Feeding the world - grasslandsnews.ca

Saskatchewan Agriculture

Feeding the

world

BFriday, March 23, 2018

THE MELVILLE

B 2 The Melville AdvanceMarch 23, 2018 www.grasslandsnews.ca

Richardses see results from holistic land managementBy Jason G. AntonioAdvance Reporter

A six-day course in Holistic Manage-ment has transformed the way Garry and Lynn Richards oversee their farm, raise their livestock and manage their land.

The course they took in 2003 fo-cused on the idea that a farm’s wealth is contained in the land. This meant producers should build up the land and ensure the soil is healthy. The course also suggested that it was important

Nature is smart

Richards. “Everything was created to work just great together. Oftentimes we’re just doing our own thing in agri-

added Mrs. Richards. “We’ve been doing this for 15 years

“People are opening up to this more and more. It’s people like government,

-

The Richardses have seen many benefits since they changed their mindset about farming.

They calve on grass to be in sync with nature, Mr. Richards said. This imitates what deer and elk do when they give birth.

As well, they looked at the undis-turbed native prairie and what grows on it. They noticed there is no one type of species growing, but several types, or polycultures, of grass, brush and shrubs.

The holistic management course also discussed quality of life and set-

the long run. The course encouraged

and make sound decisions. “That (course) made a world of dif-

The cattle — an Angus cross that

grass — are used to improve the land for little cost to help grow more grass. This allows the Richards to make money from the grass. Instead of graz-ing 30 cattle on a quarter section, they graze 50 cattle in tight groups similar to how bison once ate.

They can graze up to 600 head in a tight group.

The cattle eat, defecate, and then move to another area regularly. The Richards use a mobile electric fence to keep the cattle in a tight area or just far enough away from bales while grazing.

The animals lick the snow for liquid in winter.

“We’re using them to harvest that

is the basic thing a farmer does? A farmer harvests solar energy through photosynthesis of plants. We take these free inputs — sunlight and rain — and you turn them into marketable

Mimicking natureThe Richardses grow a “cover crop

such as canola, peas or barley. They will grow the cover crops for two years, followed by two years of grain. Then they start over.

The cover crops help polycultures grow alongside the monoculture crop. This thatch helps kick-start the soil’s health and allows them to manage sev-eral ecosystems.

“We’re trying to mimic nature and make our soil healthier, because our soil has become degraded over the years by tillage, lots of chemicals and

Richards. “We don’t have that diversity there

to encourage all these microbes (and bugs) under the soil to be healthy and

The cover crop improves the soil health, which builds organic matter and turns that into a sponge, which

means there is less evaporation and less erosion. This captured moisture feeds everything underneath.

“We’re solving some of these things

running down into our land and being stored there, we’re protecting ourselves

Mr. Richards sees that water as a valuable resource and wants it to soak into his land so his crops can access it.

The deep roots pull up more nutri-ents from the ground, while there is better nutrient cycling. Healthy land, healthy animals,healthy people

“All these problems we’ve created

he continued. They buy the seed to plant to grow

forage, which the cattle then eat and excrete as manure, thereby helping with nutrient cycling. The Richardses are thus providing their own fertilizer and inputs they didn’t have to buy.

“Hopefully we have all these win-

producing all these pounds of beef that

“And healthy beef, because the healthier the soil, the healthier the

Analyses have shown food grown today has lost half of its nutritional value compared to 50 years ago, said

-ier land, this gets into everything that grows there, creating healthier people, crops and animals.

The Richardses’ crops sometimes suffer from disease, but at lower levels

yields are similar to what they were before but with fewer inputs, so their

increases.

Positive lifestyle changes

they do, particularly the quality of lifeand having some freedom. They donot have to work full-time off the farmto support the farm. They can home-school their children and help them develop a solid work ethic, values,and morals while giving them a well-rounded education.

The family is also not bound to atraditional school or work schedule.

Richards. “I see a difference in my kids

Measuring soil healthThe Richardses are involved in a

soil health and soil carbon sequestra-tion. Mr. Richards is also a director

-tion Association, which is supporting alarge study looking at the resilience ofprairie ecosystem and the importance of biodiversity.

Mr. Richards believes if all arable

could easily be prevented elsewhere.He has taken pictures after major

rainstorms. Pictures of their land showfew massive puddles, yet on conven-tionally farmed land, larger sloughs are often seen.

Richards said.

-demics (who) want to look at this.

Producers should have an openmind if they want to pursue a similarholistic land management program, Mr. Richards added. There are alreadysome farmers contributing to the re-generation of land, families, communi-ties and ecosystems.

Lynn and Garry Richards operate a farm near Bangor. Photo by Jason G. Antonio

This is the type of pastureland the Richardses use to graze their cattle. These different types of poly-

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The biggest indicator to me that spring is in the air is not the warmer temperatures or the bright blue skies, but the day you notice the days are longer.

I know, I know, some will say it’s a gradual thing but it doesn’t seem that way to me. And the day that it stays brighter longer is the day I feel it — spring. Of course spring can actually be three months off but it’s all about the hope and the promise of spring. Or possibly the feeling of entitlement — I deserve spring after what I have had to put up with all win-ter. Snow. Cold. Colder than cold (that would be the wind chill). Wind. Wind. And more wind.

And before you tell me spring can be windy too, I will just ask that you don’t spoil the moment, OK? Besides, wind and warmth is a whole lot different than wind and cold. Which brings me to a cool, damp, windy, spring day a couple of years ago. I share this with you as part of a larger safety message and I hope you will take it to heart or encourage those you love to take it to heart.

My husband (who usually hears something about this column when he hits the elevator or the gro-cery store after the newspaper’s ag issue is printed — I always know because he comes in with a bit of a frown asking, ‘Now what did you write about me?’) was working on the air seeder or technically, the air drill, hammering away one ugly spring day (I know, I know, I alluded to beautiful spring days, but that’s not always the case) when a piece of steel struck his eye.

This little incident meant a trip to E.R. one eve-ning, then another the next morning for an X-ray followed by a late-in-the-day trip to Yorkton to see an eye specialist. We weren’t overly anxious, after all, doctors can do amazing things right? In fact, so sure that we would be taken care of and be able to re-

granddaughter from daycare and took her along for the ride. I drove so my husband could keep dabbing his tearing eye (no, he wasn’t crying) and we arrived in Yorkton just before supper.

The news was not good. The piece of steel was so close to the cornea that one wrong move could mean blindness. Hoping my driving (in the pouring rain no less) was not going to be the one wrong move the doc-tor referred to, we headed for Saskatoon. I grabbed some snacks for our little passenger and me, remind-ing said husband of the doctor’s stern warning — surgery was very likely on the horizon therefore no eating allowed.

I love a nice rain. I hate driving in a heavy rain going into evening hours on single lane highway I

am unfamiliar with. Thankfully, I didn’t jar the eye and we arrived at the hospital just before midnight. Hospitals in the near-dead of night seem really eerie. Nearly people-less. Quiet. Stark. Lonely, even. But the lady up on the ophthalmology ward was very nice. We thought she was an 18-year-old reception-ist. Turns out she was the eye specialist. And she tried, and tried again, and then again, to get that steel out of the eye.

“What the hell were you doing,” she asked my husband. “Working on the air drill,” he answered. “Power drill?” she asked, “Yeah that could do it.” And so went the explanation: “Actually, no, just a ham-mer on a piece of steel machinery called a drill that seeds crops.”

Her perplexed look told us she didn’t have a clue, not that it mattered. The only thing that mattered was that there was steel in my husband’s eye and it needed to come out.

going to require surgery. I could read my husband’s face — no supper tonight!

It was now two in the morning and the eye sur-geon had been paged. He was just coming out of the O.R. and I could see him coming down that long hall-

bag of BBQ potato chips up in the air and catching the bag as it came back down. Over and over again. It was likely his supper. As he approached me I re-alized there must be some mistake. While the eye specialist looked about 18, the surgeon looked like he was 16. I felt like I should ask for his cre-dentials, but of course I didn’t.

Two minutes later, it was all over. No surgery

required. The surgeon removed the steel, opened his bag of chips in front of my starving husbandand told us we could go. The story doesn’t quite end

hour drugstore that carried the eye drops that hubby

hotel room and settled in for the night, if you can call it that.

Now if you are wondering if we picked up a few pairs of safety glasses that day, let me assure you we did. And farmers, that is your safety lesson forthis spring season. Wear your safety glasses whenworking on machinery.

There’s also something to be said for ear protec-tion, something I should have been wearing when I took the grandkids to the Science Centre during winter break. When you take the kids off the farm to a place like that, I can guarantee you they will be pumped. And when I told them we had a couple of hours to spare before meeting the cousins for supper,there was one united and very loud voice from all

-town!” The place where calf halters and Levi jeans and toy cows and cowboy boots and hats abound. My six-year-old twin grandsons felt it would be import-

I suggested we wait — until spring were my exactwords.

It’s always great to see the love these kids havefor rural life and I love that their rural roots aregrowing strong. Some years, the twins are big intomachinery or big into calving season and it domi-nates what they say and how they play. This spring (if I can say that yet), it’s auctioneering. YouTube replays of a cattle auctioneer to be exact. Hours of replays. Their eyes and ears are glued to the iPad as they watch live cattle auctions. When I go to bedat night, the sound keeps playing in my head eventhough the kids have long since gone home.

Oh, the heart of a farmer — especially the young ones in training. It reminds me of all we enjoy aboutthis rural life we live — a love for our land, our live-stock, and our way of life.

one to remember.

B 3The Melville AdvanceMarch 23, 2018

@grasslands_news

Hon. Warren Kaeding, PAgMinister of Government Relations, Minister of First Nations, Metis and Northeran Affairs

Melville-Saltcoats Constituency Offi ceswww.warrenkaedingmla.ca

Head Offi ce Melville

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Website: www.warrenkaedingmla.caConstituency Assistant Rick McIntyre

Agriculture, along with Oil and Potashremain as the 3 main pillars to our Provincial Economy

“Thank you to our Agricultural Producers and Ranchers”

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A lighter look at the importance of farm safety

G3 elevator nearing completionBy Jason G. AntonioAdvance Reporter

G3 Canada’s new primary grain elevator northeast of Melville is on

grain this fall, according to a company spokesman.

horizon after being erected during a seven-day period last summer. The Melville elevator is one of two the com-pany is constructing, with the second one west of Saskatoon.

The new elevators will feature high capacity drags under the driveshed, enabling trucks to unload quickly. Both buildings are being constructed

providing G3 with rail access to its Thunder Bay and St. Lawrence River terminals, plus the G3 Terminal Van-couver once it becomes operational in

The new elevators at Melville and Saskatoon are being constructed with

storage capacity, respectfully.“What’s visible from the road is all

the stuff you expect to see in a grain el-evator,” said spokesman Peter Chura. The concrete silos, the steel bins, the metal superstructure and driveshed are all constructed, along with the admin building. These are all the main components.

“We are in the latter stages of con-struction,” he continued, “and is ex-pected to be operational pretty soon. We’ve already contracted grain to go in

A general manager and a couple of farm business representatives have also been hired at the G3 Melville ele-vator terminal.

“Growing our origination footprint in Saskatchewan is the next step in G3’s plans to build a highly competi-tive coast-to-coast grain handling net-work,” said Karl Gerrand, CEO of G3.

“These two new locations are being constructed with the same state-of-the-art truck delivery and rail shipping features as our other new facilities, which are key components of G3’s ex-cellent customer service offering.

“We’re excited to join these commu-nities, and will work hard to earn the privilege of being the preferred busi-ness partner for local farmers,” said Gerrand. “We look forward to show-ing local farmers what G3 has to offer their business.”

G3 Canada Limited is a coast-to-coast Canadian grain enterprise designed to provide a competitive al-ternative to farmers and superior ser-vice to customers and stakeholders.

G3 Canada Limited’s assets include primary grain elevators and port ter-minals stretching from Leader, Sask., to Québec City, Québec, a Great Lake grain transport vessel, and the largest

Canada. The vertical integration of these as-

sets along the agricultural commodity chain forms the basis of a path from

Canada Limited is a Canadian com-pany and is headquartered in Winni-peg, MB.

The Lighter Side ofLife...

DOWN ON THE FARM

by donna [email protected]

SubmittedMarch 2018 has once again been proclaimed as

Agriculture Literacy Month in Saskatchewan.Agriculture Literacy Month brings farmers,

ranchers and other members of the agriculture in-dustry into elementary school classrooms around the province to read stories and discuss their agri-cultural experiences. Materials for the classroom visits, such as books and videos, are provided by Ag-riculture in the Classroom — Saskatchewan (AITC).

“Agriculture Literacy Month is a great opportu-nity for students to connect with farmers, ranchers and other agriculture experts to learn about the safe, nutritious food produced in Saskatchewan,” Agricul-ture Minister Lyle Stewart said. “Some students might not have considered where their food comes from and this is their chance to ask questions and

province.”Since 2012, Agriculture in the Classroom - Canada

has been working collectively to declare one week in March as Canadian Agriculture Week. Last year

with events and activities for an entire month.“This year’s theme is, Our Food. Our Story,” said

Education Minister Gordon Wyant said. “Agriculture Literacy Month allows students to take part in activ-ities with local producers and hear stories about why they work in the agriculture industry. These experi-ences are the kind of learning that really makes an impression on students.”

“During the month of March, we have more than 150 volunteers sharing their personal agriculture stories with more than 7,500 of students through-out the province,” AITC-SK executive director Sara Shymko said. “We are grateful that this program is so well-received. Many young people grow up in cit-ies and larger communities and aren’t involved in farming, so programs like these are a great way to strengthen students’ understanding of agriculture and the community involved in putting food in their lunchboxes.”

Submitted by the CanadianAgricultural Safety Association

If you talk to any grandparents, they say that having children was wonderful, but having grand-children is pure joy. There’s nothing better than hav-ing a grandchild throw their arms around your neck and whisper, “I love you.”

These young people are a farm’s future and a grandparent’s legacy. It’s important that grandpar-ents understand their role in keeping kids safe on the farm.

The farm is an incredible place for kids to grow up or visit. Nothing is better than being the one to introduce your grandchild to a baby chick, or to show them how to successfully pull a carrot on the

value of hard work and nothing is more wonderful than experiencing the joys of farming life alongside a grandchild.

Talking about children and farming can be an emotional experience. There is one thing that we can all agree on — the death of even just one child is a horrible tragedy.

Grandparents are vital to the success and safety of their grandchildren. Of course it’s hard to say no when grandchildren jump up and down and plead, “Oh please Grandpa! Just one ride in the tractor!” However, your legacy depends on keeping these young people safe from harm. So what can you do as a grandparent to keep your grandchildren safe?

First of all, children aren’t miniature adults. Even the most advanced eight-year-old is still a child. Children don’t have the experience, physical strength or understanding to always make the right choice, handle large equipment or be entrusted with farming jobs. If you’d like to introduce your grand-children to farming, there are tasks that can teach the fundamentals without endangering their lives.

The North American Guidelines for Children’s Agricultural Tasks (NAGCAT) is a great tool to de-termine such tasks.

Establishing boundaries is essential in making sure that children understand that farming is an occupation and can be hazardous. It’s not “mean” to tell children that certain areas of the farm are off-limits. Talk to your grandchildren about hazards around the farm, it’s a great learning opportunity for the children and a good reminder for you.

Supervision is key in preventing injuries. Even if you have an established play area for your grand-children, it is no substitute for supervision. A watch-ful eye can prevent a tragedy.

Children model the behaviour that they see

around them. Often grandchildren want to do things just like grandma or grandpa. It’s important that they see you perform tasks safely. If you model safe behaviour, your grandchildren are more likely to be-have in safe ways too.

Rethink your traditions. If they’re risky, build new traditions. Talk about farm equipment, show them safety gear, explore the farm together in a safe and controlled way. You don’t have to put a child in a potentially hazardous situation to establish tradi-tions with your grandchildren.

Grandchildren are one of life’s greatest joys. Being able to see your grandchildren grow and thrive and enjoy the farm is incredibly satisfying. Take the time to teach age- appropriate tasks, establish boundar-ies, provide supervision, model safe behaviour and build safe traditions. These steps will not only help keep your grandchildren safe, but will help safe-guard your legacy.

For more information visit agsafetyweek.ca


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More memorable stories in Fun on the Farm TooFun on the Farm TooCompiled and edited by Deana J. DriverPublished by DriverWorks Ink$15.95 ISBN 978192757037-1

Review by Michelle ShawIf you loved Fun on the Farm: True Tales of Farm

Life, then you’re in for a treat. The sequel, Fun on the Farm Too, is packed with 40 more hilarious and memorable stories and poems about life on a farm on the Canadian Prairies.

Once again there are stories about strange hap-penings in outhouses, stubborn sheep, terrifying turkeys, alarming stories of pigs and chickens and the inevitable antics that arise from growing up on a farm.

Theodore Mikolayenko tells the story of how

recipe for perfect mud pies (hint, it involves a fresh egg!). There will also be a trip down memory lane for many readers with June Hudy’s story about party

lines (a forerunner of social media for those who are too young to remember this staple of rural life) which allowed the entire community to keep up to date on their neighbors’ personal lives.

I particularly loved Carrie Ann Schemenauer’s hi-larious poem, “Nine Lives of a Farmer,” which was written about her father, Eugene. As she puts it, “he never was big on safety”.

Twenty-two Prairie writers are represented in the book including such well-known names as Marion Mutala and Ed Olfert.

The original anthology of 48 short stories and poems was published in 2016 as a tribute to the late Al Driver, co-publisher of DriverWorks Ink, whose idea it was to share fun stories of farm life. The book’s editor, Deana Driver, says that readers’ re-sponses to that book prompted this collection of more “hilarious farm antics.”

A donation from the sale of the book will be made to The Lung Association of Saskatchewan.

This book is available at bookstores and from www.skbooks.com

March is Agriculture Literacy Month

Keep grandchildren safe on the farm


@grasslands_news

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Saskatchewan Farmers,the backbone of Canada

DU has cattle fight invasive plants on Canadian Prairies

Pull, mow, burn and spray.These are a few of the ways Ducks

Unlimited Canada (DUC) manages in-vasive plant species. In the Prairies, conservation specialists have added another tool in their kit: grazing.

Prairie grasslands provide ducks, such as pintails, with important plant cover for nesting. While these water-fowl aren’t equipped to stop the spread of invasive plants, the hoofed animals they share this landscape with are.

“Livestock are a natural ally,” says DUC conservation specialist Jodie Horvath. That’s why, in Alberta and Saskatchewan, DUC and its partners release cattle and goats onto grass-lands to help combat destructive, inva-sive plants through grazing.

Each spring, cattle are pastured at DUC’s Touchwood Hills Conservation Ranch, near Yorkton as part of an in-tegrated management plan.

Here, heifers and cow-calf pairs eat, trample, and expose invasive plants. “In cases where (they) won’t eat the problematic plant, what they do is eat the grass around it, which makes it easier for us to spot,” says Horvath.

By doing what they naturally do, cattle are helping manage tansy (Tanacetum vulgare), common bur-dock (Arctium minus) and absinthe (Artemisia absinthium).

“Grazing cattle are key to main-taining the production and longevity of grasslands. This productive nesting habitat has a better chance at compet-ing with the undesirable weed species,” says Horvath.

While the “moo crew” may forgo eating invasive weeds in favour of na-tive prairie grasses, in Alberta goats

(Euphorbia esula L.) at DUC’s Frank Lake project, 50 kilometres southeastof Calgary.

Likely introduced to Canada in abag of contaminated seed, invasiveleafy spurge releases toxins into the soil where it grows, which preventsother plants from taking root. It also affects the land’s capacity to holdwater. “It’s a problematic weed,” says DUC conservation specialist Ashley Rawluk.

Fortunately, goats love it. “Theyeat it like it’s candy,” she says. This year, Rawluk says she plans to havegoats released onto grasslands atFrank Lake on three separate occa-sions. While small improvements canbe noted after goats have been in the

-ing,” says Rawluk.

In the meantime, both Rawluk and Horvath celebrate the fact the domes-tic animals who rely on this prairie landscape can be part of the solution.

natural solutions to managing invasivespecies,” says Rawluk. “And what’s more natural than a goat grazing?”

For more information visit www.ducks.ca

PAMI researcher sees results with fusarium-damaged wheat

Fusarium might not be a farmer’s worst nightmare.

But it comes pretty close.Fusarium head blight is a tiny fun-

gus that has resulted in devastating losses for farmers. In a recent press release, the Prairie Agricultural Ma-chinery Institute (PAMI) offers this information from the Ministry of Ag-riculture and Forestry in Alberta: “Losses from fusarium head blight across Canada over the last 2 decades ranged from $50 million to $300 mil-lion, and future losses are projected to be as high as $132/acre.”

Because fusarium renders the grain unusable for food or animal feed, it represents a total loss for producers. In a 2016 study funded by the Sas-katchewan Ministry of Agriculture, with an in-kind contribution from the Canadian Grain Commission, PAMI researchers examined various ways in which to dispose of infested grain, which might allow producers to “ex-tract some value from infested crops.”

Dr. Joy Agnew, a PAMI researcher, explains how the study was conducted.

“We looked at three different ways that heavily infested grain could be disposed of: anaerobic digestion, com-bustion (by burning in a grain furnace) and composting. When testing began, we speculated that anaerobic diges-tion would be the most effective way of eliminating the main fusarium toxin — deoxynivalenol (DON). But, when we tested the results from each dis-posal method, we found that was not the case.”

Agnew explained that by far, the most effective method turned out to be composting.

“Very heavily infested wheat was put into large piles, with equal amounts

of cow manure; and left to compost (for a period of 111 days from June to Oc-tober 2016). When tests were done on the composted grain at the end of that period, it was found that there were no traces of DON present.”

Those results are promising“It could be a very viable method

for a producer of disposing of infested grain,” she said. “All a producer would need to have would be the machinery needed to set up the compost piles, suf-

-cess occur, and access to manure.”

She cautions however, that the grain still represents a loss for produc-ers, since they are not able to safely spread this composted material on their land.

“We tested for the presence of DON, but we did not have tests that could show whether or not the fusarium it-self was gone. So, if a farmer were to

they might run the risk of spreading

On March 13, Charley Sprenger, a PAMI project leader, travelled to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to

at the World Mycotoxin Forum. The forum brought food and feed industry representatives together with rep-resentatives from universities and governments.

Agnew says that funding is being sought for further research that could

and determine if composting with ma-nure does indeed eliminate fusarium.

“We would like to be able to mea-sure the levels of fusarium directly, to see if the fusarium is itself eliminated by composting,” she said. “If it is, it’s been speculated that it might be possi-ble to isolate the microbe involved, and develop a soil cleansing inoculant.”

In Alberta and Saskatchewan, Ducks Unlimited and its partners are releasing cattle and goats onto grasslands to help combat destructive, invasive plants through grazing. Submitted photo


191 YORK ROAD WEST - YORKTON, SASK

City birder turned farmer tackles climate changeBy Laura StewartUniversity of Regina J-School

Framed by red velvet drapes at Indian Head’s Grand Theatre, microphone in hand, Jared Clarke plunges his free arm deep into imaginary ocean water in front of him. Deeper water is usually cold, he explains, and hurricanes lose energy when they stir it up.

But Hurricane Harvey found warm water instead. Loaded with moisture, and trapped in one place by an unusually large loop of the jet stream, Harvey

Houston, Texas.“That’s almost at my shoulders,” Clarke says, ges-

turing against his charcoal tweed jacket.A hushed crowd of 55 people takes in Clarke’s

message, told against a backdrop of visuals selected from Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project. From an as-tronaut’s view of our atmosphere as only a thin blue rim over the vast dark Earth at sunrise, through footage of cars and trucks jostling together down a

Clarke connects numerous dots worldwide to draw a convincing, disturbing view of climate change.

Timing his words to footage of an intense storm hitting Tucson, Ariz., he says, “Watch the water bounce off the city — right there” — and gets a gasp and murmur from the otherwise quiet crowd as a sil-ver plume bursts across the screen.

Clarke isn’t here to scare or depress people. “Deep breath, everybody,” he says, and turns his talk to solutions.

For someone only 31 years old, Clarke has done many things, from bird banding to school teaching,

a province known for its rejection of a carbon tax, talking about climate change to rural people who are known for toughing out whatever the weather brings.

From his bold decision to train as a climate leader,

to his choice with his wife to farm near Edenwold even though they both grew up in the city, to the long list of achievements that won him a spot on CBC’s Future 40 in October 2017, it’s clear that this young man steps up to try whatever promising opportunity he sees.

Family and teachers encouraged his curiosity and

his mom to the window to ask about a new bird in the yard, nothing like the usual sparrows. Ramona Clarke didn’t know the bird either, but she didn’t let it pass. “I said, ‘Well, why don’t we just go buy a bird

The bird was a spotted towhee, and the young Clarke was hooked. “I kind of became an expert on this little backyard bird book,” he says, “and it just kind of grew and grew.”

By Grade 4, Clarke’s knowledge caught the at-tention of a teacher, who invited him to talk to the Grade 2 class about birds.

-fowl display ponds in Wascana Park, Clarke helped the minister of the environment at that time, Lorne

and remains a friend, bantering with Clarke while introducing his talk at Indian Head.

But through his school years, it still wasn’t clear what direction Clarke might take. Ramona Clarke says he might have gone into business, or performing arts.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream. “He played a charac-ter, the donkey,” his mom recalls. “He had the crowd going. He was really in his realm right there.”

to play the role of a donkey. And Clarke’s preference

In the student representative council and drama club, his mom says, he showed that he would speak

-dent that he was doing the right thing.”

In university, Clarke studied biology. In summers

hawks, climbing trees to count nestlings, note what prey the parent hawks had brought for them, and clamp a band onto the leg of each nestling.

became a park naturalist for Wascana Centre in Re-gina.

He says birding and nature were a place of peace for him all along. “It’s always been my anchor interms of who I am and what I’m proud of being.”

and his wife, also a biologist, got pregnant. Lookingfor a stable long-term career, he checked the Univer-sity of Regina admissions page for teacher education, found the deadline was extended, applied and gotaccepted in just two weeks. “And I was like, ‘OK! I guess I’m going to be a teacher then,’” he laughs.

Today Clarke spends his time teaching, raisingtwins and farming, and continues his nature out-reach through projects like hummingbird banding at people’s feeders and training volunteers to observe

He also hosts “The Prairie Naturalist” on CJTR Regina Community Radio, which is where he inter-viewed another climate leader who encouraged himto apply for an upcoming round of Gore’s training.

With everything he had going, plus having to sac--

cision, but he went ahead. “And then all of a sudden I’m in Pittsburgh, listening to Al Gore,” he says.

In conversation, Clarke’s face shifts quickly be-

that makes you wonder if you’re taking yourself as seriously as he is.

That cheerful dedication inspires his students.

recently hosted a public presentation of his climate

says, “He had the kids introduce him, introduce theprogram, welcome people….”

gained from his own teachers, to young people who face new challenges.

-

old twins, Rowan and Teal, drive what he does. He protects some time for hiking with his family and en-

-urday afternoon talking to strangers instead, hoping to leave a better future for his children.

“I want to make sure at the end of my life that I can look them in the eye and say that I did what I could do, as an individual,” he says.

New science forecasting the changing climate of Western Canada

Submitted-

ogy of Western Canada comes to an end, researchers

have diagnosed the water-borne effects of recent cli-mate change and are now predicting future impacts

events that could save lives and prevent billions of dollars in damages.

-mentary, The Changing Climate and Environment of Western Canada, where researchers have measured unprecedented changes that include rising tempera-tures, rapidly melting glaciers, more severe extreme weather events, and changes to the timing and vol-

“We are undergoing the most rapid warming of the planet’s cold regions in the history of humanity,” said Howard Wheater, Canada Excellence research chair in water security, and director of the Global In-

and diagnosing these unprecedented changes and trying to understand what the future holds in West-ern Canada’s interior is key to the future security of this country and the world.”

Wheater said that these rapid changes have put tremendous pressure on the land, water and vegeta-tion, posing important challenges for society.

“How do we manage water security in the face of rapid change and uncertain water futures? Thanks to everyone involved with CCRN, we are in a much better position,” said Wheater.

CCRN research uses historical information and novel computer models to predict changes in every-thing from weather patterns and overall climate, to

wetting occurring in northwestern Canada — large areas of the Yukon and Northwest Territories — that is causing rapid permafrost thaw and summers that are longer and rainier. The data shows that winter minimum temperatures in the region have gone up by as much as eight degrees and average tempera-

50 years.Continued on Page 8

Jared Clarke, a Grade 6/7 teacher at Lakeview Elementary School in Regina, recently trained as a climate leader with Al Gore in Pitts-burgh. Photo by Laura Stewart.


@grasslands_news

Agrium and PotashCorp are now Nutrien.What do you get when the world’s biggest crop input retailer combines forces with the largest crop nutrient production and distribution operation on Earth? You get an unmatched supply of crop inputs, an extensive and efficient delivery infrastructure, and more than 1,500 retail locations, staffed with generations of farming experts. In the race to feed the world’s exploding population, ours is a whole new business model.

From inputs to insights.

www.nutrien.comMatthew DurdanField RepresentativeCrop Production Services

Danny Harms3rd Generation FarmerHarms Farms

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... new science forecasting the changing climate

Driverless platform ready to hit the fieldsBy Alan HustakSpecial toGrasslands News

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What’s in the agricultural economist’s crystal ball?

By Rachel Kraynick, P.Ag.Agriculture Program Specialist

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The DOT Power platform is like something out of the movie Star Wars, resembling a giant walker lumbering through a galactic empire. The huge remote-controlled ground vehicle can do everything a tractor does — but without a driver. Submitted photo

It always defers to safety.

Trent Meyer, executive vice-presidentof DOT Technology

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By Connie SchwalmSpecial to Grasslands News

It really isn’t a case of feeling out of place.

But it might some-times seem as though one is walking just out-side of common expectation.

Ginelle Pidwerbesky notes that it was this odd feeling —that can so often lead to isolation — that prompted her to help create Women in Agriculture.

“In 2012, I was farming with my dad on our 10,000-acre grain farm. I can remember feeling very isolated. Agriculture was — and to some extent still is — a very male-dominated industry. Women taking over the farm, or deciding to get into farming full-time, just wasn’t something that you heard much about.”

Pidwerbesky connected with a friend who shared a similar experience, and the conversations that would lead to the creation of Women in Agriculture began.

“It started out as a Calendar Group. We wanted to do something to celebrate what women do on the farm on a day-to-day basis, but it grew into a plat-form where you could connect with other people, and share your experiences.”

The group began holding meetings and workshops that would allow members to connect, including meetings that were held in conjunction with major events.

“We’ve had Networking Nights where people could simply get to know each other,” recalls Pidwerbesky. “We also began holding meetings and workshops that coincided with the Crop Production Show, and

-ings were simply an opportunity for women to meet and share their story. Now, we are focused on softer topics that sometimes don’t receive a lot of attention at events like that. For example, we look at topics like mental health, safety and effective succession planning.”

Pidwerbesky points out that the topics dealt with in these meetings, are of interest to everyone within the agricultural community

“Because we’re look-ing at topics that ha-ven’t been discussed much in the past, we’re noticing that a num-ber of men are coming to take part in our dis-cussions. That’s good. We very much want to start bridging that gap and bring everybody to-gether to talk about these things.”

She says that the group is comprised of volunteers that come from a number of different areas within the agriculture industry.

“We have farm women involved, who are either farming themselves or married to a farmer. We also have members who are agronomists, industry reps, agribusiness — people from a lot of different area within the agriculture sector.”

Although many of the members of the group are just beginning their agricultural careers, Pidw-erbesky says that the group is actively working to bring women of all ages together.

“We are working hard to include topics at our meetings, that will appeal to people of any age, but it is the case that many of the women in our group are in their 20s and 30s.”

“Several of these younger women are connected with the University of Saskatchewan in some way and they are generally eager to learn all they can. So, we’ve begun a mentorship program. We wanted to do this, because we felt that women who had been in the industry longer, had so much to teach. We now have 10 mentors in our group, that others can look to for support.”

“For those who have been involved in the indus-

try for a longer time, this is an excellent way for them to help guide and impact the younger women, who are just starting out. As well, there are many who are get-ting involved in the agriculture industry now, who don’t have a farming background. These are people that have chosen to go into agriculture (often when they are in university)because they believe that this is an industry with alot of potential. It can be daunting to start out in a career in the industry, without even having a back-ground in farming to go on. So, being able to connectwith experienced people, who are willing to talk thethings that they’ve learned, is extremely important.”

Pidwerbesky says anyone who would like to be-come involved in Women in Agriculture, can easily do so.

“The best way to get involved with our group, is to visit our website — www.womeninag.ca People

group there.”


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The farmers and stockmen of this community contribute greatly to the area’s economy.

We salute you for your efforts now, and hope you benefit from those efforts in the future.

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Can you stop a bull from eating treats?I keep my horse at a farm near town.When I go to this farm, I give my horse treats.She likes carrots. She’ll eat apples. But she goes

absolutely bananas over these scrumptious pellets I buy in a bag at Peavey Mart. The small kibble bits smell like fresh-cut hay and have the ability to transform any horse into a dog. The irresistible

seems to make every horse come running like their

I enjoy the reaction the pellets create.I love to see my horse come running across the

I pretend she is so enamoured with me that she cannot stop herself from loping joyously over hill and valley to get to me.

I know she just wants the treats. It’s a little fan-tasy I like to keep alive in my head.

The only problem with this genius plan is that it has the exact same effect on all the other horses too. This includes the miniature black pony, the tall 17-year-old gelding and the large mare that is boss of the whole works. In all, about six large horses, two miniature equines and one mule come running at high speed when they see me with a pail of treats in my hand.

As a pre-emptive measure, I’ve started pouring

nine individual piles of treats on the ground be-fore the stampede group arrives. Generally, they are a well-behaved bunch and will stick to their own pile.

This was all working fairly well until Amos, the giant Texas Long-horn, got a taste of the treats. Amos lives rather peacefully with his horse friends despite his mas-sive body and his huge pokey horns. And when I say huge horns, I mean HUGE. They span about seven feet and the sharpness of them is akin to two dag-gers.

these treats, he began poking the horses in the ribs with his horns. So, I created a 10th pile of treats. The problem is, Amos eats fast — and Amos has big horns. Did I mention they’re about seven feet from tip to tip.

When the pail of treats comes out now, Amos lopes over hill and valley with a long line of horses behind him. Upon his arrival at the fence and at the 10 piles of treats, he simply sways his massive head back and forth.

Every single horse stops and retreats, leaving Amos with all 10 piles to himself.

I’ve thought of every possible solution to thisproblem from spreading the piles way apart, toscreaming at poor Amos, to trying to shoo him away with my ‘threatening’ presence. Amos simply looksat me and — goes on eating his many piles of treats.

This week, I came up with a clever new plan ofaction.

I put the pail of treats outside of the fence, where they were inaccessible to Amos. I opened the metal gate and proceeded to try to get my sweet horse out to eat the treats all on her own.

That’s when Amos sauntered over, put his chin on the open gate and looked me in the eye. I pushed the gate. I pulled the gate. I kicked at the gate. WithAmos’s massive bull body on it, it would not budge.

I could see exactly what the devil bull was think-ing, “Either those treats are coming in, or I’m com-ing out.”

So, I got the pail, poured the treats over the gate in one big pile for Amos and cursed that bull all theway home.

If anyone has any ideas of how to rid my life ofthis horse treat-loving bull, let me know.

I’m out of ideas, and bravery.Email comments to [email protected]

Women in Ag make connections to create strength

Province proclaims Rural Women’s MonthSubmitted

The Government of Saskatchewan has proclaimed March to be Rural Women’s Month in Saskatchewan.

“Thousands of rural women choose to make ag-riculture their career and they make great contri-butions to their communities and to our province,” Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart said. “By proclaim-ing Rural Women’s Month, we join in celebrating the achievements that help to make Saskatchewan the strong province that it is.”

According to the 2016 Canadian Agriculture Cen-sus, one in four farm operators in Saskatchewan is a women. These women are part of a growing trend across the country. In Canada, nearly 78,000 women are farm operators, accounting for 28.7 per cent of producers, up from 27.4 per cent in 2011. Rural

Women’s Month is a time to recognize the impact women make on agriculture and our economy as a whole.

“Increasingly, women in agriculture are shap-ing and driving the important conversations we are having in our rural communities,” said Tina Beau-dry-Mellor, minister responsible for the status of women. “Rural Women’s Month acknowledges the

province.”The province has recognized women in the agricul-

ture industry for many years by annually proclaim-ing March as Rural Women’s Month. The month is observed by women’s groups across Saskatchewan as they celebrate and recognize the contributions rural women make to the province.

RuralRoots

ChristaleeFroese

Agriculture was — and to some extent still is — a very male-dominated industry. Women taking over the farm, or deciding to get into farming full-time,

Ginelle Pidwerbesky, Women in Ag founder

GINELLE PIDWERBESKY

By Jason G. AntonioAdvance Reporter

The Heide family has a big heart for helping peo-ple locally and a passion to help globally, an attitude that guides the family’s organic farming efforts and its ability to create opportunities for others.

“We are a family farm, but we’re more a farm of families,” said Travis Heide, 38, who, along with wife Amy, 36, and their three daughters, operate Organic Canada, a farm southeast of Melville adjacent to Highway 9.

He explained that they have eight families work-ing for them who are from South Africa, New Zea-land, Alberta and British Columbia.

The Heide farm has become a destination for peo-ple who are excited about agriculture and not afraid of hard work. They are also looking for a second chance at life.

The Heides rent houses for their employees and their families in Melville, Whitewood, Stockholm and Grayson, since there is not enough housing on area farms. Those eight families make up roughly 60 people, including children who attend school in Melville and Grayson.

“The organic farming is a lot more work,” laughed Heide.

“What we found with this organic direction is we’re taking more of the money we spend every year and spending it around us, rather than spending it on the fertilizer and chemical, where only a small fraction of that dollar stays in our local communi-ties.”Supporting communities

Their farming operation purchases fuel from com-munity co-ops, while they buy parts from area ma-chinery dealers. Furthermore, more money is spent in community grocery stores, at gas stations, on school fees and stationery, and for sports teams.

It’s a good feeling to do all this, said Heide. The money they would have spent on chemicals has now been invested in people and percolates into area com-munities.

“That’s the part I’m really getting excited about,” he added. “Even the Ministry of Economic Develop-ment is taking notice of what we’re doing,” by open-ing doors and creating opportunities for more people to move back to rural Saskatchewan.

Heide insists his and Amy’s effort to help people isn’t about them, as they are simply the tools to as-sisting others. All they did was take chances and risks while having an abundance of faith. From conventional to organic agriculture

Travis grew up on a farm near Moosomin with progressive, conventional farmers on the leading edge of conventional farming.

He did not seriously farm from 2007 to 2014, so when he returned to agriculture full-time, he noticed how operational costs had tripled while the price of wheat had barely moved. He also noticed how farm-ers were spending and borrowing more to run their farms.

2014 near Whitewood, the Heides found they did not grow as many bushels as expected and looked for al-ternatives.

Robert Andjelic, whom Heide considers a unique landowner and now a friend, assists young farmers flourish. He helped the Heides get their initial operation going. He also pur-chased land for them near Melville for their organic farming. It took the Heides 15 months to

farmers. Organic pays the bills

The idea of farming organically was not on Travis’ radar when they started farming, he said. It was for Amy, however, since she grew up in a health-conscious envi-ronment in British Co-lumbia.

“She was very patient and understanding of me,” chuckled Travis.

“We had some good healthy debates in the beginning,” laughed Amy.

The Heides planted

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holm, while growing conventional wheat else-where. The organic land paid for all the losses on the wheat, as organic grain prices had nearly tripled in the last 15 years.

“The conventional prices, the only way (farmers) have been able to recoup those costs is grow more grain,” said Travis. “But growing more grain hasn’t made them more money or

created more risk.”The 2015 harvest was

seeded it late, but they managed to get it off. Their initial successes encouraged them to grow more organic grains in 2016. Farming organically made life easier since they weren’t continually tied to a sprayer.

In 2017, they eliminated canola and soybeans and went fully organic. It takes 36 months to become a

Other organic crops they grow include peas, len-tils, red winter what, malt barley and hemp. Chick-peas could be on the horizon, too.Giving back to others

Many people have contributed to the Heides’ suc-cess, such as Andjelic, so Travis believes the onus is on them to help others.

One way is with the creation of a food brand they have called One Organic Farm: one farm, one life, one purchase. They have spoken with Sobeys, which

ways to support area communities. This would put more money into farmers’ pockets,

while also providing clean water for people in devel-oping countries through an international organiza-tion called charity: water based in New York City.

“We’re real excited about (the brand),” said Tra-vis, as it connects well with their passion of healthy eating.

“I’m a health foodie,” laughed Amy.“You should see the green drinks she makes me

drink,” chuckled Travis. Creating products provincially

don’t last long in the bins; consumers and stores snap them up quickly. Amy noted organic food ispopular in larger cities and slowly growing in rural Saskatchewan.

Much of their product is shipped to the United States, said Travis. He believes it should be pro-cessed, packaged and marketed in Saskatchewan, thereby creating more local spending.

“Our communities and towns were built because everything was spent local,” he continued. “That’s how Saskatchewan emerged so quickly … That’s what we’re trying to get back to.” Faith in Christ

It is the Heides’ faith in Jesus Christ that has seen them through tough times, drives them to helpothers and encourages them to be bold.

The Heides attempt to stay humble since they still have much to learn. They want to listen to, trust, and empower others around them. They aren’t interested in absolute control on their farm.

Heide grew up in a Baptist church but consideredhimself a prodigal son who lived a wild life. He real-ized his relationship with Jesus connects him with the God, who created everything on Earth.

“To me, he’s a good guy we try to partner with,” said Heide.

They are also learning to deal with people whodislike them for not farming conventionally. Many producers don’t like change, he noted, while large companies are threatened by their work. The Heides have learned to grow a thick skin.

“We offer hope to somebody who wants to start a farm from scratch … ,” he added. “Hope is a powerfulthing.”


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Organic farm allows Heides to create opportunities for others

Interested in being a crop reporter?By Shannon Friesen, PAgCropping ManagementSpecialist, Moose JawRegional Services Branch

Are you always keeping an eye to the sky, wondering how the recent weather may affect your crops? Have you ever wondered what others are

across the province? If so, consider joining Saskatchewan

Agriculture’s Crop Reporting Service. The department is always looking for volunteers to contribute local farming

-edge gaps about the current growing season.

The Crop Report is Saskatchewan Agriculture’s most popular publication and is accessed by media, policy mak-ers, marketers and researchers all over the world. Not only is the Crop Report vital to the provincial agricultural in-dustry, it also helps to inform the gen-eral public about the challenges facing producers throughout the year.

As a volunteer crop reporter, you would be actively involved in gather-ing this important and relevant infor-

mation about your local agricultural community.

The Crop Reporting Service relies on the expertise of over 200 volunteers during the growing season. These volunteers are producers, agrologists and other people interested in the agricultural industry. Many of them have served for several decades, and the Crop Report would not be possible without their tireless efforts. Saskatch-ewan Agriculture truly appreciates the time and commitment that reporters provide.

The department is always look-ing for more volunteers, regardless of whether your RM already has a crop reporter. Anybody interested in con-tributing local information and learn-ing more about their surrounding area is welcome. The more information gathered from around the province, the more accurate the report will be.

For more information visit www.saskatchewan.ca/crop-report; or con-tact the Agriculture Knowledge Centre at 1-866-457-2377 or [email protected]

Amy and Travis Heide operate an organic farm southeast of Melville near the Waldron Viterra grain terminal.

Sarel Van Vuuren operates an auger that sends mixed grains into a separating machine. Photos by Jason G. Antonio


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