Wheat & Chaff - The Blog for Grainews Readers

On Leave

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 07:46:47 -0500

Lyndsey Smith is currently on maternity leave. If you've got a story idea or question you'd like to see answered in Grainews, please contact her replacement Leeann Minogue at leeann.minogue@fbcpublishing.com

Thinking ahead: Fertility management for next year

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 12:06:51 -0500

It's mid summer, and that means I spend many of my days out at various field days. Just yesterday I toured a field near Elfros, Sask., that was growing a gorgeous stand of yellow peas. Sure, there were ugly spots where ponding had knocked back the crop in the early season, but overall it was a very good stand. Then, we went to see one of the nicest flax fields I've ever had to wade through. Both of these fields started in less than ideal conditions, and both share some interesting management challenges.

At this particular field day, we discussed how important it is to be planning ahead when it comes to fertility management. Peas, of course, fix their own nitrogen and leave a good deal behind to be released over the coming year or two. If conditions stay wet (this crop still had ample moisture but was no longer considered wet), there's not much you can do to protect the residual N from losses due to leaching or denitrification, however you could use a product such as ESN to protect a portion or all of the N you put down in the spring or fall, if you were seeding winter wheat. Depending too heavily on residual N could prove a poor choice if the wet cycle continues in this area.

In the flax field we discussed how flax needs phosphorus, as does any crop, however this crop's roots dive straight down and don't branch. Really, you need phosphorus directly below the seed but how are you going to get it there? The suggested solution was, yes, to put a safe level of seed placed P, but also to plant flax on fields with ample background P already in the soil and ready to be released and used. It could mean bumping P rates the year before flax, knowing that you won't lose it in the current year and it'll be available to the crop next year.

These are simply two examples of all that was discussed on this day. Do you think about fertility for next year's crop while this year's is still growing? Do the yields you achieve this year change your planned fertility levels for next? Look for more on this topic in the September issue of Grainews!

Plebiscite ballots should arrive this week

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 15:07:58 -0500

Ballots for the plebiscite concerning the future of the CWB have been mailed to farmers, according to the CWB.

Farmers who have a CWB permit for this year or last, and delivered wheat or barley in the past five years, should receive their voting package by July 22. If not, they should contact MNP, the vote coordinator, at 1-877-780-VOTE (8683).

Farmers without a CWB permit who have grown wheat or barley in the past five years can also apply for a ballot before Aug. 8. Ballots must be returned by August 24. More information can be found at http://www.cwbvote.ca

Sclerotinia control: by air or by land?

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 11:36:58 -0500

If you don't receive the Canola Council of Canada's Canola Watch weekly e-newsletter, you probably should. Each week, former Grainews editor Jay Whetter puts together the most timely agronomic canola info you need when making decisions on the farm. This week, Canola Watch discusses the pros and cons of applying fungicide by air or by land:

All sclerotinia control products are registered for both ground and aerial application. Both methods have their positive and negative aspects. If a fungicide is needed, getting it applied at the right stage will be the most important consideration.

High clearance ground sprayer. In moist conditions, which are conducive to sclerotinia infection, the ground may be soft and sprayers will leave ruts. These ruts can slow the harvest process and be present in the field for years afterward. But if the aerial applicators are busy and can’t get to your field in a timely fashion, ruts may be tolerable if it means getting the fungicide applied on time. Ground sprayers will also trample crop, but a 100-foot boom with 12” tires (times 2) equals only 2% trampling, or possibly less if the sprayer has crop dividers. Yield loss is not usually as high as the level of trampling. Yield loss from sprayer trampling should be less than 1 bu./ac. on a 50-bushel crop, which would be tolerable if the ground sprayer does the job on time and effectively.

Airplane: Spraying fungicide by air can be faster and more timely if the sprayer can’t make it through the field because of soft conditions. If everyone is in the same situation, booking a plane to do the job at the correct stage may be a challenge. If you can get a plane booked, then a plane has its advantages: It doesn’t leave ruts or trample crop, and it can do the job in conditions when a ground sprayer can’t. Ensure the applicator uses the higher end of the range of water volumes recommended for aerial application to allow maximum coverage, especially for denser crop canopies.

Register now for Canola Council combine clinic

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 11:02:47 -0500

Research and in-field evaluations have shown that canola growers lose up to five bushels per acre out the back of their combines, according to the Canola Council of Canada. That skims a lot of profit off the top and adds to volunteer canola costs in following years.

Alberta Canola Producers Commission and the Canola Council of Canada will host a Combine Performance Clinic at the Agricultural Grounds at Westlock July 18 and 19 to help farmers learn how to properly measure and reduce these losses. Space is limited to 500 people and pre-registration is required.

Attendees have three sessions to choose from: Monday, July 18 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday, July 18 from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., and Tuesday, July 19 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Les Hill, manager of business development and technical services with the Prairie Agriculture Machinery Institute (PAMI), leads off with general solutions for common harvest loss issues. Hill will explain, for example, why watching the harvest loss monitor isn’t enough. "Unless you get out and measure loss on the ground, you have no idea what the monitor is telling you," he says.

After Hill’s talk, attendees will break into groups and get a hands-on lesson from five combine manufacturers. Representatives from Case IH, John Deere, Lexion, Massey Ferguson and New Holland will have combines on hand to explain how to make adjustments for greater efficiencies.

Cost is $100 per person, including GST. Lunch is included for the daytime events. Snacks are included for the evening event. To register, please visit www.canolacouncil.org and click on the Combine Clinic box at the bottom of the home page, or call 204-982-2122.

A good use for old grain bags

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 11:08:38 -0500

Sure, you can recycle them, but Richard Petersen at Rose Valley, Sask., shares how his RM councilor saved this road this spring by using a used grian bag held down with used grader blades. Now that's clever!
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Come say hello at the Farm Progress Show

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 15:38:40 -0500

Grainews field editor and editor of Cattleman's Corner, Lee Hart, will be holding court at the RBC Innovations Showcase area Thursday from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm at the Western Canada Farm Progress Show. Lyndsey Smith (that's me!) will be there Friday during the same hours to answer questions, talk shop or just share a cup of coffee.

Stop by and say hello!

A state-side tour for top beef producers

Thu, 19 May 2011 11:29:13 -0500

If you're looking to learn new beef production techniques and don't mind having to spend a few days on a bus to do it, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture invites you to join them on its Breeding for Profit bus tour.

The tour runs June 19 to 24, and leaves from Moose Jaw. Those attending will stop in North Dakota, South Dakota and then spend a few days in Nebraska, visiting ranches and research facilities that highlight top herd and rangeland management, as well as the importance of top genetics in production.

The cost of $450 (per person, based on double occupancy) includes transport, accommodations and nearly all meals for the tour. Those interested should register with Saskatchewan's Agriculture Knowledge Center at 1-866-457-2377. And if you go, let Lee Hart, Cattleman's Corner editor, know. He'd love to hear about what you learn.

The end of the monopoly: Not if, but when

Wed, 04 May 2011 11:52:13 -0500

A Conservative majority caught me a little by surprise, I'll admit. I believed Jack Layton would gain seats, but not the number his party managed to capture. While I don't consider myself a Dipper by a long shot, I will forever be thankful to Mr. Layton for his booting of the Bloc from parliament, but that's another matter.

No matter who you voted for, we now know that we have four years of a Conservative government ahead of us. In all the post-election coverage, I've found an interesting thread. On one hand, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced to the public that he was keen on earning the public's trust, and that sweeping changes were not in the wings. On the other, this story on CTV.ca about the CWB monopoly certainly qualifies as "sweeping changes" in my books.

Good or bad, right or wrong, changes are coming. I know how the board supporters feel. I know how happy those opposed to the monopoly are. But, and maybe I'm wrong, I believe there is a huge swath of farmers out there who land somewhere between these two extremes. Those are the farmers whose thoughts I'd like to hear. How do you think losing the monopoly will change things? Good, bad, indifferent? Do you think it should be put to a vote?

One step forward, two steps back

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 10:53:11 -0500

Two interesting things happened this week. One, Grainews is now on Facebook! Yippee! You, dear readers, made it clear that commenting and asking questions on this blog was difficult. Seeing as a stated goal of this blog is to get and keep conversations going, that proved a big problem. Now, blogs will be posted here, but also linked from our Facebook page, where you can comment easily and for many others to see. That should get a conversation going!

Which brings us to the second part of today's blog title. I received an email on April 1, asking if I had heard about the Manitoba Canola Growers asking for opinions on moving canola to the Canadian Wheat Board (read more here). I, of course, laughed this off (did you see the date?), until this week when I see this is all over the news. I made a comment to a colleague that this likely started years ago when canola prices were in the tank and there was no processing to speak of. Lo and behold I read that conversations around this started in 2006. Which brings up an entirely different discussion — change takes forever, doesn't it? But that's for another day.

Regardless of what I think of this (canola has a functioning futures market and domestic processing, this whole ideas seems backwards to me), I want to know what farmers think. Do you want to see canola marketed through the CWB? Like us on Facebook and start the discussion!

Election fever!

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 10:29:02 -0500

I have election fever, as in, I'm sick and tired of hearing about an impending election. Yes, it looks like we tax payers are on the hook for paying for yet another ill-timed election. As one of my Twitter buddies said, if this "spring" weather continues, at least we won't be busy seeding when we have to go to the polls. Dark humour, indeed.

But all this talk of late springs, budgets and elections does make me curious as to what farmers and the west deems as key election issues. Rail service? Health care? Pension plans? Farm disaster relief? Dare I say it, the CWB monopoly?

Send me your thoughts at lyndsey (at) fbcpublishing (dot) com

Plan for success, young farmers

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 15:39:59 -0500

Those young farmers in the Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, area next week should plan to attend MAFRI's farm management conference entitled "Manage the future: Plan for success." The two-day event focused on helping young farmers succeed is slated for March 10 and 11 at the PCU Centre.

Topics up for discussion include succession planning, human resource management and business planning. There's also a banquet on the 10th, to get some ever important networking in. For those who like specifics, speakers will offer tips on balancing personal and professional goals, how to set goals, how the retiring generation and start-up generation can work together more effectively and tax tips in the face of succession planning.

Those looking for Management Training credits through the Bridging Generations initiative could amass as many as 12 credits by attending the conference.

The two day event costs $125 at the door. For more information, call 204-871-5863.

Smell it or sell it

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 09:57:15 -0500

When's the last time you checked all your canola bins? The Canola Council of Canada reminds you to get out there and do it now. And, yes, that means every bin and a thorough check — not just a poke in around the door or roof hatch (but that's a start).

Canola that went in the bin with high green counts, high dockage, a little moist or any combination of these factors can and will heat, given the right conditions. The larger the bin the higher risk of undetected pockets of spoilage ruining your hard-earned production. The council reports farmers losing entire bins to heating and spoilage; don't be one of them.

The cold winter months do keep bins relatively stable, however warming trends and the increase in sunlight creates warming fronts in the bin. For clean, dry canola bins, that's not a problem, but for those at risk of heating, temperature fluctuations can accelerate spoilage at a surprising rate.

What can you do? Get out and check each bin by removing at least a third of the volume. Only probing at doors or hatches won't give an accurate measure of what's happening at the center or sides of a bin. If you already have a sense of which bins are at risk, check those first — it may be prudent to turn the entire bin. With canola prices where they are, it's no exaggeration to say that even a significant investment of time and energy could save you thousands of dollars.

Crop planning in the face of strong prices, wet weather

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 11:59:40 -0500

I took over as editor of Grainews nearly a year ago. Just as I was getting into the swing of things, the endless seeding season of 2010 reared its ugly head and I could focus on little else. Of course, I live near Regina — not everyone faced such a dire growing season, but many did. Now, we've passed the half way point of winter (according to me) and the snow outside my door looks more like winter in the Red River Valley than "bone-dry Saskatchewan." (I was told last summer not to complain about the rain or it would stop for three years. Should I still be so careful? Maybe.) I'm hoping that my second year at the helm of this pub isn't nearly as exciting as the first. Really.

Difficult growing conditions here and abroad have done what they should for crop prices. Many farmers who missed out on production are taking some solace in price run ups of nearly every commodity (thank goodness). But wet weather leads to heavy disease pressure and low levels of quality seed stock. The farmer who fails to plan their crop selection early may find themselves short on their first choice or highest quality of seed.

While booking canola seed largely wrapped up in the late fall, many of you are still hammering out crop rotations or, to put it bluntly, returning to them.(I've said it before and I'll say it again, one in two is not a rotation.) The good news is many of the tried and true staples of western Canadian farming should be profitable this year at current pricing levels, the bad news is much of Manitoba and Saskatchewan are going to need perfect spring drying weather to get crops in on time.

Even timely seeding can't entirely make up for the dangers of seeding into wet conditions with (potentially) high levels of disease inoculum in the soil. It'd be prudent to pencil in a seed treatment, if you don't already, to this year's budget, I'd say.

Then there are those of you anticipating really wet conditions. In upcoming issues of Grainews, we'll be tackling the success rate of scratching in canola as well as highlighting cropping options that either don't mind wet feet, use a lot of water or will at least offer some ground cover and water use for 2011. For many, this cycle of wet weather is set to continue for a bit yet. Longer-term planning outside of your comfort zone, such as with winter wheat, forage and cover crops or big water users, may prove a wise move.

Of course, I say all of this and plan all these articles in the hopes that most of you don't need to employ these tactics. But the reality is, you may.

Happy planning!

Don't miss the Sask. Young Ag-Entrepreneurs conference

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 12:59:12 -0500

There are few things I like more in a sentence than "young" and "agriculture". I regret that I can't make it to the Saskatchewan Young Ag-Entrepreneurs conference set to go this week in Saskatoon, but I hope some of you will go and let me know the highlights. Check out the agenda here.

I anticipate that anyone who attends is going to be blown out of the water by Grant Dyck's account of what they've done on their farm and associated businesses. I was lucky enough to meet Grant a few years ago for a feature I did on him and his farming operation. He's young, ambitious, intelligent and genuinely a nice guy. I remember vividly riding around in his truck, talking farming, and Grant always coming back to "There's got to be a way to (fill problem in here)." Talk about a problem solver!

Also on the agenda are Ryan and Lauren Maurer, Canada's current Outstanding Young Farmers, and a thought-provoking discussion on land ownership (or rather, lack thereof) by Brad Farquhar's Assiniboia Farmland LP.

For more information on the event, visit www.saskyoungag.ca.