August 2011 Archives

Here are a couple interesting columns from totally different observers on the actions and role of the Canadian Wheat Board, as the wheat marketing monopoly era comes to an end. Wednesday August 24 was the final day for getting ballots on the CWB referendum on the monopoly in the mail. 

Many people will know Brenda Tjaden Lepp (pictured at right below) who is co-founder and a senior market analyst with the commodity marketing consulting company FarmLink Solutions based in Winnipeg, and Lorne Gunter is a long time columnist with the Edmonton Journal.

Here is Brenda’s column dated August 24, 2011:

PRODUCERS WANT VOLUNTARY PRICE POOLING

By BRENDA TJADEN LEPP

As the camps on the two extremes step up their efforts to either stop or rush the government’s plan to end the

 Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) monopoly, many farmers are wondering what if any continuity they might see in the 2012/13 crop year. Especially considering that winter wheat is set to be planted in many areas in just weeks from now, grain producers need some answers quickly regarding future pricing opportunities and market structure.

 It would give many farmers some comfort to know that pooling will still be available as a risk management tool for marketing their Board grains in the future. The grain industry needs to become vocal and creative in discussing with farmers the contracting and valuation parameters of a voluntary pooled cash grain contract.

 Based on our discussions with producers, and FarmLink’s own risk management protocols, we estimate that 20-40% of the wheat, durum and malt barley crops would be offered to a well-designed voluntary pricing pool in any given year. Market conditions and farm-specific financial issues obviously come first in determining how producers make the decision to sell grain, but there will be plenty of cases where a voluntary pool would be an appropriate and attractive method for managing crop price risk.

If the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) could establish value related to end-use buyer relationships and competitive logistic, it would seem to be the best for all parties that they offer the voluntary grain pricing pool. But if the Board continues to steadfastly refuse to consider it, we’d like to see someone else step up because voluntary pooling could be a great risk management tool for producers, and a new marketing opportunity for the trade.

 Minister Ritz has indicated that short-term funding is available for work related to transitioning to an open market. The fact that new futures contracts are currently being designed by the Winnipeg grain trade for wheat, durum and barley makes it especially timely that the whole industry collaborate now in creating viable new marketing tools for the future.

 In the past few years the CWB has taken some solid steps forward in developing new contracts, improving industry relations, and understanding the price risk related to pooling grain. Given the staff’s passion and the organization’s history, successful voluntary pooling should be an easy next step.

 It hasn’t been built yet, but all the pieces are in place for a voluntary cash grain pooling contract to work – farmer loyalty, deep knowledge of managing price signals and risk related to pooling, strong relationships with end users and established grain contracting parameters. If the CWB and other buyers of western Canadian wheat and barley want to earn producers’ business for the future, building a successful voluntary pool is something that can be done right now. It will move the debate forward in a productive new direction, and reduce the stress related to the uncertainty about future marketing options for Board grains.

If you have any thoughts, contact Brenda Tjaden Lepp at (204) 832-2233 or brenda@farmlinksolutions.ca. Website: www.farmlinksolutions.ca 

 AND FROM THE EDMONTON JOURNAL

Lorne Gunter, a long-time columnist with the Edmonton Journal, made an interesting comparison, saying what if the federal government had 70 years ago given the Catholic church a monopoly over every Canadian’s choice of worship. He says no one has the right to impose their opinions, practices and policies on anyone else, even if the federal government had granted that authority — “It is a free country, after all.”

You can read Gunter’s full column by clicking on this web link:

http://www.calgaryherald.com/life/Wheat+board+plebiscite+just+propaganda/5292547/story.html

I haven’t done any extensive research on the question, but I did over the summer, ask a couple people who are well connected in the grain industry whether they thought the CWB would continue to play a role in wheat marketing after the monopoly ends. Both said yes.

One producer who is involved with a national policy organization, says there is a role for the CWB, but he added he was doubtful if the current board had the will to make it happen.

And the other evening, standing in a nice canola field north of Calgary, I asked Gary Pike, (pictured right)  a long time grain

 marketing and management specialist with Pike Management Group, about the CWB future. He was quite adamant that the board, with its connections and expertise, could play a valuable role (contrary to what the media says).  And Pike was also optimistic that the board will hone out a new, useful role, in a post-monopoly era. Website: pikemanagementgroup.com

And that’s about all I know about this today.

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

Whether you agreed with his politics or not, you have to give Jack Layton credit for the character and courage he showed in the final days of his life.

It was just under a month ago, he mustered his strength and hobbled into a news conference — a frail looking figure — to announce that he was taking a leave from his duties as Leader of the Opposition to deal with his cancer treatment.

As we all discovered Monday he was really saying, “this is the end folks, I am going home to die”.  He fought a hard battle both politically and personally. Even at his final news conference he maintained a positive and determined message, that he would beat this cancer, and he’d be back leading his party and the opposition, in order to keep those crooked Conservatives in line. He was a very likeable politician.

He firmly and bravely stood by his political principles right to the end. The irony is that he fought so hard to get to the No. 2 spot in Canadian politics and then cancer took him out. The brass ring was perhaps in many respects in sight, but grabbing it just wasn’t meant to be.

Whether you agreed with his politics or not, he was a great Canadian. He did what he thought was right. He will be missed.

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So I have had a couple suggestions on this mystery photo I took of a canola field in the Westlock area last week. The crop looked nice and uniform except for these flowered strips and I did see a couple other fields with similar patterns. I thought it might be something to do with compaction, however, one or both of these readers may have the definitive answer. And, if anyone else has any suggestions let me know.

Here are the comments:

Brian says: I have seen this type of field a couple of times in the past. My guess is that it is RR canola that was sprayed at a later than recommended stage, the crop was a bit stressed, and the glyphosate treatment set back the crop, except in the missed strips or where there was a nozzle plugged.”

(So Brian’s theory is that the crop was sprayed late with glyphosate, most of the field was injured or set back, and these yellow strips missed the spray application. Sounds reasonable to me.)

And on the other hand, David, who apparently has had some experience in these matters has a couple suggestions…

David writes: “The field of strips is very easy to explain. Everyone knows that Alberta land is selling for a premium and even the aliens are interested in snapping some land up. So the local farmer just set up his bar code to advertise his land and crop. Or your idea of compaction sounds like it could have some merit but as it is so uniform I would like to think it is to do with the piece of equipment. Possible one section not getting as much fertilizer or more, or depth of seeding that delayed the crops maturity or extra fertilizer has added the length of flowering stage. Or the good LORD just forgot to adjust his blinds when he sent the sun shine and rain and thus strips. Just his way of adding an artistic look to the countryside.”

DEER MEETS CAR

And one more amazing thing I have seen in my travels is what happens when jumping buck hits small car. There

 wasn’t a scratch on the grill or hood of this vehicle, so the deer obviously connected with the windshield right about where the rearview mirror attaches to the windshield. Windshield shattered, roof torn open. I understand, amazingly no one was hurt, except for the deer, which learned a very hard lesson. Today’s message: Watch for Wildlife or Drive a Kenworth. 

(Lee Hart is Field Editor for Grainews - contact him at 403-592-1964 or email lee@fbcpublishing.com.

A friend of mine who works on the oil rigs says he doesn’t like being out on the prairie because there is nothing to see. But I beg to differ. I just got back from an amazing road trip from Calgary to Neerlandia (north of Edmonton) and the drive there and back was like a carnival of attractions.

And of course being up in that Barrhead/Westlock area it is a no-brainer to begin with. It is well known it is an area where you can take 50 per cent germ test, 10-year-old, bin-run wheat seed, throw it on a gravel road and still get 65 bushels per acre — it is Nothing-But-Money Country. It is like Disneyland up there. 

So here is a sampling of some of the things I saw, this day:

• North of Neerlandia you will find Neeralta Welding operated by the Wierenga brothers who are now running the fabricating shop steady trying to keep up to orders for the Neeralta Grain Bagger. It is a extremely well built, 10 foot bagger (a 12 foot model will be introduced for 2012) that comes with an attached swing auger, and large 8’ x 10’ foot loading hopper. You can learn more about it at www.neeraltawelding.com.

• Not every pea field north of Edmonton looked this good, but Headline fungicide from BASF can no doubt take some credit for producing this excellent stand. The crop still had the odd flower, but it was loaded with pods so barring any serious weather events it should produce a very respectable yield.

• Craig Schmidt of Pioneer Seed did a great job of recommending P7213R hybrid corn to a grower/dairy farmer just north of Neerlandia. This field of the 2050 heat unit variety was standing about seven feet tall and weed free. Plenty of moisture in this area, though, as I had to pick my spot to cross the ditch.

• Here is the mystery photo of the day — what caused these less mature  strips in this field of canola. I saw several similar fields in the drive from Barrhead to Westlock and down to Edmonton. There was lots of variation in maturity in different fields but these strips made me think it had something to do with seeding or spraying. But that didn’t really make sense. And then I wondered if it had something to do with soil compaction. I have a Grainews cap for the first person who can give me a reasonable explanation for the strips.

• AC Foremost wheat isn’t a new variety by any means, but it looked to be performing well in this field near Westlock. Developed by Ron DePauw at Ag Canada in Swift Current, nearly 20 years ago, it is a high yielding,  shorter, early maturing wheat, with strong straw, good sprouting resistance and bunt resistance. Cyre Seeds of Barrhead is the local agent for this SeCan variety.

• Pentagon Farm Centre at Westlock had a good selection of new-to-you combines including Claas and Cat Lexion combines and New Holland combines. Yellow wasn’t the only color in the yard, but it was predominant there as well as at the Pentagon Farm Centre on Highway 2 near Red Deer.

• This is not a picture of Invigor canola (on the right). Not sure what it was exactly, but it was a dirty mess. It would be a good poster picture emphasizing the value of crop protection products, or perhaps the penalty of not controlling weeds. It might have even been a field of volunteer canola that never got the chemfallow treatment. Not far from there, (left photo) was this excellent field of Bayer CropScience’s Invigor 5440, released about five years ago. It is a medium height, high yielding variety, with yields about 135 per cent of check varieties. I found it interesting to note I saw many more full bloom fields south of Edmonton than I did north of Edmonton.

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• If you need a new-to-you air seeding system or combine header check out this Bourgault air seeder and Case IH, 25 foot header south of Westlock on Highway 41. It probably did its duty for this year and now it is time for  it to be re-homed. I think there was some land for sale just across the road from this equipment, so you could probably buy the whole package and be set up and ready to roll next spring. If you are interested in the machinery call 780-939-2132. (I get a finders fee).

• Two cereal herbicides near Leduc both seemed to perform very well. On the north side of the road was Dow AgroSciences Prestige, with three active ingredients for control of Canada Thistle, sow thistle and many other common broadleaf weeds in cereals. And, on the south side Bayer CropScience’s fairly new Tundra herbicide, which is an all-in-one formulation for grassy and broadleaf weeds. Both crops looked like they were doing very well.

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• And where is Captain Copper (Dr. Ieuan Evans) when you need him? I saw some excellent stands of wheat south of Edmonton but some had patches of lodging, which Ieuan over the years has maintained, is often a sign of copper deficiency in the soil. (Ieuan was a long time plant pathologist with Alberta Agriculture and is now a senior coach with AgriTrend Agrology). The untrained eye may blame this leaning crop on high winds and heavy rains, but I am going with the copper deficiency angle.

• I saw lots of hay on the trip — lots of brown hay in the country. It was a beautiful sunny day, but no one was baling by 2 p.m. although I saw a couple guys out raking. I noticed quite a few places using the bale wrap on large round bales, instead of twine. It may help with weathering a bit, but my brother-in-law who just started using a John Deere baler with wrapper this year says the big feature is time. He says he saves about two minutes making each bale with wrap instead of twine, which may not seem like a lot, but if you put up 500 bales that’s about 16 fewer hours and with 1000 bales it is 32 hours. Those could be important hours if you are rushing against the weather, or would just rather be doing something else.

• And when you get down in the Ponoka/Lacombe area I saw both fat cattle and horses doing well on pasture and in a feed yard. This yard of draft horses was south and west of Ponoka and the rainbow cattle herd looked to be doing very well on ample pasture near Bles Wold Dairy just west of Lacombe.

Now here is something you really don’t want in your field. No, I’m not talking about Kelly Bennett, portfolio marketing leader, cereal herbicides with Dow Agrosciences (pictured left).

I’m talking about the very robust wild buckwheat plant he is holding. Bennett, a Saskatchewan farm boy who has been with DAS for 25 years, made the very simple point, during a recent tour of DAS crop protection demo plots – the primary purpose of your herbicide program is to get rid of weeds like this wild buckwheat, as well as kochia, cleavers, hemp nettle, lamb’s quarters and probably a few dozen more common weeds that all can affect crop yields for Western Canadian farmers. You don’t want this mess robbing yields and snarling up your combine header.

The program usually starts with a pre-seeding burndown with a glyphosate product, but then follow that up with the proper in-crop herbicide treatment. Know your weed spectrum, use the proper product, at the proper application rate, with the proper timing and then as Bennett demonstrates (photo at right) more of your weeds are going to look like this instead.

DAS describes themselves as the Solutions People. They are not just selling chemicals, but weed control solutions. They are putting money into research and development, field testing and extensive demonstrations to find products that work and then show producers how well they work, often in comparison with other leading products.

As Bennett and Len Juras, former Sask Agriculture weed specialist, who is now a weed scientist with DAS, pointed out on this tour — there are no silver bullets out there. Glyphosate, when it was first introduced, was perhaps considered a silver bullet — the big fix for all your weed problems. Well, it isn’t. It is good and effective in a lot of situations but it can’t do it all. And just like every other herbicide or chemical on the market there is concern now about development of glyphosate-tolerant weeds. So even if one chemistry is good, you just can’t hammer the weeds year after year with the same product.

NEW APPROACH TO HERBICIDE TOLERANCE

DAS, like other companies, are now developing more dual action or tandem herbicide products. One objective of combining two products such as Simplicity and Attain, Simplicity/Frontline/24D, Tandem/24D ester, or Simplicity and a new version of Attain being called Octtain (registration is in the works), is to cover a wider weed spectrum and give producers more options. But, perhaps even more importantly is to combine two products with different chemistry effective on the same weed, to reduce the risk of developing herbicide tolerance. 

In recent years there has been a lot of emphasis by weed and chemical people on rotating herbicides — different modes of action — to prevent herbicide tolerance. Use a Group 2 herbicide this year to control wild buckwheat, for example, and then use a chemistry from a different group next year to nail any of those wild buckwheat plants that escape.

Now the preferred thinking is to combine two products so if a few smart weeds appear to be tolerant to one chemical, the other one will get them — sort of a one/two punch.

As Juras (pictured below, left) explains, researchers are finding there is a synergy in combining two products with different modes of action in one application. If one product is 75 per cent effective in controlling a weed, for example, and the other product is 80 per cent effective, by combining the two, producers are seeing 95 or 98 per cent weed control. It is not fully understood how or why it works, but the main point is that it does work.

Like developing new canola varieties, it is a long process in developing new herbicide chemistry. DAS has a Discovery Centre in Indianapolis where they may screen 100,000 different chemistries each year to find a few that may just have an inkling of potential for controlling a certain weed. Those few are then introduced into a research program for further testing in various parts of the world. Duds are booted right away, but with each trial, any that show greater promise are moved along and measured for every possible positive or negative impact on the crop or the environment. Getting a chemical from the Discovery Centre to a fully registered product ready for producers can easily take 10 years. The cost of the process doesn’t add up quite as quickly as the U.S. debt, but it is expensive.

And a final note on weed control — just when you might think

 all the bases are covered, something new shows up.In these two photos, Rory Degenhardt (right), an Alberta farm boy, also a weed scientist with DAS, shows a relatively new weed he’s found in certain parts of Saskatchewan called Marsh Willow Herb. It is not difficult to control but it is appearing. It likes bogs (i.e. much of Saskatchewan this year) but on the upside the leaves are edible. So it affords itself to an integrated weed control strategy — spray and/or snack.

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

Two western Canadian research and commodity organizations have announced the appointments of key management positions.

At the Western Grains Research Foundation based in Saskatoon, Garth Patterson has been named executive director, taking over a position previously held by Lanette Kuchenski, who resigned earlier this year.

Prior to joining WGRF, Patterson has been well known in the agriculture industry as executive director for the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers (SPG) for the past 16 years. A WGRF release says, “During this time, Patterson provided leadership that has contributed greatly to the growth and development of the pulse sector in Saskatchewan. This has included the development of innovative programs to commercialize pulse crop varieties that have led to widespread adoption of many new pulse crop varieties in Saskatchewan.

“Patterson has also worked for the Saskatchewan Soil Conservation Association, Cyanamid, Agdevco, the University of Saskatchewan, and Federated Co-op. Patterson brings with him to WGRF a diverse and in-depth agricultural background spanning more than 30 years.”

“We are delighted to have hired someone of Garth’s experience and expertise in the agricultural community for this important position,” noted Dr. Keith Degenhardt, WGRF board chair. “Garth’s leadership and direction will undoubtedly contribute to many achievements in the years ahead for WGRF.”

Kuchenski had served as executive director since 2003, taking over the post from Lorence Peterson. She resigned at the end of April 2011.

CANADA BEEF

And the new organization that brings the services of the Beef Information Centre, the Canada Beef Export Federation and the National Check-off Agency, all under one organizational roof is starting to fill governance and management positions.

Canada Beef, which was created earlier this year after the various players in the Canadian beef industry agreed to the three-way merger, now has a board of directors in place as well as a new president.

Brad Wildeman, from Lanigan, Saskatchewan who has been a driving force in the Canadian beef industry for years, including past president of the Canadian Cattleman’s Association, will chair the new Canada Beef board of directors. And Robert Meijer, former director of corporate affairs with Cargill Limited has been named president of Canada Beef.

There had been a lot of interest in some areas of the beef industry in seeing who would head the new Canada Beef agency. With the merger, it had people wondering whether Glenn Brand, CEO of the Beef Information Centre, or Ted Haney, president of the Canada Beef Export Federation might be selected to fill the top job. But, the Canada Beef recruiting committee has gone with a third, outside candidate. The roles of Brand and Haney in the new organization have yet to be announced.

Wildeman, a beef producer and feedlot operator from Lanigan, has been very active in many aspects of Canadian beef industry operation and policy development for years. He served as co-chair of the Canada Beef Implementation Team tasked with getting the new Canada Beef company up and running.

 “I welcome the challenge of being the first board chair of Canada Beef Inc.," says Wildeman in a release. "The Canadian cattle and beef industry made clear their desire for one national independent agency to conduct the industry’s marketing, promotion and research activities. With the establishment of Canada Beef Inc., we have accomplished this."

“Our job now is to pursue prosperity for the Canadian cattle and beef industry," he says. "We have a strong and capable organization, a renewed focus on increasing sales of Canadian beef in both the domestic and international markets - and a goal of positioning Canadian beef as the first choice in high quality beef around the world. With Canada Beef Inc., I believe it’s a goal that’s within reach."

Also elected as officers of the 2011-2012 CBI board of directors were: Dane Guignion (Manitoba Cattle Producers Association) as vice chair; Brian Read (XL Meats) as planning and priorities chair; Scott Ellerton (Sysco Canada Inc.) as finance/audit and program performance measurement chair; Mike Kennedy (Cargill Foods) as international beef trade access policy advisory chair; and Chuck MacLean (President, Alberta Beef Producers) as governance chair.

Meijer, has worked in various sectors of the Canadian agriculture industry over the past 15 years.

Meijer brings 14 years of policy, regulatory, legislative, political and communications experience to Canada Beef Inc.  In his position as Cargill director, Meijer has been responsible for Cargill’s Canadian government/regulatory relations, communication, and community relation activities.  He has also led and managed emerging issues, business risk and customer collaboration for 19 business units in the areas of beef, poultry, milling, malt, grain handling and port services, animal nutrition, canola processing among others.

He also held a board and/or committee position with a number of key agricultural organizations including; the Federal Roundtables, Flax Council of Canada, Malt Industry Association of Canada, Canadian Poultry Processors Association, Animal Nutrition Association of Canada, Western Grain Elevator Association, Canada Grains Council, and the Canadian Meat Council.

“Robert Meijer’s appointment as president of Canada Beef assures our organization of strong, capable and experienced leadership," says Wildeman, in a release.  "Rob’s extensive background in the beef industry ranges from domestic and international marketing to trade and regulatory issues.  This, coupled with his dynamic approach to taking the interests of Canada Beef forward on the domestic and world stages, will serve the Canadian cattle and beef industry well."

"I am very energized by this tremendous opportunity and dedicate myself to doing what is best for our producers and industry partners," says Meijer.

So far neither Western Grains or Canada beef has called me to fill a plumb position as industry ambassador, but I am sticking close to the phone.

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