feeling is you could hold meeting after meeting across Western Canada to solicit farmer input into CWB changes and at the end of the day you would have one camp that wants change and one camp that is opposed to it and probably a third camp that says “enough already, time to move on.”
Even if they had held formal hearings, which cost millions of dollars, would these hearings have arrived at some compromise that would have made everyone happy…I doubt it. There comes a time in many business and personal relationships when all parties have to concede there are irreconcilable differences. 

After hundreds of meetings, plebiscites, elections, studies, countless stories, letters to the editors, and hours of coffee room talk over many years, how can anyway argue there has been no consultation. What possible argument or view is to be made that hasn’t already been heard? I am not saying Judge Campbell was wrong, but I learned a long time ago the law — the courts — decide between what is legal and illegal. The law doesn’t decide between what is right and wrong.

This is Christmas

I am always pleased when I hear people this time of year extend the greeting “Merry Christmas” and it bugs the hell out of me, when I see corporations, institutions, governments bend over backwards to avoid the "C" word, or even forbidding people using anything but a “politically correct” term such as happy holidays, because they don’t want to offend anyone.

This might be a losing battle, but I am a Canadian-born WASP and the holiday we celebrate at this time of year, and have for more than 2000 years is Christmas. I know we are a cultural melting pot, but this is the Christmas season with religious beliefs and commercial traditions that have been engrained in our society for hundreds of years.

I don’t even know if immigrants who now make Canada home are even opposed to the “Christmas” word and all its meanings, themselves. More often than not I think it is a politician or a bureaucrat or a human resources person who has nothing better to do than sit around and come up some weak-kneed policy because it respects the sensitivities of our diverse culture, or whatever. They are justifying their existence.

I have Jewish friends who celebrate Hanukkah. Muslim friends who celebrate Ramadan. Ukrainian friends who aren’t sure when Christmas is. Chinese friends who celebrate New Years later in January. And this is all good. Observe your holidays and religious celebrations freely in Canada.  

To me if there is any cultural or religious group in Canada that doesn’t want to celebrate Christmas because it is not part of their culture or heritage, then don’t. No problem. Enjoy the day off and do whatever you’d like to do. The rest of us are celebrating Christmas and if anyone really, really doesn’t like this observance of a Christian holiday celebrated around the world I am sure there are planes leaving every hour on the hour that can get them to some other country where life is much better. We shouldn’t be ashamed, afraid, or apologetic for celebrating a Canadian tradition. This is Canada and this is Christmas. 

Lee Hart is a field editor for Grainews in Calgary, Contact him at 403-592-1964 or by email at lee@fbcpublishing.com

The story of a Pincher Creek, AB rancher getting fined $354 for helping a neighbor haul cattle to the auction, is another example of wondering whether the world has any common sense left.

Assuming Barb Glen in her Western Producer report just didn’t make the whole thing up, (but as often is said, truth is stranger than fiction) the story goes that rancher Bill Homans was stopped in November by Alberta Transportation and given the fine for using his pickup and stock trailer to transport cattle to the auction. The fine was for “operating a commercial vehicle in a prohibitive manner” and “unauthorized operation of a vehicle with farm plates for commercial purposes.”

The neighbor had his truck and stock trailer with cattle on the road right ahead of Homans. Driver’s licence, registration and manifest for the driver and cattle all checked out. All the paperwork was good.

Homans said he wasn’t getting paid to haul these cattle. The silly man helps his neighbors from time to time and they in turn help him. I have heard of that happening a few times in rural Canada, it has something to do with being a good neighbor. It seems to me, too, that Jesus was big on that love and help thy neighbor stuff, but he was a carpenter not a rancher, so it probably just applies to home handymen.

Regardless of the circumstance, Alberta traffic regulations specify that farmers can legally transport animals owned by someone else to or from a grazing lease, so long as they are not paid. But it makes no mention of hauling another person’s cattle somewhere else. And here we have Homans out joy riding with a trailer full of cattle on his way to an auctionmart.

An Alberta Transportation spokesperson says a number of regulations may apply. “Even if no compensation is involved, it’s still deemed to be a commercial operation hauling somebody else’s goods,” he says. “The compensation here doesn’t have to be monetary. It can be, ‘I help you now, you’ll help me later’.”

If that is really the logic behind these regulations it has to be the stupidest piece of legislation I’ve ever heard of, and the world of stupid rules is very competitive.

There is no indication in this story that Homans is one of those notorious black market, under the table, midnight cattle haulers who makes all kinds of unclaimed cash earnings by hauling cattle for people, which takes the food out of the mouths of the children of commercial haulers.  But if that is the case, thank God this evil has finally been stopped.

But, my take is it sounds like Homans is being fined for the crime of a neighbor helping a neighbor. I had to read the story a couple times just to be sure I hadn’t missed something. Apparently this isn’t a new regulation. It has been illegal to help your neighbor in Alberta forever. It’s a head shaker.

Not only is it a stupid law, but to compound the issue I assume we have some sound-minded people enforcing it. I know they don’t make the rules, but somewhere in this world you’d think that common sense would have crept into this situation.

I broke the law the other day in Calgary and got a $50 fine. I parked my truck on the street downtown but it wasn’t completely inside the yellow parking lines. Even though there wasn’t another vehicle within 50 yards of me before, during and after the time I was parked, I still got a ticket. Might have been one of those situations too where the by-law officer could have applied some common sense.

The one consolation I have is that when Bill Homans and I are serving life sentences in Drumheller maximum security unit for our crimes against society, I think he will make a pretty good cellmate. But if I help him make his bed one morning, I sure don’t want him helping me back. I could be charged with illegal commercial bed making. And I understand that means the electric chair.

Lee Hart is editor of Cattleman’s Corner based in Calgary. Contact him at 403-592-1964 or by email at lee@fbcpublishing.com

-30-

Politics and political correctness drive me nuts sometimes.

I am glad the provincial election is over in Saskatchewan so now everyone can get back to work. Premier Brad Wall and his Conservative government were re-elected Monday.

I didn’t have any vested interest in the Saskatchewan election, other than I called a provincial government specialist a couple weeks ago to talk about hay and forage production, and he wasn’t able to talk to me because a provincial election campaign was underway, he couldn’t talk to the media and I was advised to call some communications office in Regina (like they would know the answer to my question.)

Fortunately the state of the hay industry in Saskatchewan isn’t a focal point in my life, so I just moved on to something else, or talked to a non-government source. But I thought later, what the hell does the provincial election have to do with hay production in Saskatchewan? What could this specialist possibly have told me about the Saskatchewan hay crop – production and marketing — that would have put the re-election of the provincial government at risk?

“Yes we had a very good hay crop in many parts of the province and there is lots for sale!”  I can just see opposition parties having a field day with that scandal. 

Either it was an overly paranoid bureaucracy that sent word down the line to not to talk to the media during the campaign, or heaven forbid it was the premier who shut down normal business of the province to control the loose lips of government workers. And I thought politicians were there to take the heat and deal with the tough issues for the common good, not to put a muzzle on the always-controversial topic of hay production.

But this rant continues….I ran into a similar situation in Toronto last week when a group of industry players —veterinarians, animal health specialists, researchers and others — got together to talk about the use of antibiotics in animal agriculture.

One speaker was Dr. David White, a veterinarian and director of research for veterinary medicine with the US Food and Drug Administration. This isn’t an admin assistant, who was nervously talking about a topic he was really unfamiliar with — this guy knew his stuff.

So he talks for 45 minutes to a group of 200 experts, including the media, answers questions from the floor – so I approach him after the talk to see if I could ask him a few more questions one-on-one just to be sure I was clear on what he said. And immediately he throws up this wall, he couldn’t talk to me the media without clearance from a communications department in Washington, D.C.  He was sorry, but that is the crazy protocol he lives under.

Personally that is a bunch of BS. He is there talking to essentially a public meeting in considerate detail on a technical topic, and he is going to be in trouble for helping someone better understand his message? What a load of crap.

Either this guy has no confidence in himself, or he is working for a bureaucracy that insists all employees be neutered as a condition of employment.

If he and the US Food and Drug Administration are concerned about the message, I’ll give them a message:  “A senior veterinarian with the US Food and Drug Administration says thousands of people are getting sick every year because of the misuse of antibiotics in animal agriculture – at least I think that is what I heard, but Dr. David White refused further comments to explain.” The End.  How’s that for a story? Everyone likes to talk about the irresponsible media, well what about irresponsible researchers?

And there is still more…On the political correctness side, Calgary Mayor Nenshi got into trouble for a comment he made on Twitter, referring jokingly to himself or someone else “being off their meds”.

Well that “off their meds” comment prompted an outcry from some mental health organization, that is was offensive. Give me a break and grow up!!! It is a figure of speech and a joke and there are a bzillion of them: not dealing with a full deck, one brick shy of a load, the lights on but nobody is home, not the sharpest knife in the drawer, low self esteem is very common among losers, did you hear about the ugly guy who went to a psychiatrist for help in accepting his homeliness, and the psychiatrist told him to lie on the couch, face down…etc. etc. As far as I am concerned, 90 per cent of the population has mental health issues, myself included, and if we can’t learn to laugh and roll with the punches then we really do have some mental health issues.

And finally…on political correctness. One of my favorite politicians John Crosby of Newfoundland (I still chuckle about his Tequila Shelia comment) got into trouble recently for telling a joke at some public event…a guy who was depressed, considering suicide, called a help line, which was answered by a call centre in Pakistan. He told the counselor his problem, and the counselor asked “can you drive a truck?” — obviously a reference to terrorism and suicide bombers.

I’m sure Crosby told it better than I, but as Larry The Cable Guy says “I don’t care who you are, that’s funny right there.”  Maybe it is a joke that pushes the limits a bit, but above all it is a joke. It wasn't mean or spiteful - if anything a political commentary. Man, oh man if we can’t laugh at ourselves sometimes, and laugh at the sometimes craziness of our world situation and world affairs, we are in major trouble.

I can’t think of any joke or funny comment made without malice about fat, 60-year-old, WASPy, sometimes crazy, farm writers I would find offensive. But the floor is open if anyone wants to give it a try.

Lee Hart is a field editor for Grainews in Calgary, Contact him at 403-592-1964 or by email at lee@fbcpublishing.com

-30- 

Perhaps the most newsworthy item out of a Toronto conference, which has brought together a couple hundred animal health industry people to talk about the issue of bacteria resistant to penicillin and a wide range of other modern drugs is that “they are working on it.”

They are not going to wrap this event up Wednesday with a firm plan of action — a silver bullet strategy — , but I think everyone will go home with a renewed commitment to do a better job in their particular area of interest whether they be government regulators, farmers, veterinarians, animal health product manufacturers, drug distributors, feed mills or who ever.

Talk about a multi-pronged issue – trying to get a handle on the subject at the Antimicrobial Stewardship in Canadian Agriculture Conference is like trying to grab mud with your bare hands.

It is my impression that, yes everyone agrees there are more drug-resistant strains of bacteria and other organisms out there today, and vigilance and good management practices —good stewardship — is needed to minimize or perhaps prevent the development of these so-called “superbugs”, but the challenge is to get everyone pulling in the same direction at the same time toward this goal.

It is a complex issue. Just in Canada alone you have thousands of farmers with millions of animals (poultry, cows, horses, sheep, dogs and cats), several animal health manufacturers, dozens of distributors, a few thousand veterinarians, and multiple government departments, at both the federal and provincial levels who all need to be singing in tune from the same song sheet. And then when you add in the complication that it is really an international issue, well, it begins to sound overwhelming.

But before everyone goes all organic, there are a few points to be made:

-       Canadian food is still very healthy and safe. Animal agriculture is still doing a good job.

-       Yes, there are more antibiotic and/or antimicrobial resistant strains of bacteria developing. That is a concern that needs to be addressed, but the issue isn’t at a crisis level that threatens to shutdown livestock production, anymore than herbicide resistant weeds are poised to shut down crop production.

-       Animal agriculture is only a minor contributor to the whole issue of antimicrobial resistant bacteria. If there had never been a drop of penicillin (or other drug) used in a feedlot or a chicken barn, the issue of antimicrobial resistance in society would still be out there as a result of “advances” in human medicine. Bacteria is smart. If it feels threatened or challenged it will find a way to morph itself into a form that can resist that challenge.

-       There are sound protocols and procedures in place, or at least on paper the industry can follow to minimize the risk of antimicrobial resistance, the challenge is to get everyone to follow these protocols.

-   And let's not forget too, regardless of what happens at the farm or the feedlot, if all foods were properly handled and cooked at the processor, retailer and consumer level many of the bacteria issues, wouldn't be an issue. 

While more or more current government regulations are needed to address the whole issue of drug use in agriculture, a lot of voluntary progress has been made by the industry — particularly in the last five years — with quality assurance programs in various sectors of animal agriculture which have gone a long way toward ensuring the proper use of medications and feed additives. Much more has still to be done.

While this conference is working to turn this ocean liner around, a couple people made the point that hopefully it doesn’t take an outbreak of some Godzilla bacteria at a major hospital or an elementary school blamed on bad burger or chicken fingers to get government, producers and other players in the animal health industry moving a little faster.

Lee Hart is a field editor for Grainews in Calgary, Contact him at 403-592-1964 or by email at lee@fbcpublishing.com

I turned 60 today, and that is a hard fact not just to admit, but to accept. God that’s old. The good news is that I am down to my last 20 years of work and then I can rest.

Speaking of work and old age, however, I was reading a marketing column this morning and it was a good reminder that either I still have a lot of learning to do, or some parts of the world need to back up a bit and go a different direction. (I am leaning towards the latter).

I have been in the writing business for 40 years and writing about agriculture and all it’s wrinkles for the past 27 years.  One of the cornerstones of journalism is to keep it simple and/or make it simple. Being accurate, truthful, and unbiased are nice too if you can muster it, but above all keep it simple.

Here is what I read in a farm newspaper this morning that got me going:

“The….market saw some wide price swings during the week, finishing with declines after testing downside resistance on a number of occasions. On the whole, the bearish factors in the market outweigh anything supportive, but a short-covering bounce does remain a possibility going forward…”

Well, I read that opening paragraph in the column and the first question that bounced into my mind is “what the hell does that mean? Does the average farmer know what that means?”

Now, I shouldn’t sell producers short. They are a very intelligent, well-educated bunch who have considerable expertise in both production and management. Maybe they gobble that stuff up.

And I am sure the message in that paragraph was totally clear and succinct to the market analyst who wrote it. But, I really have to wonder how many farmers would read that, clip it out and show their neighbors at the coffee shop and say:

“Hey, Bob did you see that a short-covering bounce is still a possibility.”

“Geez, get out of here Fred,” says Bob with amazement. “I had no idea.”

Maybe it is just me. I have said before in this column, there have been many good marketing specialists over the years who have tried to help me better understand marketing and marketing lingo. Colleague  Brian De Kock at Dow AgroSciences actually sent me a very attractive and detailed diagram of how marketing works, but unfortunately so far it is as clear as a Picasso painting. I will have to study it further.

In the meantime, I would advise any marketing specialist writing about the markets to dummy it down a notch or two — not for the sake of farmers, but for me. At this stage I have only enough functioning brain cells to handle a bit of writing and golf. Keep it simple for 20 more short years and then I won’t care what you say.

Lee Hart is a field editor for Grainews in Calgary, Contact him at 403-592-1964 or by email at lee@fbcpublishing.com