AgriPost December 28 2015

December 28, 2015 1The Agri Post

The crowd was unbelievable at the Christmas Holiday Train in Shoal Lake and their donations to Christmas Cheerwere fantastic. Country people helping those in need, a fantastic experience for all ages.

All Aboard the Holiday Season!

Photo by Joan Airey

By Harry Siemens

On December 18 the UnitedStates Congress, includingthe House of Representa-tives, passed by the Houseand the Senate sent US Presi-dent Barack Obama a biparti-san but deficit draining year-

M-COOL Repealed and Retaliation Stoppedend budget package thatboosts federal agency spend-ing and awards tax cuts tofamilies and a sweeping arrayof business interests. The Senate voted 65-33 infavour, combining $1.14 tril-lion in new spending in 2016and $680 billion in tax cuts

over the coming decade. Ear-lier, the House voted twicedecisively, marking a peace-ful end to a yearlong struggleover the budget, taxes, andRepublican efforts to derailhis regulatory agenda. The budget package is im-portant to Canadians because

snuck in there at the last mo-ment, and as a last ditch at-tempt was the repeal of theMandatory Country of OriginLabelling that fates back to2008. Chair of the Senate Commit-tee on Agriculture, Nutrition

Continued on page 2

Agriculture Missingfrom Throne Speech

By Les Kletke

MP Ted Falk wants to know, “Where is the agriculturein the Liberal government’s first throne speech?” Falksaid it does not have any specific issues that requiredattention in the speech but it is an important sector andwas omitted entirely. “Agriculture was missed,” he said. “There was no men-tion of the government’s commitment to the industry orits place in the Canadian economy.” Some of my colleagues from Quebec were concernednot only about the lack of mention of agriculture but thelack of support for supply management and where thecurrent government stood on that,” said Falk. “They havereceived some assurances after but nothing in the ThroneSpeech to outline the government’s position.” He has reserved judgement on Agricultural MPLawrence MacAulay who is from the Maritimes. “Wewill wait and see on that but we do know that agriculturein the Maritimes is very different than agriculture on theprairies,” said Falk. He does acknowledge the Liberalparty has few rural western Canadian members to choosefrom and a member like Ralph Goodale was assigned an-other portfolio. “He would have been an obvious choice.” Rick Warkentine a member from northern Alberta is theConservative Agricultural Critic and Falk is confident ofhis understanding of the issues. “He has been a memberfor about 10 years and involved extensively in agricul-ture so he will do a good job of keeping the government’sfeet to the fire on the issues of the day,” said Falk. One of those issues is the Trans Pacific Partnership(TPP). He said the Liberals have said the agreement seemsto provide Canada with a good position and should bewilling to ratify it quickly. “It is not a matter or renegotiat-ing it, it is a matter of ratifying it and moving ahead,” saidFalk. Looking south of the border Falk said the low Cana-dian dollar has been good for beef and pork exports andhe would like to see the American legislators move aheadwith eliminating COOL. “We have won every trade dis-pute to date and now it is time to remove the legislation,”he said. “So I hope the American government movesfairly quickly on that and we can get back to Canadianproducts moving more freely into that market.” Falk said the guarantees put in place for supply-man-aged commodities are likely better than they expected.“They have a 15 year guarantee and as a businessman Iwould have welcomed that, I think that supply managedcommodities came out very well on the agreement.”

December 28, 20152 The Agri Post

and Forestry Pat Roberts, had this to say. “I might point out,since my first day as Chairman of the Agriculture Committeein the Senate, I have worked to try to prevent trade retalia-tion due to COOL and I am glad these efforts will pay off,”said Roberts. “The timing is exceedingly close because thedeadline was December 18 as to when the WTO would in-form both Canada and Mexico they could go ahead withthese tariffs.” He said the people involved with this in the Canadian andMexican governments have said very clearly that, if the Sen-ate did not pass the bill, there would be retaliation. “That’snot going to happen and I give a tremendous amount ofdoing the right thing and working hard in our behalf and avery good relationship here lately with your trade rep,” hesaid. Roberts applauds Canada’s trade minister and complimentsthose in the Canadian government who worked hard withUS lawmakers to help resolve this issue. Just prior to this, Canada’s Agriculture Minister LawrenceMacAulay said US lawmakers were well aware of the conse-quences of failure to approve legislation that would repealprovisions of Country of Origin Labelling for beef and pork. On December 16, Canada’s Ministers of International Tradeand Agriculture and Agri-Food addressed reporters. Agri-cultural Minister MacAulay said, once COOL is satisfacto-rily removed, Canada would be in a position to remove retali-ation. M-COOL harms Canadian and Mexican livestock pro-ducers as well US processors and producers. “It also disrupts the highly integrated North American meatindustry supply chain. We are cautiously optimistic that thiswill lead to a resolution restoring trade on beef and pork,”said MacAulay. “The bottom line in this country is that whatit has to do is repeal COOL and when the legislation is evalu-ated totally and it repeals COOL then we will be in a positionto remove retaliation but not until it has satisfactorily re-moved COOL from pork and beef in this country. That is thebottom line.”

Continued from page 1

The Canadian Pork Council (CPC) welcomed the ma-jor development where the Omnibus Appropriations Billpassed in each of the United States House of Repre-sentatives and the US Senate, by significant margins,and with solid bipartisan support, that includes a provi-sion that should resolve the longstanding issue be-tween Canada and the US over their country-of-originlabelling (COOL) rules. The Bill then proceeded to theWhite House for the President to sign. “Challenging the US COOL has been a long and ex-pensive fight for Canadian producers,” stated CPC’sChair Rick Bergmann. Country-of-origin labelling in the United States be-came mandatory for meat and livestock in 2008 and sincethen, the Canadian government, along with the CPC,and other livestock groups has been fighting to havethe American legislation changed. In May 2015, theWorld Trade Organization (WTO) determined for thefourth time that US COOL for beef and pork discrimi-nates against Canadian cattle and hogs and violatesthe WTO obligations of the United States.

Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP) joins with its nationalpartners in celebrating the repeal of the United States Man-datory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) laws. Both the US House of Representatives and Senate passedan omnibus spending bill that included language to repealCOOL. The bill was signed by President Barack Obama andthe United States Department of Agriculture has announcedthey are no longer enforcing COOL requirements. “This is truly a momentous day for the Canadian cattleindustry,” said MBP President Heinz Reimer. “COOL has costCanadian producers millions and severely impacted the in-dustry on a number of levels. Manitoba producers have beenhit especially hard as the United States market has long beena very important one for our members. We look forward tothe resumption of an open and fair market with the UnitedStates.” Reimer added that MBP would like to thank the many peoplewho have been part of the long battle against COOL. “Therewere times it seemed as though this was an unwinnable fightbut the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association never stoppedworking for producers. We cannot thank them enough fortheir work. “Our past and current federal government hasalso been steadfast in their support of Canadian producers.We thank Minister of International Trade Chrystia Freelandand Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay for their dili-gence on these files since taking office. Producers also owea great deal of gratitude to former Agriculture Minister GerryRitz and former Trade Minister Ed Fast. Both men spent yearsfighting COOL and never wavered in their support.”

COOL continued... Andrew Dickson, the General Manager of Manitoba Porksaid the passed amendment included in the US funding billwould resolve the dispute. “The wording that we saw wouldindicate that essentially the legislation would be gutted forthis particular aspect of COOL and it meets the request thatwe’ve been making for many, many years now to try and getthis legislation fixed,” said Dickson. “I should also point outthat we’re also encouraging the government of Canada tocontinue with the WTO process, complete it so that it doeshave the authority to impose retaliatory measures and, if theCOOL legislation passes and the regulation gets changed,then there’s no need to exercise that authority but it’s likeholding an arrow in the quiver and we have encouragedthem to retain that authority.”

CPC Looking Forwardto COOL Demise

Manitoba BeefProducersCelebrate

COOL Repeal


By Les Kletke

It looks like 2016 could bea good year for thecountry’s beef and hogproducers as the NorthAmerican meat marketmoves back to a time whenmeat products had access tomove freely across oursouthern border. The battleover American Country ofOrigin Labelling legislationwent on for 7 years andseveral international tradedispute hearings. Now itappears to be over. In the end it was not theregulations or adhering tothe trade agreements inplace that forced theAmerican’s hand but thethreat of retaliatory tariffsthat could amount to $1billion that stirred the USSenate to repeal thelegislation as part of a largerbill on December 18. Thesignature of PresidentObama will make it official.

MovingTowardsStronger

FreerMarkets

Rick Bergman, head of theCanadian Pork Council saidthat he has already seenprices strength for Canadianweanlings going south.According to Bergman, it isa reaction from Americanpackers who need moreanimals. The irony of the disagree-ment was the packingindustry on both sides ofthe border wanted thelegislation removed.American packers said thelack of movement of animalssouth meant slower times inslaughter plants and thatwas costing US jobs. Both Federal InternationalTrade Minister ChrystaFreeland and AgriculturalMinister LawrenceMacAulay said plans werein place to move ahead with

tariffs if the legislation wasnot removed as required bythe World Trade Organiza-tion (WTO). Freelanddeclined to comment onoptions if the removal oflegislation was later thanthe deadline the WTO set. “Repeal or Retaliate,”was the battle cry offeredby Agricultural MinisterMacAulay, but that will notbe necessary, as removalseems eminent. The weakened Canadiandollar and removal of thelegislation should meanstronger markets for bothCanadian beef and porkproducers. Estimates fromindustry experts say thereis much more damage donethan the obvious drop inprices when Americanbuyers were out of themarket. Some estimatesplace the cost of thelegislation at a 25% drop inthe national cowherd inthis country. Ironically, the drop innumbers may havecontributed to the strongerprices that cattlemen haveenjoyed for the last twoyears however it is still along road to recovering themoney lost over the pastdecade.

Rick Bergmann says he hasalready seen pricesstrengthen.

Canola Performance Trials (CPT) 2015 small-plot data on canola seed varieties isnow available at canolagrowers.com. CPT 2015 had over 25 small-plot sites across the Prairies. The booklet includesresults from short, medium and long season zones, with yield and agronomic perfor-mance, as well as gross revenue for each variety and location. Out of the 25 plotsanalyzed, Manitoba had 7 out of 8 long season plot studies and 2 out of 15 mid seasonplot trials. The CPT provides science-based, unbiased and timely performance data that re-flects actual production practices, as well as comparative data on leading canolavarieties and newly introduced varieties. The three Prairie canola grower groups including the Manitoba Canola GrowersAssociation fund the CPT program. Seed companies that participate in the CPT pro-gram paid entry fees. Participants in the small plot trials include Bayer CropScience, BrettYoung, Cargill,Canterra Seeds, CPS Canada/Proven Seed, DL Seeds and Syngenta.

2015 Canola Performance TrialsSmall Plot Results Available


I admit I struggled to find the time to pen this column, Iwas busy preparing my resume and probably spent moretime on that than my editor would have preferred butthere was another reason I did not get to working onthese words and that was his fault but more on that later.

It was after carefulconsideration that Itook the time to findthe last copy ofwhat I call a resume,it was not nearly upto the specs that amodern job seekerwould hail as a (thisis 2015) resume.

You are the first to know, I have not even bothered mywife with the details of this, but I will be applying for oneof the positions in the Senate. So since our HonourablePrime Minister, ( I need to get used to showing himproper respect to my hopefully new boss) announcedthat the Senate seats would be filled by selection ofsuitable candidates from those who apply, I have beenworking on my resume and trying to find the applicationform on line. It has also taken considerable time to decide whom Iwill ask to nominate me. I have considered the editor ofthis illustrious paper but I am not sure if being late for

When I spoke on a Winnipeg radio station back in the early 2000s about theeffects of M-COOL, then only a vague threat, not even that, but a concept thatwould help everybody, the producers, processors and the consumers. In fact, I received some emails and other flack; I didn’t know what I wastalking about. As the US slowly developed the legislation and discussed how

they would use it to everyone’s benefit, it looked like it would be okay, and not really affect us in Canada. Then the hammer dropped, and I’m writing from memory, the groups who today are protesting vehemently howthe consumer is going to lose out, then was able to convince the powers that be to include what then made it sodamaging to livestock coming from Mexico and Canada into the US. To make a long story short, with shortages of cattle and hogs going south because they couldn’t process them,some plants shut down in the US, especially along the border. Shutting down the option to go south reduced thecompetition and dropped the prices along with some other factors, but for the most part the WTO got it rightassessing damages, just short some billions. However, the strategy and plan by the previous government under the direction of former Ag Minister Gerry Ritzand Trade minister Ed Fast in taking it to the WTO and setting up the retaliation scheme paid off. This is now a done deal. When Andrew Dickson, the GM for Manitoba Pork says he likes the writing of the repealof pork and beef, pigs and cattle, from the M-COOL, I’m confident too, it is a done deal. Ironic that on the day December 18, 2015, when the WTO had given Canada and Mexico the right to start theretaliation process, that the US government was able to undo COOL and avoid the entire retaliation scheme andprocess. Here is what the other side had to say in a news release just to show you the kind of opposition there was in theUnited States to repealing this law. R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard issued the following statement in response to Congress’ inclusion of language inthe must-pass omnibus spending bill repeals country-oforigin labelling (COOL) for beef, pork and ground beefand ground pork. “In the most underhanded way, Congress is depriving all of us of our right to know where thebeef or pork we feed ourselves, our children and our grandchildren was born, raised and slaughtered. “In secretand without debate, congressional leaders added the repeal of COOL in a must-pass spending bill knowing theycould accomplish their self-serving ends without the risk of public input or debate. In the spending bill, theprovision that destroys our COOL law cannot be amended or removed. This is government at its worst. Congres-sional leaders are helping the politically powerful multinational meatpackers to hide the origins of the beef they areimporting from Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and the other countries that are among the 14countries from where the meatpackers source their beef for the US market. Many consumers and cattle producershave been duped by the meatpackers. Consumers were told that beef from developing countries is just as safe asbeef from the US, but the truth is that developing countries are no longer required to have food safety systems atleast equal to those of the United States. Cattle producers were told that labelling beef is an unnecessary expense,but the truth is that US cattle producers cannot compete in the global marketplace if consumers cannot distinguishtheir beef from the beef imported by multinational meatpackers from the 14 countries that currently ship beef intothe United States. Congress is forsaking consumers and producers by terminating the right of US citizens to knowthe origins of their food.” Let me say… this had little to do with safety, but most everything to do with protectionism. Wow, a new, but oldera in the North American cattle and hogs trade, beef and pork. New is old because we’re going back to the old, andI hope with a renewed vigour.

Dear Editor: Once again, Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn andthis NDP government have shown their disdain for theagricultural industry across Manitoba. When asked in the legislature this past week about theNDP-controlled ManitobaHydro trespassing onlandowners’ privatefarmland to gain access tothe west-side waste linenamed BiPole III, theMinister replied, “Theyneed to be notified oftrespassing and which webelieve is still happening,and will continue tohappen.” When further askedabout the lack ofbiosecurity used by theNDP-controlled ManitobaHydro, the Ministerreplied, “Biosecurity isthe new swear word ofagriculture.” The Minister of Agricul-ture and this NDPgovernment continue toshow their contempt forthe agricultural sector inManitoba. They have putthe canola industry at riskby allowing the spread ofclubroot and havejeopardized the hogindustry by allowing thespread of the PED virus,and they consistentlyshow disrespect to ourhard-working Manitobafarm families. With your help, achange for the better iscoming.Blaine PedersenOpposition Critic forAgriculture, Food andRural development,Progressive ConservativeMLA for Midland

This is a Done Deal

What Will the New Year Bring?deadlines will be considered an advantageous trait in theSenate. I understand they are about sober considerationof the laws of the land so that might mean being a bitafter the fact and my editor will attest to that. Being bilingual is considered an asset and my editorwould attest to that, he has on many occasions accusedme of not writing in English so we would attest to myability in the other (or some other) official language. I didlive close to St. Jean and I have been to more than 25 St.Jean Farm Days, where I shared in the culture (had peasoup) that would count for something. So with my apology firmly in place we move on to whatthe intent of this column is a look at what the New Yearwill bring to our industry. Drones, the only place you will see more drones than inyour field this summer is on the show circuit, watch fordrones at every meeting you attend this winter and closebehind watch for the regulations that come with them. It follows on the heels of GPS and look, what that didfor our industry, we have been the beneficiaries of theUS Military intelligence on several fronts but none hashad the impact of satellites and GPS. It truly has revolu-tionized our industry. That is the question of the day, when was the last timesomething was developed for agriculture by agriculture. It has been a while since the introduction of the rotarycombine, that was new and developed by our industry,

but after that, we seem content to get the spill from otherindustries, and the iPhone has done us well but again itwasn’t agriculture driven. We need someone working on things for us… Oh, and the other reason that my time ran short was anews story my editor passed along about the legalizationof recreational pot smoking in this province and I got tothinking about the possibility of that and how I wouldwork that into a retirement plan. There are just so many new things happening in ourindustry. Legalized pot smoking may surpass drones asthe hottest topic on the meeting circuit in 2016.

NDPNDPNDPNDPNDP’s Contempt for’s Contempt for’s Contempt for’s Contempt for’s Contempt forAgricultural IndustryAgricultural IndustryAgricultural IndustryAgricultural IndustryAgricultural Industry


by RolfPenner

PennersPoints

[email protected]

In the midst of another holiday season, the Dickensclassic A Christmas Carol has worked its way backonto our television screens. Ebenezer Scrooge, thestar of thestory, is so wellknown in ourculture that tobe called a“Scrooge” hasbecome a com-mon insult. Butwhat do we re-ally mean whenwe call some-one this? Generally, the slur refers to the Scrooge in the firstpart of the story; it describes someone who is un-willing to help those who are poor and destitute.Many believe that this means opposition to govern-ment programs for this purpose. But as a Manitoba-born economist, David Henderson, points out in anessay, “The Lesson of Ebenezer Scrooge,” thosepeople have completely missed the point of the story.It’s all about private charity, not public assistance. If anything, the early Scrooge is in favour of gov-ernment programs. When asked to donate to privatecharity, he scoffs and asks about “Union work-houses” and “Treadmill and poor laws.” When hefinds they still exist, Scrooge says, “Oh! I was afraid,from what you said at first, that something had oc-curred to stop them in their useful course.” At thispoint in the story, Scrooge sees no need to contrib-ute anything as long as the government is doingsomething. As the story progresses, Scrooge learns that if hecontinues down this path that he is destined for alifetime of increasing misery and loneliness. Uponrealizing his mistake, Scrooge becomes very excitedabout changing his ways and the pleasure he canobtain from helping others who are worse off. Butit’s all about what he, himself, can do as an indi-vidual. Let’s face it, it’s not much of a moral awakening ifScrooge wakes up and suddenly decides that heneeds to vote for a certain person or a particularparty that’s going to raise taxes on everyone to helpthe poor. Today’s Scrooge might ask, “Is there no welfare?Is there no public housing? Is there no Medicare?”Or a whole host of other programs. As Hendersonsays, “The modern Scrooges, in short, are thosewho advocate government programs for the poorrather than charity for the poor.” “But isn’t that the same thing?” some might ask.No, it’s not. While one, private charity can be con-sidered generous and compassionate, the other,government assistance, is at its root a form of com-pulsion. When you give your own money, that’scompassion. But taking other people’s money with-out their consent most certainly is not; it’s coercion.Though many try to make that case, nobody getsmoral credit for being forced to help others. It has tobe voluntary. Most people have probably never thought aboutit this way; they think that raising taxes to help thepoor is just the right thing to do. They’ve neverthought about the difference. As Henderson pointsout, “The failure to distinguish between compas-sion and coercion is all around us. It’s a failure thatpeople on many parts of the political spectrum ex-hibit.” He’s got a point, and so did Charles Dickens allthose many years ago. If you want to help someone,or some group of people, then be like Scrooge at theend of the story and think about what you, yourself,can do. Not what you can force other people to doon your behalf through government or politicalmeans, but what you can do. Henderson has another suggestion: “Next time youhear someone advocating a coercively financed gov-ernment program to help those in need, call him a‘Scrooge.’ I guarantee that you’ll catch him off guard.Moreover, he’ll likely ask why you called him that.Then you can tell him the truth about EbenezerScrooge and A Christmas Carol.”

By John McGregor

Over the past few months, I have had articles on feed test-ing and the importance of balancing rations. Once you haveyour feed tests back from the lab, producers often wonderwhat to do with the information.There are a few options to consider:1) Have your feed reps help you balance your ration utilizingyour feed and some of their products to maximize your cow’snutritional requirements.2) Formulate your own ration utilizing your feed and protein,vitamin and mineral products from various sources.3) File the feed analysis away. For those of you that are comfortable with ration balancing,Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development has a ration bal-ancing program called CowByte$ for producers to use in de-signing cattle feeding programs. CowByte$ is an easy-to-useration balancing program that helps producers make optimumuse of their home-grown feeds, while only purchasing thenecessary volume of supplementary feeds. Taking advan-tage of lower cost alternative feeds or by-products can re-duce winter feeding costs and improve nutrition. Although forage prices this fall are not significantly higherthan in previous years, feed costs can make up approximately70% of the variable cost of keeping a cow over winter and

Who’s A Scrooge? Balancing Your Rationsanything that can be done to reduce costs improves netprofit. For every dollar winter feed costs are reduced, net returnor benefit to the operation is $4.28 according to BarryYaremcio, beef forage specialist at the Ag-Info Centre. Pro-viding a cost-efficient balanced ration also affects cow pro-ductivity. Pregnant and lactating cows with an adequateration that meets nutritional requirements impacts milk pro-duction and reproductive performance in the next breedingseason. Having more cows conceive earlier in the breedingseason increases the number of calves available to sell(and possibly larger calves) which increases total income. CowByte$ can help reduce winter feeding costs and im-prove nutrition. Checking in with Jenelle Hamblin, ForageSpecialist with MAFRD, she informs me that there are anumber of MAFRD staff who are familiar with and can helpyou balance your beef rations using CowByte$ or assistyou with learning how to utilize the program. CowByte$ is compatible with Windows 7, Windows 8,and Windows 10 operating systems. It can also be run on aMAC in conjunction with Boot Camp, Parallels, Fusion orCrossover. It is available online from Alberta Agricultureand Forestry and costs $50 or by calling 780-427-0391. Tech-nical support is provided by the Ag-Info Centre at 310-FARM (3276). John McGregor is with MFGA Extension Support.

With just 250 days until the world’s largest pioneer harvestcommences, Harvesting Hope is pleased to announce its offi-cial record target and unveil the community champion cam-paign.Thanks to the growing response to participate in the event,the Harvesting Hope organizing committee has set its officialworld record target at 125 antique threshing machines operat-ing simultaneously to harvest a field of wheat. “Every day since our official launch in August, individualsare contacting us to offer threshing machines, equipment andresources to help end global hunger by celebrating our agri-cultural heritage,” said Ayn Wilcox, a spokesperson for theHarvesting Hope committee. “We are grateful for the supportwe have received over the past few months, and are excited atwhat the months leading up to July 31, 2016 will bring.” “Hundreds of Manitobans are already volunteering and pro-viding in-kind contributions to make this event a success, butfinancial contributions are also needed,” stated Wilcox. “We’re

Canada’s hog producers have sent an open letter to theMinister of International Trade, Chrystia Freeland and theMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food , Lawrence MacAulayas part of the Government of Canada’s commitment to beingtransparent, open and consultative with Canadians on theTrans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The Canadian Pork Council (CPC) is participating in thisconsultative process and to submit their views on the deal asreflected in the recently released TPP text. The CPC has been a staunch supporter of Canada’s partici-pation in the negotiations of a Trans-Pacific Partnership andhas been working closely with Canadian Agri-Food Trade Al-liance (CAFTA) and other agri-food exporter members in sup-porting ratification of TPP. Last year, 1.1 million tonnes of pork and pork products, val-ued at over $3.7 billion, were exported to ninety-two differentcountries. Of this, approximately 80 % was sold to currentTPP partners while another 15 % goes to countries they viewas prime candidates to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Ac-cording to the CPC, Canada’s participation in the TPP is ofcritical interest to Canadian pork producers. The CPC sees significant benefits from the Trans-Pacific

CPC Consults with FederalGovernment on TPP

Partnership for our pork farming membership. Among thebenefits is preserving Canada’s ability to export to Japan, abillion dollar market for Canadian pork, on equal terms withthe US and other TPP country competitors. It offers advan-tageous terms of access to Japan relative to non-TPP porkexporters. The TPP achieves significantly improved termsof access into other TPP countries, including Viet Nam. Also of major importance, Canada, as one of the foundingmembers, is in a position to negotiate concessions fromother countries seeking to join the Trans-Pacific Partner-ship. There is also potential of eliminating the remainingSouth Korean tariffs on Canadian pork should Korea seekentry into TPP. The Canadian pork industry has had the unfortunate ex-perience of finding itself at a serious competitive disadvan-tage following other countries’ trade deals. The US and theEuropean Union completed free trade agreements withSouth Korea three years ahead of Canada. The year beforethose FTAs went into force, exports to Korea were $250million; just two years later, they had fallen by almost 75%. The CPC will continue to work closely with CAFTA andits other agri-food exporter members in supporting ratifica-tion of TPP.

Harvesting Hope Sets Record Goal of 125 AntiqueThreshing Machines for Pioneer Harvest

asking all Manitobans to join our team in the fight againstglobal hunger by supporting this once-in-a-lifetime eventthrough our community champions program.” Through the community champions program Manitobanscan support Harvesting Hope by being a Threshing TeamSponsor ($1,000), Adopting an Acre of wheat ($500), orbeing a Friend of Harvesting Hope ($250). Community cham-pions will receive a special invitation to the HarvestingHope event. Contributions of other sizes are also greatly appreciated.Contributions over $20 will receive a tax receipt. Addition-ally, Manitoba’s business community can support Harvest-ing Hope by becoming a community champion or a corpo-rate partner. Harvesting Hope: a World Record to Help the Hungry isa collaboration between the Manitoba Agricultural Mu-seum and Canadian Foodgrains Bank that seeks to bringCanadian communities together to help those who do nothave enough to eat.


By Les Kletke

Was there a drone inyour stocking onChristmas morning? Itmight be worthchecking the regula-tions regarding the toolthat could be thehottest thing in theagricultural market thisseason. UAA (UnmannedAerial Vehicles) inCanada or UAS(Unmanned AerialSystems) in the UShave special regula-tions and ownerswould do well to checkon the rules in eithercountry before puttingtheir new aircraft touse. In Canada there areexemptions available ifthe drone is less than 2kg but even a light-weight drone may notmeet that requirementwhen it is equippedwith a camera. Brunel Sabourin ofSt. Jean Baptiste saidthat a drone has beentremendous aid inmapping fields andallows him to get moreaccurate mappingwithout having to walkthe entire field. For him,a real advantage in wetconditions. He toldattendees at a recentmeeting of the Cana-dian Association ofFarm Advisors that adrone was valuable in

The Manitoba Beef Producers, Manitoba Forage & Grass-land Association and MAFRD are hosting beef and forageseminars in your local community. Register today to hear a wide variety of speakers on howto maximize forage fertility and productivity, extensive win-tering of livestock, beef outlook for 2016, updates on theManitoba Beef and Forage Initiative and the McDonaldsCanada sustainable beef pilot*. Seminar times are 8:30 am - 4 pm.Where Date ContactVita* Monday, January 11 Vita GO Office 204-425-5050Ste. Rose du Lac* Tuesday, January 12 Ste. Rose GO Office 204-447-4032Holland* Wednesday, January 13 Portage GO Office 204-239-3352Brandon Thursday, January 14 Brandon GO Office 204-726-6482Eriksdale Friday, January 15 Arborg GO Office 204-376-3300*Includes an update on the McDonalds Canada sustainable beef pilot.

A Drone in Your Stocking

his business and whenpaired with new applica-tions on his iPhone it hada dramatic impact in theway he could map a fieldand the information hecould provide to farmers. Commercial operatorspurchasing more expen-sive UAVs are more likelyaware of the regulationsinvolved and proceed tomeet them. The problemsarise with farmerspurchasing the machinesfor their own use and thenexpanding the mapping toinclude a neighbour’sfield or two. The regulations applyas they would for any

commercial operation andcover proximity to airportsor public areas. The National CornGrowers Association(NCGA) in the US hasissued a press releaseadvising farmers to takeadvantage of the freeregistration period in thatcountry. “Unmannedaerial systems can makefarms safer, more efficientand more environmentallyfriendly and that helpseveryone,” stated NCGAPresident Chip Bowling ofMaryland. “But we adviseeveryone to take advan-tage of the free registra-

tion window.” Theregistration is valid forthree years. The regulations aredifferent in this countrybut are still similar andproducers are advisedto become aware of theregulations beforetaking their new planeout for a flight. Use of drones formapping and crop careis expanding rapidlyand expected to be thehighest to date in 2016as operation of a UASbecomes easier and theunits become moreaffordable.

Beef and Forage WBeef and Forage WBeef and Forage WBeef and Forage WBeef and Forage Week Seminarseek Seminarseek Seminarseek Seminarseek Seminars








By Harry Siemens

Consumers keep demanding more and more from hogproducers in Canada. While often quite disturbing at theoutset causing undue stress, hardship, and ultimatelyhigher producer costs, it can also lead to the bettermentof the industry. There was a time producers used antibiotics, almost atwill, but higher costs and poor hog prices combined withhealth care professionals and consumer demand reducedantibiotic use in the food chain. Dave Van Walleghem, the national biosecurity special-ist with Vetoquinol Canada said, in response to the trendtoward reduced use of antibiotics, pork producers arestepping up their focus on cleaning and disinfectingfacilities. He said every pathogen poses a risk andproducers and veterinarians are relying on biosecurityand an increased focus on cleaning and disinfectingequipment to reduce the risk. “I think that’s why we really seeing an increase on thatbecause of the decreased use of antibiotics,” he said.“Because we are using less amounts of antibiotics, wehave to control the diseases one way or another and bybreaking the disease cycle by doing a proper cleaningand disinfecting. We’re finding a lot more benefits byallowing animals to express more of their geneticpotential instead of fighting off the disease.” Van Walleghem said cleaning, disinfecting properly is ahuge part of all of our biosecurity today, and it is a hugeeconomic benefit, something he has seen first hand for By Joan Airey

Lisa Dyck captured the attention of her audience at awomen’s conference when she spoke about CornellCrème, an ice cream she created in her own kitchen andnow makes at a plant in Winnipeg. Lisa and her husband William are dairy farmers lo-cated near Anola. Their second-generation dairy farmwas named after William’s dad Cornelius. “This all began when I received a gift of an ice-creammaker and made ice-cream that was the best we’d evertasted. Darryl Crumb a Chef we know gave my ice creama rave review and that prompted me to call the DairyFarmers of Manitoba to arrange to buy some of ourown milk back from the milk pool. At the moment Imake ice-cream at the University of Manitoba’s dairypilot plant, a facility licensed by the Canadian FoodInspection Agency,” said Dyck. Cornell Crème is made with all natural products suchas milk, cream, eggs and sugar. She uses naturalflavouring such as vanilla beans, chocolate and manyfruits. The rich ice cream flew off store shelves afterarticles appeared in numerous newspapers and wordspread of the delicious natural product. “We have had our bicycle at Winnipeg Folk Festivalselling ice-cream and we haven’t been able to keep upwith the demand for the product,” said Dyck. The ice-cream flavours have names like VelvetyChocolate Truffle, Strawberry and Cream, RaspberryWhite Chocolate, or Lemon Meringue. A person whohad sampled the flavours said they truly taste as goodas they sound she added. The Dyck’s have been busy buying new equipmentfor their new location at Notre Dame. They will expandtheir production from two hundred litres an hour toseven hundred litres an hour. “I’m hoping that withour new location higher capacity to produce ice-cream

Demand for Made in Manitoba NaturalIce Cream Results in New Plant

we will be able to keep up with the demand for the prod-uct,” said Dyck. On the availability of the ice cream and information onthe product check out their website at cornellcreme.com.

Lisa Dyck tells conference goers how her ice-creambusiness started by making ice-cream for her family andgrew in a couple years from a small plant at the U of M tomoving into a new plant on Notre Dame in Winnipeg.

Photo by Joan Airey

The Pros and Cons ofGoing Antibiotic Free

the past 15 years. “I’m finding a lot of people understandthe proper use of disinfecting and not seeing it as a costfactor and more as an investment because it is savingthem money in the long run,” he said. “If you can spenda dollar at the front end and get 13 dollars in the backend, you’re better off.” As an example Van Walleghem said that a study showsfor every dollar spent on proper cleaning and disinfect-ing, not just including the soaps and disinfectants butalso the actual process itself, showed a $13 - $15 pay-back. Along with shipping animals earlier because, it usesless feed consumption and better healthier animals. He knows, and the industry knows antibiotics will bepulled back from producers in the next little while so theywant to make sure to do proper cleaning to reduce theamount of antibiotics producers need to use. Dr. Shawn Davidson, a veterinarian with DavidsonSwine Health Services said, despite its growing popular-ity with consumers, demand for antibiotic free pork is

unlikely to overtake that of mass produced pork. He saidthe industry is certainly seeing an increase in demand forantibiotic free pork, shown in some of the advertisingand corporate announcements by food services such asSubway with its animal protein products that will beantibiotic free within a certain number of years. Anotherexample is A&W’s promise to provide poultry raisedwithout antibiotics. However, when it comes to overall demand cost is afactor. “We know from many studies that when consum-ers are surveyed about things like antibiotic free pork, amajority of them will say yes, we want this,” he said.“But then when you get them in the actual store andwith the wallet in hand, they’ll buy the commodityproduct because it’s cheaper, so cost is a factor. Publicperception is a factor.” Davidson said the information and sometimes misinfor-mation that exists surrounding antimicrobial resistanceand the amount of antibiotics that producers actuallyfeed to animals drives consumer opinions. The internetis a very powerful force and influences people’s opin-ions for better or for worse, he added.


By Les Kletke

If you are a budding youngchef what could be better thanto show off your own creationusing some of the best pork inthe world to possible employ-ers and perhaps pick up acheck for $1,000 in the pro-cess. That is exactly what eightstudent of the Red River Col-lege (RRC) Culinary Arts Pro-gram did earlier this month ina jointly sponsored contestfrom Manitoba Pork and RRC. Communications OfficerConner Lloyd said that thisyear the contest attracted eightwould be chefs. “It is open toanyone in the program and thisyear we had some in their firstterm and some that were closerto finishing the program,” saidLloyd. The Culinary Arts pro-gram runs 6 terms over twoyears at RRC’s downtowncampus. The contest has beena joint venture with ManitobaPork for 15 years and is in-tended to have young chefs

By Harry Siemens

The Soil ConservationCouncil of Canada [SCCC]has a rich history as theface and voice of soil con-servation in Canada. At therecent Summit on CanadianSoil Health in Calgary,Alberta, William “Bill”Buckner President and CEOof the Samuel RobertsNoble Foundation Inc., thelargest, independent pri-vate agricultural researchorganization in the US laidout his thoughts on soilhealth. With more than one mil-lion organisms in a singleteaspoon of earth, soil isthe starting point for plant,animal and human life. It isthe foundation for society,providing the basis for

What Can We Do for the Soil?

“There was a time when we looked at what can the soil dofor us, now it’s time we start looking at what can we do forthe soil,” said William “Bill” Buckner President and CEO of theSamuel Roberts Noble Foundation Inc. speaking in Calgary.

food production, healthyfamilies and economies.

When Buckner took tothe podium during the

Calgary Soil Summit he re-counted the many hoursplowing for his father, thenrunning the deep tiller afterschool once the plow be-came obsolete. “There was a time whenwe looked at what can thatsoil do for us, now it’s timewe start looking at what canwe do for the soil,” empha-sized Buckner. When asked, where arewe going with farming hesaid, “I think we may goback to the 1900’s, but notto the horses. I think we’llsee more diversity on farmsand ranches,” Bucknersaid. “I think people aregoing to look at this andthere is an up swell of kidsthat want to come back tothe farm. And I thinkthey’re looking at ways todo it and have differentideas about how to do it. Itis about biological diver-sity and it is doing thingsenvironmentally correctand sustainable, as wesay.” Buckner said there will bemuch more diversity onfarms and in the Midwestthis is already happeningwhere farmers are movingstocker cattle out of the

southwest to the Midwestbecause they can grazecover crops. “They are finding outmore ways to do that be-cause they’re finding itbrings more income and Ithink you will see a lot ofmoving in that direction,”he said. “Getting back tothinking about soil differ-ently than the way wethought about it before.People will be picking thisground up again and look-ing at it and feeling it andwill be able to tell with theirfingers whether they’re onthe right path or not.” As President and CEO ofthe Noble Foundation,Buckner’s eyes light upeven more and his enthusi-asm jumps a notch or twoas the interview shifts tothe newly announced SoilHealth Institute, a non-profit entity that is bring-ing together, passionatesoil health enterprising ag-riculturalists with properlyfunding soil health re-search in the United States. To ensure that soil con-tinues to be a vital naturalresource for generations tocome, the Samuel RobertsNoble Foundation and

Farm Foundation, an-nounced on December 5,the formation of the SoilHealth Institute. Its missionis to safeguard and en-hance the vitality and pro-ductivity of the soil. It willwork directly with conven-tional and organic farmersand ranchers, public- andprivate-sector researchers,academia, policy makers,government agencies, in-dustry, environmentalgroups and consumers,everyone who benefitsfrom healthy soils. He said the foundationwill resource research to thelevel that it needs to be andnot be looked at as a sec-ond-class citizen to plantscience. “Secondarily, wewill be a resource for ev-erybody whether consum-ers, scientists, farmers andranchers, a resource any-one can come into and learnabout soil health,” he said.“So, where I can go to learnhow to mitigate erosion onmy land, or how can I getinvolved in carbon seques-tration and possibly partici-pate in carbon credits someday. What are those thingsthat I need to do.”

Student Chefs Compete forTop Spot with Pork

develop recipes that could beused in high-end restaurants. The participants select thecut of pork they want to useand use an original recipe foran appetizer and an entrée.“They have complete free-dom,” he said. “They canchoose the cut they would liketo work with and an originalrecipe.” They are suppliedwith the meat and the typicalingredients in a commercialkitchen if they require anyspecial ingredients the contes-tants must source them on theirown. The final products are thenjudged by a panel consistingof a past winner of thecompletion and a representa-tive of Manitoba Pork. “Wealso have good interaction withthe restaurant industry sothere is always the possibil-ity of meeting a potential em-ployer through the event,”says Lloyd. The recipes are not lost orkept secret after the competi-

tion rather they are posted onthe Manitoba Pork website foranyone to try at home. First place and a $1,000check went to Krunal Patel’sspiced and maple glazedManitoba pork tenderloin,with sweet potato ginger pu-ree, star anise pickled mustardseeds and grilled corn and redpepper ragout. Second placeand $750 was won by MarkTorres’ pork tenderloinstuffed with apple and cran-berries mixed with whippingcream and sugar, and glazedwith honey cinnamon with arubbing of roasted walnuts.Third place and $500 went toVien Salimbacod’s juniperbraised pork butt with sous-vide of rosemary pork tender-loin, potatoes Dauphine androasted vegetables with cran-berry sauce and honey mapleglaze. No word on whether any ofthe contestants are moving onto a reality TV show but theprizes may help pay for a bitof school.

Action is fast and furious in the Manitoba Pork Cook off at the Paterson Global Foods Institute.


St. Jean Farm Days – On Wednesday, January 7 starting at 8 amat the St. Jean Centennial Hall 203 Caron St., St. Jean Baptiste.Cost: daily admission $6 per person or $10 per couple,continental breakfast and lunch included. Speakers includeDennis Lange, Ingrid Kristjanson, Pam de Rocquigny, IndraAriyaratne, Roy Arnott and Jeanette Gaultier of MAFRD, AngelaBrackenreed (Canola Council of Canada), Brian Comeault(Cargill AgHorizons), Paul Bullock (University of Manitoba),Brunel Sabourin (Antara Research) and Neil Townsend (G3Canada). Contact Morris GO Office at 204-746-2312.

MAFRD Beef and Forage Day – On Monday, January 11 at 9 amat the Ukrainian National Home Hall, 106 Main St., Vita.

Workshop: Direct Marketing Your Meat Products – On Thursday,January 14 starts 9 am at the Sun Gro Centre 360 Veterans Lane,Beausejour. Topics include regulatory requirements; understand-ing provincial abattoir and meat processor expectations;understanding how to calculate product pricing; availableresources and services. Learn from two local entrepreneurs: aproducer who is currently direct marketing his meat and arestaurateur who will offer tips to consider when supplying meatfor his menu.” Cost $20 per person, lunch included. Contact204-461-2978.

Manitoba Ag Days – On Tuesday, January 19 – Thursday,January 21 at the Keystone Centre, 1175-18th St., Brandon. Anexposition of agricultural production expertise, technology, andequipment that attracts exhibitors and visitors from acrossCanada and the north-central United States. [email protected], 204-728-4137.

Manitoba Young Farmers Conference – On Tuesday, January 26– Wednesday, January 27, 2016 at the Delta Hotel, Winnipeg.Conference will be addressing a host of issues that are exclusiveto young and beginning farmers. The goal of the conference is tochallenge young farmers to reflect on what it means to besuccessful now, in the future, and how to achieve these goals.Encourage young farmers to gain insight on the tools availablefor managing farm finances, succession planning and what itmeans to be a great leader. The event will provide an opportunityfor young farmers to network and build relationships with otheryoung producers. Contact KAP Young [email protected], 204-697-1140 or MAFRD EllenMcPherson [email protected], 204-266-2930 or LynnGilmore [email protected] 204-861-2071.

Keystone Agricultural Producers AGM – On Wednesday, January27 – Thursday, January 28 at the Delta Winnipeg, 350 St. MaryAve. includes the 2016 Young Farmers Conference, to be heldJan. 26 - 27 at the same location. Contact KAP AGM andYoung Farmers Conference, 204-697-1140 or visit the KAPwebsite.

MBP AGM and Tradeshow – From Our Gate to Your Plate;Understanding The Evolving Customer on Thursday, February 4 –Friday, February 5, 2016 at the Victoria Inn Hotel & ConventionCentre, 3550 Victoria Ave., Brandon. Manitoba Beef Producerslooks forward to meeting with its members at the upcoming 37thAnnual General Meeting. The meeting is an opportunity toengage with MBP directors and fellow producers, debate issuesthat affect your bottom line, and set policy that will affect thefuture of your industry. AGM Early Bird Registration by Tuesday,January 5, 2016 - $75 per person, after this date $90, meetingonly (no banquet) $40, banquet ticket only (no meeting) $50. Weencourage all producers and beef industry stakeholders to attend.Contact 204-772-4542, 1-800-772-0458, [email protected].

Western Canadian Holistic Management Conference – OnSunday, February 14 2016 at 3 pm – Tuesday, February 16 2016at 12:30 pm at the Russell Inn and George P Buleziuk Confer-ence Centre in Russell. Keynotes: Inspiring Purpose and Passionin your Life, Regenerating Landscapes for a Sustainable Future,Producing Food as if it Mattered, Producer Panels. Contact PamIwanchysko 204-648-3965 or [email protected].

CropConnect Conference & Tradeshow – On Wednesday,February 10 – Thursday, February 11 at the Victoria Inn andConvention Centre, 1808 Wellington Ave., Winnipeg. TheManitoba Canola Growers Association, Manitoba Corn GrowersAssociation, Manitoba Flax Growers Association, ManitobaPulse Growers Association, National Sunflower Association ofCanada and Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Associationmake up the host committee. Contact 204-230-6330,[email protected].

Direct Farm Marketing Conference & Trade Show – On Friday,March 11 at 8:30 am – Saturday, March 12 at Canad Inns —2401 Saskatchewan Ave. W., Portage la Prairie. Starting orexpanding a direct marketing business, new marketing ideas andinformation on emerging trends in farm business diversificationincluding agrifood, agritourism and farmers’ markets.” Contactfor Trade show booth MAFRD 204-392-7268 [email protected].

Upcoming Events... The governments of Canada and Manitoba will support thebroader expansion of a family-owned food-processing companyin Winkler with $250,000 in equipment upgrades. Spenst Brothers Premium Meats currently produces and sellsdeli meats, pizzas, buns, perogies, custom-cut and wrapped meatsand other products. To meet consumer demand and food safetyrequirements, the company is planning a $2.3 million expansion.Government funding will support the purchase of more than $1million of new equipment including packaging systems, convey-ors, ovens and cooling equipment. “When we opened in 2003, we were humbled by the level ofsupport we immediately received first from the local Winkler

Family Owned Food Processor Expandingarea and then all of southern Manitoba. Today, we are againhumbled and grateful for this investment in our business,” saidPaul Spenst, General Manager of Spenst Bros. Premium Meats.“As a family, we again commit ourselves to making Spenst Bros.Premium Meats a business that pays good returns on this invest-ment, including new job opportunities for our local workforceand continued fundraising support for local schools, sports teamsand mission organizations.” The company currently buys approximately $345,000 of in-gredients from within Manitoba and employs 18 full-time staff.The expansion is expected to increase local purchases to nearly$1.9 million and full-time positions to 30 after three years.


By Les Kletke

The canola growers of all three Prairie Provinces have made commitment to fundtraining equipment that will make farm families as well as first responders more awareof the dangers of being pulled into a grain tank or bin. The Canadian Agricultural Safety Association has announced a partnership with allthree-prairie canola growers’ associations to help build and operate a grain entrap-ment unit in the prairies. “Projects like the mobile grain entrapment demonstration under are important in ourorganization and our industry,” said Jack Froese of the Manitoba Canola GrowersAssociation. “They provide opportunities for agricultural workers, farmer and farmfamilies across the prairies to learn about the importance of grain safety and spreadawareness of the dangers of grain entrapment.” Three sisterssuffocated thisfall in Alberta ina trailer load ofcanola. Thegirls were play-ing in the loadof freshly har-vest canola andwere pulled intothe grain.Glen Blahey, ana g r i c u l t u r a lsafety andhealth expertwith the Cana-dian Agricul-tural Safety Association, said a load of seed acts like quicksand. It only takes secondsfor a person to become trapped and a few minutes to suffocate. At the time, he called for more education about the danger. “I don’t mean to criticizethe parents of those three children that were lost but, at the same time, as caregiverswe’re responsible to protect them,” Blahey said. The industry has answered that challenge and each provincial canola growers asso-ciation has agreed to provide $30,000 over the next three years to fund the entrapmentdemonstration units. “We are incredibly grateful to have these three canola producerorganizations as our funding partners of this new program,” said Marcel Haucault,Executive Director of the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association. “The grassrootssupport means that we will have a solid start to this new and vital program. This unit and additional units with be traveling to fairs and tradeshows to demon-strate the dangers of working in grain and how fast a small seed like canola can becomelike quicksand and not allow a person to work their way out. The units will also serve as training equipment to first responders who might becalled upon to deal with accidents like the one in Alberta.

Safety First and Always Frank Digital is happy to announce that Donalee Jones has been hired as Senior Pro-ducer for Great Tastes of Manitoba Season 27. Jones has 15 years television experience,but more importantly a lifetime of farming experience. “Great Tastes is, at its core, a television series about Manitoba food products and thefarmers who produce them, so no one in the Winnipeg production industry today under-stands that more keenly than Donalee,”said Chris McIvor, CEO of Frank Digital.Frank Digital took over production of theseries in 2015 upon the retirement of long-time producer Don Hornby of Hummer Pro-ductions. Jones began her career in documentaryproduction with MidCanada ProductionServices in 2002, and then moved on toproduce countless television commercialcampaigns for clients including ManitobaAgriculture Food and Rural Development.In 2008, Jones and her partner moved backto Cartwright where they joined the family’s2,000-acre grain, oilseed and pulse opera-tion. She continued to work off farm ontelevision, documentary and commercial projects, while raising her young family. Jones isalso involved in her parents’ purebred cattle operation in nearby Baldur, and has served asthe secretary/treasurer for the Manitoba Simmental Association for the last 8 years. “I’m very excited about working with the Great Tastes team. As a farmer and a mom, Iknow how much conflicting information there is in the media about what we should befeeding our families. We all want to shop local, but sometimes it’s not clear what that reallymeans. It can be overwhelming. I’m looking forward to helping educate Manitobans abouthealthy, affordable, delicious food and the local farmers who produce it,” said Jones.“GreatTastesMb.ca is a great resource for recipes and we will be posting special behindthe scenes features, and helpful information about food and farming on Facebook andTwitter.” Great Tastes of Manitoba is produced as a partnership between eight Manitoba com-modity groups, Manitoba Beef Producers, Manitoba Chicken Producers, Manitoba CanolaGrowers, Dairy Farmers of Manitoba, Manitoba Mushroom Growers, Manitoba Pork,Manitoba Pulse Growers Association, Manitoba Turkey Producers, Manitoba Liquor andLotteries, and Manitoba Agriculture Food & Rural Development. Unique to the show arethe beverage pairings accompanying every recipe provided by Manitoba Liquor & Lotter-ies product experts. Season 26 of Great Tastes of Manitoba is currently airing on CTV, Saturdays at 6:30 pm,and streamed online at GreatTastesMB.ca.

Recognizing the impor-tant role producer fundingof public breeding hasplayed in delivering newwheat and barley varietiesfor increased farm profit-ability, Western Canada’swheat and barley commis-sions and associations areworking together to con-sider options for continuedleadership and influence. Since producer invest-ments in breeding began in1995, over 200 new wheatand barley varieties havebeen made available tofarmers by public researchinstitutions. With studiesdemonstrating that pro-ducer investments contrib-ute to increased net profit-ability per acre for westernCanadian farmers, producerorganizations have formeda working group to exam-ine opportunities for opti-mum involvement in wheatand barley variety develop-ment. The participating organi-zations include the

Marcel Hacault of the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association.

‘Great Tastes’ Hires Manitoba Farmer

Producer Groups Provide Leadershipin Wheat and Barley Breeding

Manitoba Wheat and Bar-ley Growers Associationand Winter CerealsManitoba. The WesternGrains Research Founda-tion (WGRF) serves as thefacilitator. A recent study commis-sioned by the WGRF cal-culated that on averageevery producer check-offdollar invested into wheatvarietal research has re-turned $20.40 in value tothe producer. Barley vari-etal research saw a returnof over $7.56 for each pro-ducer dollar invested. In 2015, the workinggroup engaged JRG Con-sulting Group to explore arange of opportunities forproducer involvement andleadership in wheat andbarley variety develop-ment. The report empha-sizes the importance ofcontinued and increasedpublic, producer and pri-vate industry investment inwheat and barley varietydevelopment, and the ben-

efits to producers. The report stresses thegroups should continueusing the current approachwith more coordination andinformation sharing, usingeight Provincial Commis-sions involved in varietydevelopment research pro-grams, forming one non-profit producer body:Wheat and Barley West,adopting the AustraliaNorth: Separate Partner-ships for Pre-Breeding andBreeding/Finishing modeland an approach based onproducer ownership in acereal breeding company. The consultant’s report isavailable on the websitesof the participating organi-zations. The organizationsare encouraging farmersand other interested stake-holders to read the reportand provide comments.The results put forward areintended to stimulate dia-logue noting nothing hasbeen endorsed by the work-ing group as of yet.



By Les Kletke

Rod Parker does not plan to change much on his farmin 2016. “There has not been a great difference in prices rela-tive to each other, and we try to keep our rotation fairlystable,” said Parker who farms 4,000 acres in southwestManitoba. “We have been expanding our soy-bean acreage but we will keep it the same for this year.” “We have about 1/3 of our farm in oilseeds and soy-beans have been taking over from canola mostly on thebasis of fertilizer prices but we don’t see changing toomuch for the next year.” Parker said that the 1/3 of his land is in forages andhas shown a good return this year but it is not some-thing that he can swath acres quickly. “We sold somehay early in the year when it sounded like Alberta wouldbe in a real shortage and we got some good prices butwe can’t swing a lot of land into forage for next year. Ittakes a year to establish a crop and things will changefor next year. It was a good return this year and we wereable to take advantage of it,” he said. Parker admits that even a few years ago his regionwould not have been thought of as a forage producer.“We would have been more of a grazing area, but withthe rain the last couple of years we have had goodgrowth and been fortunate to get the feed off in goodshape and that makes all the difference in the marketplace.” The remaining of his land is in cereal production andhe will continue with wheat as the base. “We got somewinter wheat in this fall, not quite as much as we wouldhave liked but we got some in and that allows us to getstarted with harvest a bit earlier,” said Parker. “We likethat and the fact we can evaluate in the spring and ifthe stand is not good we can turn it into somethingelse, but we are hoping that we come through the win-ter alright and the crop stays.” He said the crop went into winter in good shape andhad a well established stand before it shut down in thefall. “We don’t lose the crop in the fall, it depends whathappens in the spring and if we get ice on it and itsuffocates this is much more damaging.” Of course, everything could change if prices change.“Those are our plans now, but if we see a run up in acrop, we do have some swing acres that we could allo-cate to a real money maker,” he said.

By Les Kletke

Dr. Gilliam Richards saidthat Manitoba firms are do-ing a good job of cooperat-ing along the customerchain to develop new prod-ucts and process. Richardsis the author of a reportcommissioned byManitoba Agricultural andRural Development(MAFRD), which con-ducted cases studies ofeight Manitoba companieslooking at the level of co-operation and develop-ment within their industries. Richards who works atthe Rural Development In-stitute (RDI), which is lo-cated at the University ofBrandon, said the resultsare not surprising althoughshe was surprised by thedegree of interaction. “Ofthe 8 case studies we con-ducted we found that ev-ery company was involvedin some time of co-opera-tion along the supply

Manitoba Firms Stay Competitive ThroughCooperation in the Supply Chain

chain,” she said. “Even alarge firm like Richardson’swhich has a significant inhouse R & D departmentrelies on outside sourcesfor some of its informa-tion.” Richards said that part ofthe co-operation mightcome from the fact thatmany of the firms studiedbegan as producer basedco-operatives. “Like BeeMaid which was producerdriven,” she noted. “Another reason might bethat firms in Manitoba arewell aware of how competi-tive the market place is andthat they need every bit ofinformation they can get toremain competitive in theworld market.” The report is availablefrom the RDI and she saidwhile it might not provide adirect impact on theproducer’s bottom line theinformation could provevaluable to producers. “Itcan give them an under-

standing of the industrythey deal with and whythings happen the way theydo, any further understand-ing of your own industry isbeneficial,” she said. “It isgood to know how your in-dustry works.” She said of the eight firms,it is how they innovate tostay competitive in their in-dustry and how they inte-grate to gain efficiencies ofthe supply chain that stood

Pork producers from across Canada met in Ottawa re-cently for the Canadian Pork Council’s annual fall meetingto help shape the future of the industry and address thechallenges and opportunities for the next year. Rick Bergmann, Chair of the CPC and a Manitoba hogfarmer, kicked off the event with a look at the many posi-tives the pork industry is currently experiencing in Canada. “We have more than 7,000 pig farms across Canada pro-ducing more than 25.5 million animals a year,” he said dur-ing his opening remarks. “With direct farm gate annualsales in 2014 of over $4 billion, the pork sector is the fourthlargest source of farm cash receipts of any Canadian agri-

Manitoba Ag Days 2016 recently released the seminar programfor the upcoming show to be held January 19 - 21, 2016 inBrandon. The program is designed to help producers advocatefor their industry, explore innovation for the future, and acceler-ate growth in a dynamic industry. Over the course of three days, an exciting lineup of speakerswill explore topics that are relevant for every farm. Whetherhuman resource considerations are at the forefront for today, orexploring the opportunities with changing consumer demands inthe future, or learning about the dynamics in the used equipmentmarket, there is a speaker for you said organizers. Manitoba Ag Days is bringing in Social Media Ag AdvocatesAndrew Campbell, #farm365, and Sarah Schultz,@nurselovesfarmer. Campbell and Schultz will share the experi-ences they have had interacting with consumers and why it is soimportant for producers to share their stories on how they raisefood and how they farm rather than someone else doing it forthem. Farm equipment is a vital part of a successful family farm, AgDays announced that Greg Peterson, known as “Machinery Pete”will join the speaking line up to share the latest prices and trendsin used farm equipment. The weather is a favourite topic in agriculture and it has animpact on every farm. “Tomorrow’s Weather, Warmer, Wetterand Wilder”, David Phillips senior climatologist at EnvironmentCanada will join the program. From market outlook updates, tax tips, preparing for the nextgeneration, to hot agronomic topics like managing salinity orclubroot, soybean production, wheat yield and protein, there issomething for everyone.

Dr. Gillain Richards of theRural Development Institutein Brandon.

out. “Everyone at all sizesfrom the small companieswho might be working withthe Food DevelopmentCentre in Portage orresourcing information atthe University recognizedthe value of going outsidetheir firm to get informationand form bonds.” “A company likeRichardson’s has alreadysomewhat vertically inte-grated itself but it is work-ing with equipment manu-facturers and its customersto supply the needs of to-morrow,” said Richards.“We looked at industrieslike the hemp and the flaxoil markets and found theywere sourcing informationfrom outside to help movetheir industry along to acommercial size. That wasnot surprising but the de-gree to which they did itwas a bit of a surprise.They are doing a goodjob.”

Rotations KeptStable with NoMarket Swings

PPPPPork Pork Pork Pork Pork Producers Gather for National Froducers Gather for National Froducers Gather for National Froducers Gather for National Froducers Gather for National Fall Meetingall Meetingall Meetingall Meetingall Meetingculture commodity.” Since a downturn in the pork sector in the late 2000s dueto unfavourable exchange rates, high feed prices and lowerdomestic consumption, Bergmann points out the industryhas made a remarkable rebound. “We create 31,000 farmjobs which, in turn, contribute to 103,000 direct, indirectand induced jobs across the country. The total economicactivity generates, when farms, inputs, processing and porkexports are factored, is almost $24 billion.” Bergmann added that exports to 92 countries last yeartotalled over 1.14 million tonnes of pork and pork prod-ucts, valued at over $3.71 billion.

Ag Days Highlights Advocacy,Innovation and Acceleration


By John McGregor

In the 70s and 80s, an organization known as the Eastern Grassland Association(EGS) had the slogan “Forage: the root of it all”. This producer organization knew and promoted the benefits of forage. I mentionthis because if you go to a meeting on forages or grazing you are likely to see aslide showing how grazing strategies can and do affect the amount of roots a plantproduces and, on the other side, how the amount of roots a plant has affects itsability to rebound and produce more leafy material. The amount of root material under your forage has other benefits other than theproduction of leafy material. Adequate root mass is responsible for holding soil(erosion), providing organic matter to hold water and sequestering carbon deepinto the soil. How deep do forage roots go is not very easy to determine. When you dig up aclump of grass you may see a root ball that is one or two feet down but that mightjust be the tip of the iceberg. Thanks to Jerry Glover an agro ecologist fromKansas and Jim Richardson, a photographer with National Geographic, you canget a fairly impressive idea of how deep roots can penetrate the earth. John McGregor is with MFGA Extension Support.

The Rootof it All

Dr. Jerry Glover works in a soil pit at the Land Institute in Salina, Kansas. On the left, thedeeper roots of wheatgrass are displayed, while the more shallow roots of wheat arevisible on the right.

Photos by Jim Richardson

The extensive root systemof Switchgrass.

The Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba is bringing backthe Royal Tea Party to kick off the opening day of the 2016Royal Manitoba Winter Fair on Monday, March 28. “We are proud of our Royal designation and after thesuccess we had last year with our Royal Tea Party, we areexcited to bring back the event for 2016,” said RonKristjannson, General Manager of the Provincial Exhibi-tion of Manitoba. “We learned a lot from last year’s TeaParty, this year we have space for even more Royals, morevolunteers to help with the stations and we have askedSpiderman, Batman and Captain America to join the prin-cesses for the party.” All princesses and princes, ideally ages 3 - 9 are invitedto put on their finest suits, super hero costumes and gownsto attend the Tea Party from 12 - 3 pm for an afternoon ofstorytelling, hair and makeup station, Royal etiquette les-sons, crafts and entertainment presented by Happily EverAfter Parties. The event will conclude with a Royal Paradeto the afternoon performance of the Super Dogs starting at3 pm. Tickets are on sale now at royalmanitobawinterfair.com.Three different ticket packages are available, 1 child ticketand 1 adult admission for $38, 2 child tickets and 1 adultadmission for $63 and 2 child tickets and 2 adult tickets for$72. Ticket pricing includes gate admission. Tickets arelimited and children must be accompanied by an adult.

The Farm Credit Canada (FCC) 4-H Club Fund is provid-ing $122,000 to 251 4-H clubs across Canada to supportvarious local events and activities. In Manitoba, 32 4-Hclubs received a combined total of $14,500. The fund is part of FCC’s $1 million contribution commit-ted over four years to 4-H Canada. This contribution, inaddition to supporting local 4-H activities, supports na-tional as well as provincial 4-H initiatives. “FCC believes in building partnerships that make ourindustry stronger,” said Todd Klink, Executive Vice-Presi-dent and chief marketing officer at FCC. “We’re proud topartner with 4-H and strengthen the bond between thisindustry and young people because they are the future ofthe industry. Together, we’re ensuring young people inrural Canada continue to benefit from 4-H programs andvalues.” The FCC 4-H Club Fund awards up to $500 for projectssuch as achievement days, horse clinics, field trips, publicspeaking workshops and purchase of equipment, just toname a few. The next application period opens in fall 2016. “We are thankful to FCC for their continued support of 4-H in Canada, and the unique and valuable opportunitiesthey help to provide for our members at the grassrootslevel,” said 4-H Canada CEO, Shannon Benner. “This gen-erous partnership is indicative of FCC’s commitment toyouth leadership in agriculture, as we continue to helpempower and build responsible, caring and contributingyoung leaders who are passionate about making meaning-ful contributions to the world around them.”

The decision to replace an aging building with a new,$50-million facility in a new location will allow ParmalatCanada Inc. to increase production with modern equip-ment in a neighbourhood more suitable for its business.The new facility will be built at the St. Boniface IndustrialPark Phase 2, a 180-acre site off Dugald Road and east ofLagimodiere Boulevard. The governments of Canada and Manitoba are provid-ing $2.5 million through Growing Forward 2 toward theconstruction of the processing facility. Government fund-ing will be used for energy and water-use reduction equip-ment, waste-water treatment and new processing equip-ment. Parmalat Canada employs 139 Manitobans at facilities inSt. Boniface, St. Claude and Grunthal. New hires are ex-pected once the expanded facility in St. Boniface becomesoperational in 2017.

FCC Contributes to 4-HClubs Across Canada

A Tea Party Fit forRoyalty at the Royal

Manitoba Winter Fair

Parmalat Moves Ahead on NewDairy Facility in Winnipeg


By Peter Vitti

Beef cows cannot live without minerals and vitamins,which are often deficient or biologically unavailable inmany overwintering forages. I advise people to put out loose mineral on a regularbasis for their gestating cows, so all essential mineral andvitamin requirements are supplemented. Unfortunately,some people don’t always feed them enough mineral. Witha little effort, cattle producers should calculate out theright amount of mineral, monitor mineral intake and takeany action to correct poor consumption. That’s because good mineral intake by the pregnant cow-herd is important at this time of year. Not only does goodmineral intake maintain or build good mineral status re-quired by their vital body tissues and immune system, itplays a big part in the last trimester of pregnancy in springcows. Pre-calving beef cows on a poor mineral feeding pro-gram deplete their own limited trace mineral reserves, evenbefore their calves become mineral deficient and they them-selves are adversely affected. It is estimated that the late-gestation fetus (and placental tissues) utilize up to 30% ofthe pre-calving cow’s daily requirements for essential traceminerals. Since, the developing fetus is totally dependent uponthe availability of essential minerals travelling through theplacenta from its mothers’ blood, it uses its own naturalability to store certain trace minerals such as iron, copper,zinc, manganese, and selenium. It’s a natural instinct ofpost-calving survival, since colostrum and milk are low inthese trace minerals. For example, selenium status in fetal and newborn calf isonly a reflection of the selenium and vitamin E status of itsmother during gestation - white muscle disease in new-born calves is cited as a direct result of selenium defi-ciency in freshened beef cows. To prevent such mineral (and vitamin) deficiencies fromoccurring, producers should follow the daily recommen-dations printed on the feed label sewn to each commercialbag of cattle mineral. Most feed companies recommendthat between 56 – 112 grams (re: 2 – 4 oz) of salt-free min-eral per cow per day. If salt makes up at least 25% of thismineral, one should adjust mineral intakes, accordingly. By my own calculations to assure one puts out enoughmineral for beef cows; I use 80 g x 3 days of feeding xnumber of cows and then round off to the number of bagsthat is needed. For a 200 cow-calf operation: (80 g x 3 daysx 200 days)/25-kg bags = 2 bags/3days should be pro-vided. Beef producers should be able to achieve such targetsfor their own cowherd despite some built-in natural vari-ability. From my own practical experience, here are a fewconsiderations that I find work to achieve daily mineral

Safe Work Manitoba is looking for kids aged 8 - 12 across the province toget creative and draw their interpretation of one of four safety tips and inreturn, Safe Work Manitoba is offering them a chance to win an iPad. Kids can draw a picture showing how to find a safer way when faced withone of four common hazards on the farm, livestock, grain, farm equipment andchemicals. The contest is open until April 22, 2016. Contestants can enter by submit-ting a drawing to SAFE Work Manitoba on the entry form. The entry form may be downloaded from safemanitoba.com or ordered bycalling 204-957-7233 or toll-free 1-855-957-7233 oremailing [email protected]. Completed entries must be mailed to SAFE Work Manitoba, 16-363 Broad-way, Winnipeg,MB R3C 3N9 attention to Communications. For more contest details go to safemanitoba.com/safe-farms-drawing-contest.

Make Sure the MineralFeeders are Full

consumption goals:- Invest in a durable mineral feeder – I am not a particularfan of wooden boxes, oil drums cut in half or even feedbunks to feed mineral to cattle. A good mineral feeder shouldbe easily accessible to all cows, but protects mineral fromthe effects of water, wind, and sunshine. Note, a friend of mine that owns about 200 beef cowsmounts each durable plastic feeder on a truck tire to keepmineral out of the rain or snow as well as preventing theodd cow from stepping right into the feeder (see illustra-tion).- Mineral feeder placement is important - It is also recom-mended that portable mineral feeders should be locatedwhere cattle will make frequent visits. Moving mineral sta-tions closer to water sources generally increases mineralintake by cows, while moving feeders farther back from thewater will often decrease mineral intake. It is always a goodidea to have enough mineral feeders for the whole herd;one standard recommendation is one feeding station forevery 30 – 50 cows.- Check mineral feeders every few days – At the beginningof the winter season, mineral consumption by beef cows is

often higher than the normal. However, as cows get usedto their new overwinter diets, free-choice mineral feedingtends to adjust itself. Some producers mix salt with theirpurchased mineral, in order to either increase or decreasecow mineral intake. It is common to mix 1/3 salt with 2/3mineral, and feed it.- Clean and repair mineral feeders – Cattle don’t like to eatstale or leftover hardened mineral. I have seen cattle over-eat fresh mineral, when feeders that were fully stockedonce again, after not being cleaned for weeks. Further-more, mineral feeders that are damaged (torn rubber flap)should be fixed and broken or excessively damaged feed-ers should be replaced. These points remind me of a frugal producer that I knewyears ago. He used to pour ½ bag of cattle mineral on theground in front of the cows each morning. By late after-noon, what wasn’t trampled was magically soaked into thewet snow. From the amount of mineral that was wasted, hecould have bought an excellent quality mineral feeder, filledit with the right type of mineral, and assure that his cowsmet their gestation mineral and vitamin requirements dur-ing the winter.

Calling All Young SAFE Manitobans


Curling enthusiasts made a float to promote the ManitobaCanola Junior Provincial Curling Championships comingto Rivers on January 6 - 10, 2016. Part of the Rivers’ SantaClaus Parade, the float bought back memories of manyyears past when Jam Pail curling was popular.

By Les Kletke

If you need some sea food in you plants diet then Ron Morton thinks thatthe addition of some salmon would go a long way to making crops healthierand more efficient. Ron and his father operate Grassoline Fertilizers inCampbell River, British Columbia, which produces a fertilizer from salmon. The product has been tested on some cereal crops in Saskatchewan andused on potatoes in Manitoba. He said the product can compete economi-cally with commercial fertilizers currently on the market. It retails at $3-4 per gallon and is usually applied at 15 gallons per acre.“We have a farmer using it on his fall rye in Saskatchewan and is transitioningfrom conventional production to organic,” said Morton. “This product isregistered with several organic associations and is fine for organic produc-tion.” On crops planted in 2104, the farmer reported that his field scale test withGrassoline yielded only 3 bushels less than the part of the field that wastreated with conventional methods. “He saw only that slight drop in yieldand had a healthier crop with less weed competition,” said Morton. Headmits that he is not able to explain how the product reduced the weedpopulation and does not make any claims about weed control for the prod-uct. Morton said the big advantage that his product does provide is makingphosphate available for the plant. “Conventional methods tie up the phos-phate in the soil and it is not available for the plant, this product breaksthose bonds and the plant can more readily use the phosphate that isalready in the soil,” said Morton. The process starts with adding 3% phos-

Manitoba Junior ProvincialsComing to Rivers

Photo by Joan Airey

Sea Diet for Your Cropsphate to the fertilizer product and it has shown a greatadvantage in field scale trials. He said a Manitoba potato grower used the product forin-season application. “They used it on potatoes duringthe season and applying it as a foliar meant it was immedi-ately available to the plant, it did not have to be taken up bythe roots and then move through the plant,” he said. The product is available in a 1,000-litre tote and is thinenough to be applied with irrigation equipment or fieldsprayers. “We have a system in place where the product isshipped in totes which are then returned,” he said. “Weknow that a farmer doesn’t need extra containers to dealwith at the end of the season so we ship in 1,000 litre con-tainers.” The product was first developed for the landscape indus-try, first marketed in British Columbia and has been movingwest with expanded distribution and applications. “Mostof today’s products are abusive to soil microbes, this prod-uct improves soil health,” said Morton. “It promotes help-ful soil biology and flocculates the soil.”

What originally started off asa fertizer for the landscapingindustry is now findinginterest in the large and smallscale ag industry as analternative for chemical cropinputs.



A professor that oncetaught our nutrition class along time ago (a long timeago) that the actual amountof water drunk by lactatingdairy cows was importantfor milk production.However, she said it was the“things” that existed in theirdrinking water, which oftenlimit their health andproduction during lactation.Even today, I use part of thislecture and always checkwater volume and qualityflowing into a dairy barn,when I conduct an investiga-tion into unsatisfactorydairy performance. Initially, the actual amountof water required by dairycows depends upon theirage, health status, body size,and milk production. Waterconsumption by most milkcows during a typicallactation cycle can beestimated with relativeaccuracy in two major ways:(1) provide 4 – 5 litres ofwater for every 1.0 kilo ofdry matter feed consumed or(2) provide 3 – 3.5 litres ofwater for every litre of milkproduced. Subsequently, dairy cowsspend approximately 6 – 8hours per day at the feedbunk, yet spend a nominaltotal of 20 – 30 minutes perday drinking water. Researchfield trials also demonstratethat most dairy cows preferto do the majority of theirdrinking time, right afterexiting the milking parlor.Cows have been shown toconsume about 50 – 60% oftheir daily water intakewithin an hour after eachmilking. This means good designand placement of any watersystem should follow acow’s natural drinkingbehaviour. For example in afree-stall barn, a watertrough should be placed nearthe milking parlor exit andwithin 20 metres of the feedbunk or at the cross-alleys inthe barn. It should also havea recovery fill-rate of about30 to 40 litres per minute.Since most troughs are metal(plastic ones are becomingpopular), each tank shouldbe occasionally checked andguaranteed free of stray-voltage. These are sound recom-mendations in order tooptimize water consumptionby lactating dairy cows, butas my distinguishedprofessor lectured, we alsoneed to check out andprovide high quality water. Water of questionablequality is usually non-lifethreatening. However, it canstill have a negative effectupon other aspects ofotherwise well-balanceddairy nutrition and manage-

Beware of “Things” in Your DairyCow’s Drinking Water

ment, namely; decreased feeddigestion and lower uptakeof essential nutrients gearedfor goodmilkproduction. Conse-quently,here aresome open-ended real-lifesituations where I foundpoor quality water causedoverall poor health,reproduction and milkperformance.- Several milk cows of a 300-cow dairy had a milddiarrhea that never seem todisappear, despite thelactation herd being fed awell-balanced dairy diet. Idid not think subclinicalacidosis or other digestiveupsets was the cause. All ofthe barn’s close-up cowgroup of 15 – 20 cows alsohad severe udder edema. Awater test of total dissolvedsolids (TDS) revealed highsaline (salt) levels.- A 70-cow milking herddrew its drinking water fromuntreated river water andexperienced a high level ofmastitis and other healthissues. Although, it wasoccasionally treated withchlorine, this problem wasrepetitive and afflicted cowstook a long time to recover. Awater test showed highcounts of environmentalE.coli.- In a 200-cow dairy, theproducer acknowledged thathis barn- and house-waterhas high iron levels (lots ofrust stains in every sink andthe bathtub). Iron is anacknowledged nutrient forbacteria and has beenimplicated in salmonellaoutbreaks. High iron alsocontributes to poor tastingwater.- The absolutely worstsituation that I encounteredconcerning poor waterquality issues was a 150-cow dairy producer that hadbarn water that smelt ofrotten eggs. The watercoming out the tap in the

barn-sink had a literal blackcolor. His cows sufferedfrom low milk production,

poor reproduction and hadseveral health problems. Ibelieved that there was amass of decaying matter inhis well or he might havehad high-sulphate levelscontaminating his water orboth problems.- I see in many barns wherecows drop feed from theirmouths and I have seenthick black sludge build upin their troughs or waterers.Algae growth is also acommon sight even duringwinter. On one such visit, aproducer started toroutinely clean the algaefrom the cows’ exiting watertroughs and noticed a slightmilk increase afterwards. Granted, the correctiveaction necessary to solveeach one of these situationswas different, yet I startedeach “road-to-recovery” bytaking water-samples andgot them analyzed. Theproper sample bottles andprocedures were obtainedby the provincial agricultureoffice or commerciallaboratory that performedwater quality tests. I sentmost of the samples thatwere collected from eachdairy barn and tested forTotal Dissolved Solids(TDS), pH (acid-base test),mineral concentrations andbacteria contamination. Once, the lab analysis wascompleted and I reviewedthem, specific action wastaken in each case, where“things” in the water werefound. In the last situation,the water tests were notused, because the producerwalked by the water trough,noticed the scummy greenwater and scrubbed the tankclean.


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AgriPost December 28 2015