PRAIRIE GRAINS · Page 2. Prairie Grains • April 2016. THERE’S A SIMPLER WAY TO PROTECT YOUR SPRING WHEAT FIELDS. Don’t go to absurd lengths to kill weeds and grasses in your

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April 2016 • Prairie Grains Page 3

April 2016 | Issue 149

PRAIRIE GRAINSPUBLISHERMinnesota Association of Wheat Growers2600 Wheat Drive • Red Lake Falls, MN 56750218.253.4311 • Email: [email protected]: www.smallgrains.org

EDITORIALBetsy JensenPrairie Grains Magazine2600 Wheat Drive • Red Lake Falls, MN 56750Ph: 218.253.4311 • Fax: 218.253.4320Email: [email protected]

CIRCULATIONKaylina Paulley2600 Wheat Drive • Red Lake Falls, MN 56750Ph: 218.253.4311 • Fax: 218.253.4320Email: [email protected]

ADVERTISING SALES2600 Wheat Drive • Red Lake Falls, MN 56750Ph: 218.253.4311 • Fax: 218.253.4320Email: [email protected]

ABOUT PRAIRIE GRAINSPrairie Grains magazine is published seven times an-nually and delivered free of charge to members of these grower associations, and to spring wheat and barley producers in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana. To subscribe or change address, please write or call our circulation department.

Minnesota Association of Wheat Growersand Minnesota Wheat Council

2600 Wheat Drive • Red Lake Falls, MN 56750218.253.4311 • Email: [email protected]

Web: www.smallgrains.org

North Dakota Grain Growers Association2401 46th Ave SE , Suite 204 • Mandan, ND 58554

701.222.2216 • Email: [email protected]: www.ndgga.com

South Dakota Wheat Inc.116 N. Euclid, Box 667 • Pierre, SD 58501

605.224.4418 • Email: [email protected]

Montana Grain Growers AssociationP.O. Box 1165 • Great Falls, MT 59403 • 406.761.4596

Email: [email protected] • Web: www.mgga.org

Northland Community and Technical College1101 Highway One East • Thief River Falls, MN 56701

218.683.8800Email: [email protected]

Web: www.northlandcollege.edu

4 Taming the Bulls and Bears 5 Pacific NW and MN Wheat Farmers Travel to Japan/Korea

6 The Beat-Down of the Wheat Market

8 2016 Session Preview

10 Governor’s Water Summit

14 Root Rot Diseases in the Upper Midwest

17 MAWG on ICE 18 Prairie Talk

20 Managing Fungal Diseases

22 Agriculture is Universal Around the World

24 Flavor of Cuba

25 MAWG Wheat Open

28 Farmer Leaders Educate, Help Look for Solutions

29 Membership Matters

30 National Wheat Yield Contest Announced

30 Living Ag Classroom

North DakotaGrain Growers Association

CONTENTS

On The Cover: Farmers will be in the fields soon. Let’s hope Mother Nature will be good to us this year. Those of us at Prairie Grains wish you a safe and prosperous season.


Betsy Jensen | TAMING THE BULLS & BEARS

Right Hand versus Left Hand

Never let your right hand know what your left hand is doing. That’s a song lyric that often comes to mind when grain marketing. The right hand, and left hand are often doing opposite things, instead of working together.

This year, the wheat markethas reminded me why myleft hand and right hand should be working together.What on earth has hap-pened with wheat basis? I was busy watching the futures market, and boom, the basis exploded.

I have always been hesitant to do basis fix, or futures fix, because I always pick the wrong side. I felt certain wheat basis would improvethis year, and I was dead wrong. In my area, spring wheat basis is forty cents worse than average.

When you sign a basis fix, the right hand says “Nice job, you’re done.” The left hand says “Hey, what about the futures market? Your job is not done.” Signing a contract feels like a sale, but it is not. Your right and left hand need to work together to finish the sale.

Many elevators are offeringfree delayed pricing this winter. You can deliver your crop today, and not price it until May, June, or even July. Once the grain is out of your bin, it feels like the job is done. Once again the right and left hand need to work together. Your job is not done! You still need to price the grain.

Ask your elevator manager about basis fix, futures fix, and delayed pricing con-tracts. How many of those

contracts are completed in the final week? This year I did a basis fix contract for soybeans, and had a deadline of Feb 15 to price the futures. Can you guess the date when I priced thefutures? I think it was Feb 16. I waited until the last possible minute, just like I always do. I got an extra day because of the President’s Day holiday, and I took advantage of it.

I always pledge to do better. I have the best of intentions,and the worst follow through. I was optimistic that soybean futures would rally and I was optimistic right up to the end. Instead prices were flat, and I could have signed a cash contractright away, received the same price, and got my check a few weeks earlier.

If you have grain in a de-layed price contract, please monitor prices throughout the spring. I know you will be busy with planting. Place a sales target at the elevator today so you do not miss a pricing opportunity.

I know farmers have been taking advantage of the free delayed pricing con-tracts. It is a great chance to empty the bins without

setting the price. Your contract has a deadline. Do better than me, and do not wait until the last minute to price those bushels.

At a minimum, make a pledge to price some of those delayed price bushelsby certain dates. Soon we will be watching crop progress and condition reports, and those often bring surprises and pricingopportunities. Make a pledge to price some bushels this spring.

If you want to hold a few delayed price bushels until the final deadline, go ahead. Just make sure it’s not a large amount.

Use your right and left hand for marketing. Doing half the job isn’t enough. Delivering on a DP isn’t enough. Basis fix, or futures fix isn’t enough. Finish the job before the deadline.

If you have grain in a delayed pricecontract, please monitor prices throughout the spring. I know you will be busy with planting. ”

“

Join the MN Wheat Growers on Facebook

http://www.facebook. com/MNWheat


Every year, U.S. Wheat As-sociates (USW) sponsors opportunities for farmer directors on the USW board or state wheat commission staff to travel to overseas markets for U.S. wheat. The intense, regional “board team” visits help partici-pants observe the day-to-day work of USW’s overseas offices and connect them to their customers and industry stakeholders.

“Board teams help build personal connections between our overseas customers and U.S. wheat farmers,” says USW Vice President of Overseas Operations Vince Peterson.

Pacific Northwest and Minnesota Wheat FarmersTravel to Japan and Korea on USW Board Team

“U.S. wheat is the world’s most reliable source of high quality wheat, and part of that reputation comes from the people who grow it. We consistently hear how much the customer appreciates getting to know the farmer.”

This year, USW Policy Spe-cialist Elizabeth Westendorf led a North Asia Board Team to Japan and Korea in early March. The team includes Darren Padget, a wheat farmer from Grass Valley, OR, and a current USW director representing the Oregon Wheat Commission; Greg LeBlanc, a wheat farm-er from Crookston, MN, and a director of the Minnesota

Wheat Research and Pro-motion Council; Clark Ham-ilton, a wheat farmer from Ririe, ID, and a current USW director representing the Idaho Wheat Commission; and Gary Bailey, a wheat farmer from St. John, WA and a current USW director representing the Washing-ton Grain Commission.

The team met at the USW West Coast Office and with the grain trade in Portland, OR for an orientation before traveling overseas. Over three days in Japan, the team visited government contacts at the U.S. Embassy and Japan’s Ministry of Ag-riculture, Forestry and Fish-

eries, and met with millers, bakers and the grain trade.

The second leg of the trip featured three days in Korea, which included visiting the largest fried noodle manufacturingfacility in Korea, mill tours and a meeting with the Korea Flour Mills Industrial Association.

The team posted regular travel updates and photo-graphs, and will report later this year to the USW board of directors. Follow their progress on the USW Facebook page at www.facebook/uswheat and on Twitter at @uswheatassoc.

A staff member from the laboratory passes out samples of steamed bread to members of the North Asia Board Team.


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The Beat-Down of the Wheat MarketBy Mike Krueger,The Money Farm

There has been no letup in the beat-down of the wheat market. The super strong dollar coupled with ad-equate wheat supplies among the world’s major wheat exporting countries, has pushed U.S. wheat export sales to their low-est level since the early 1970’s. That was just before the great Russian grain purchases that surprised world markets. That is a very long time ago.

One of the important mis-conceptions of the market today is that prices are low because world demand has slowed. That is simply not true by any measurement. The three charts in this arti-cle clearly show the ongoing expansion in world demand for wheat, corn and soybeanover the past decade. This

was right through the period of time when prices soared to new all-time record high levels. High prices didn’t kill demand.

High prices brought more land in to production worldwide. In addition to more land being planted to crops, high returns per acre resulted in quick adaptation of better farming practices,including more crop inputs. The last piece of the pro-duction puzzle was that generally very good world crop weather resulted in the production of three con-secutive record world crops.

The question as we head into 2016 is can the world produce four consecutive world crops? That seems very unlikely based on some early season concerns: • India has suffered its second consecutive poor monsoon season. That will

result in wheat production some 10 MMT’s smaller than last year according to some estimates. It is likely that India will have to import wheat this year. • U.S. farmers reduced winter wheat plantings by nearly 2.5 million acres. It appears likely that spring wheat acres will also be as much as a mil-lion acres below 2015. The U.S. winter wheat crop is in good shape today, but much above normal tem-peratures has brought the crop out of dormancy very early. That could create problems with increased moisture requirements or should a cold spell threaten freezing temperatures. • EU and Black Sea winter wheat crops are generally in OK shape as they head to-wards breaking dormancy.

Mike Krueger


There is also the question of how quickly the strong El Nino will transition in to La Nina. That transition could be important to U.S. 2016 growing season weather. A rapid transition could spell potential summer weather issues across the Corn Belt. It is simply too early to predict that today.

There is one other important factor that could have a positive impact on spring wheat prices. Canada has been a very aggressive exporter of spring wheat during this marketing year. They will draw their ending supplies of spring wheat down to bin-bottom levels by the end of May. That will leave another two to three months of consumption before any new crop spring wheat in Canada is harvested and in the pipe-line. That should provide op-portunities for U.S. spring wheat to replace Canadian spring wheat in some export markets and cer-tainly in the U.S.A. milling market. It should mean basis improves and that the Minneapolis wheat futures market can gain on both Kansas City and Chicago wheat futures.

The USDA’s February Outlook Conference projections continue to paint a somewhat bearish wheat picture. They project U.S. wheat ending supplies will hover around a billion bushels going forward. Those estimates are, or course, based on good world wheat produc-tion, continuing dollar strength and weak U.S. wheat exports.

The steep declines in world crop prices and subsequent declines in farm profitability should result in fewer acres being planted to crops and to a reduction in crop inputs. That should mean that world crop production will get smaller even with good world weather. Any crop production problems in signifi-cant world growing regions will tighten world supplies quickly and change the price outlook.


By Bruce Kleven,MAWG Lobbyist

Minnesota lawmakers will convene for the start of the 2016 legislative session at noon on Tuesday, March 8. The late start means that this session will only be 11 weeks in length, makingit the shortest session in years. In addition, the ongoing renovation of the Capitol Building will make the logistics of the session extremely difficult. The building itself is closed, and there is no running water. House floor sessions will still take place in the House chamber but access to it will be very limited. Senate floor sessions will be held in the large hearingroom in the new Senate Office Building north of the Capitol. Navigating the new Senate Office Building will itself be a new experi-ence this year. Along with the shortness of the session and the logistics, anything up for debate this year will be addressed in the context of three overall drivers that will influence the direction of the entire session.

The first session driver will be the upcoming elections. Republicans took control of the Minnesota House in 2014 while the Senate and Governor’s office remain in DFL hands. Governor Day-ton has almost three years left on his current term, but all 67 Senate seats and 134 House seats will be on the ballot this fall. House Democrats will spend much of the 2016 session trying to gain advantages over incumbent Republicans in

2016 Session Previewan effort to win back control of the House in November. Meanwhile, Senate Repub-licans will do the same in the Senate, especially since there are so many incum-bent senators who are not running again in 2016.

The second session driver will be the $900 million projected budget surplus. Although this is not the budget year, legislators will likely allocate the projected surplus through tax cuts, additional spend-ing, or a combination of both. The surplus will also affect the ongoing discus-sions in the transportation finance and tax conferencecommittees. Both the transportation finance bill and the tax bill stalled last year over a disagreement about increasing the tax on fuels. The projected budget surplus could allow for pas-sage of a transportation bill without a gas tax increase.

The final driver of the 2016 legislative session will be the debate and passage of the capital bonding bill. The bonding bill is usually passed every two years and it provides funding for major construction projectsaround the state. The main issue in the bonding bill will be the overall size of it: Governor Dayton has requested a bill totaling $1.4 billion while Republican legislators would be in-clined to support a bill that will be much lower than that. In terms of agricul-ture, the following specific issues will likely be under consideration this year:

Buffer ClarificationThe language relating to DFL Governor Mark Day-ton’s buffer bill that was crafted on the final night of the environment finance conference committee contains a few unresolved issues, along with continued confusion and distrust. One of the clarifications needed involves the phrase “ben-efitted areas”, which the DNR tried to use as a way to map buffers on private land. Ag groups will work on fixing this language, along with clarifications about compensation, enforcement and tax treatment. Local soil and water districts also have some concerns over enforcement provisions and they will seek some changes this year as well. On the other side of the debate will be the environ-mental groups, who have been making the case that the current public waters inventory only contains about half of the actual public waters in the State. They will try to expand the reach of last year’s bufferlaw by increasing the amount of public waters subject to the new law.

Pollinators The national decline of the pollinator population – for both bee and butterfly spe-cies – is gaining more and more attention. Agricultur-al practices are often cited as the main cause of the de-cline and in an election year there may be additional ef-forts to do something about pollinators. Bills to ban certain pesticides, or restrict their use, may be put in play by some urban Democrats.

There might also be an effort to increase the planting of pol-linator-friendly plants on state lands. Those lands would include state-owned public land, as well as ditches along public roads and highways.

Water Quality Summit Governor Dayton’s day-long water quality summit was held on February 27, less than two weeks before the start of the 2016 session. Due to a very short committee hearing schedule, it is unlikely any-thing from the summit will actually move forward this year. But that doesn’t mean parts of it won’t be discussed: House Democrats, particular-ly those from urban districts, are likely to cherry-pick their favorite ideas from citizens who attended the summit and turn them into bills this year.

Groundwater UseLast summer and fall, the DNR was required to convene a stakeholder group to look at how to prove a negative impact to a surface water before an irrigation permit is issued. In addition, some livestock producers have started to receive letters from the DNR indicating that they

Bruce Kleven


might need groundwater appropriation permits. The legislature might considerboth of these issues in someform this year.

Farm Safety The House and Senate Ag Committees might take up the issue of farm safety this year, particularly in the area of roll-over protection for older models of tractors and skid-steer loaders. While it is unlikely they will pass a bill mandating the installa-tion of roll-over protection, there could be a successful effort to restore funding for farm safety training programs at the U of M.

Transportation Bill The projected budget surplus might help legisla-tors pass a transportation finance bill without a gas

tax increase. They might also consider, in lieu of a gas tax increase, a statewide ballot question to let the people decide whether to dedicate the sales tax from auto parts, leased vehicles and car rent-als to transportation funding. Transportation funding has wide support but because there are so many stakehold-ers – voices for roads, bridges, light rail, buses, transit, even bike lanes – getting a packagetogether that everyone canagree on is difficult.

Tax BillBecause an overall agree-ment on the gas tax was not reached last session, there was no agreement on tax provisions last year. The conference committee can quickly be reconstituted and begin where they left off rather than starting over this

year. Ag provisions cur-rently under consideration in the conference commit-tee include changes to ag homestead classification, estate tax conformity, and

removing ag land from school capital levies.

The 2016 session must ad-journ no later than mid-night on Monday, May 23.


Governor’s Water Summit Can state’s water challenges be made into economic opportunities?

The ballroom at the Inter-continental Hotel in St. Paul filled to overflowing on Sat-urday, February 27th with an estimated 800 stakehold-ers all gathered to draw up the outlines of an action plan for restoring and pro-tecting Minnesota’s waters.

A strong representation of farmers and agribusiness attended the meeting — 17 grower leaders from Minne-sota Corn Growers Asso-ciation (MCGA), joined by representatives of Minneso-ta Farm Bureau, Minnesota Farmers Union and other agricultural groups — all there to describe the work farmers have put into im-proving water quality, and to hear ideas for continuing that trend of improvement.

As a rule, the farmers ex-pressed pleasant surprise at the mood that emphasized respectful collaboration rather than confrontationor placing blame.

“The different topics and discussions allowed me to talk to different people and they were listening, and I was listening,” says Noah Hultgren, a farmer in Raymond, Minn., and president of MCGA. “I’m hoping to learn more about

how people tick and what goals they all have.”

The conference began with Gov. Mark Dayton making a call to action, that Min-nesotans create “an ethic of water use” that makes acting in ways beneficial to water just the normal way people operate.

Through a report from the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board, the summit offered four action items, two with implications for the agricultural envi-ronment: “Increase and maintain living cover across watersheds” and “Ensure we are resilient to extreme rainfall.”

In a session about rural water quality, Prof. David Mulla spoke about a state goal of reducing ag nutrients in state waters 45 percent by the year 2040. A number of solutions are promising, he said, including precision agriculture technology and reduced tillage meth-ods, but he emphasized increasing living cover as one of the most promising. He mentioned that Uni-versity of Minnesota has created a program called ‘Forever Green’ to focus research efforts on annual

and perennial cover crops that can reduce soil ero-sion and nutrient loss.

Grower leader Kirby Hett-ver attended the ‘living cover’ breakout session.

“We talked about annual and perennial cover crops, and we had a really good discussion,” says Hettver, who farms near Montevi-deo, Minn., and serves as secretary for MCGA. “We talked about the importance of supporting livestock and other industries as an economic driver to make it feasible to use covers. We talked about the impor-tance of innovation and experimentation, not only at the university, but also on the farm, to make it a better fit. We talked about the importance of local, trusted advisers, to help growers work on those plot ideas, execute the plots and learn from them. We talked about the importance of sharing the information across the landscape. Not just farmer-to-farmer, but across communities. Is it possible to get this infor-mation on a statewide database, to share what we learn on our own farms, to share ideas. We need to communicate, not only with other farmers, but with the general public as a whole.”

Hettver suggested to the group that the ‘Conserva-tion Story Map,’ could offer a template for the kind of in-formation sharing needed. The Conservation Story Map is a project of MCGA that of-fers a web site with an inter-

active map showing actual farm conservation projects and where they are taking place on the state map.

Another breakout discus-sion looked at the inter-relationship of rural de-velopment and rural water quality. Jean Knackmuhs, a farmer and finance profes-sional in Walnut Grove, Minn., found the session offered good, respectful communication among the different interests.

“A lot of ideas were offered,” says Knackmuhs, “The most important were to strive for better collaboration among agencies, agreeing that solutions for one area of the state won’t necessarily work for another area of the state because of soil types and other factors, and there was a recognition that we need flexibility. There was an understanding from the urban people that, rather than putting this entire economic burden on the farmers, they recognize it’s not just our problem.”

Weather extremes have made the state wetter, and storm events more power-ful, which has resulted in increased flooding and ero-sion problems, so one of the breakout sessions focused on developing means for coping with these changes.

“In the urban areas, increas-ing any type of water storage was the biggest theme,” says Bruce Peterson, a farmer in Northfield and

continued on page 12



past president of MCGA. “Water storage has always been an option for agricul-tural lands, and there is probably room for more.”

Participants in this session noted the sea change from three decades ago when all development and building emphasized moving water off the landscape as quickly as possible — keeping it out of basements, out of build-ings, and out of low spots in farm land. But storing more water is a way to blunt the power of floods.

“The biggest thing we have done on our own farm to hold on to more water is to reduce tillage,” Peterson said. “Then you have more residue and that can hold water. Growing healthy crops uses more water. We have been trying out cover crops, but I think that will be more of a fit with your earlier harvested crops — your canning crops, corn harvested for silage, seed

corn — anything that comes off before the middle of September. If you are har-vesting corn late October or early November, getting a cover crop established is go-ing to have more challenges. When we respond to conser-vation challenges by leaving more residue, it does leave the soil cooler and wetter. We want to do reduced till-age, but it is hard to grow a healthy crop in a reduced tillage system, without putting in more tile.”

As opposed to surface runoff, the timed flow of tile lines can reduce ero-sion, but even patterned tile has a capacity that can be overwhelmed by rain events where two or more inches fall in a very short period of time.

Tom Haag, a farmer in Eden Valley and also a past MCGA president, took the oppor-tunity to inform people in his discussions about how far farmers have come in reducing fertilizer use.“It’s a night-and-day dif-

ference. We really want to make sure the ground continues to be suitable for farming for future genera-tions,” Haag said. “People in the cities and suburbs have to catch up to us in some ways. If they have a 1,500 square foot lot and they put three or four bagsof fertilizer on their lawns to keep them green, they may be putting quite a bit of fertilizer into the envi-ronment, and that’s totally unregulated. Farmers on the other hand are regu-lated, and we have to keep records. We try to use only as much as we need.”

The day ended with a panel discussion moderated by Lt. Gov. Tina Smith, which focused on turning the state’s water challenges into an economic opportu-nity. Leaders from private industry, including Ecolab, Dow, Mosaic, Pentair and TonkaWater talked about the high level of research and development of tech-nology to respond to water quality problems. Water

technology is a fast growing and productive segment of the state economy: Min-nesota has some 13,500 water tech employees, who earn $885 million, and make Minnesota third per capita in water technology exports. We are 10th in the nation in the number of water technology patents.

“The best action we would like to see as part of a public action plan to improve water quality is to continue research,” says Hultgren. “MCGA has been able to fund third-party research and we want to continue to do that. It’s important to get beyond attempts to blame people, and to find real solutions to these issues.”

Source: Minnesota Corner-stone.com. Written by Jonathan Eisenthal. Reprinted with Permission.

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Take-all

Fusarium Crown Rot

Root Rot Diseases in the Upper Midwest:A Coordinated Approach to Combating this Complex of Diseases

Infected seed, crop resi-dues, wind or rain splashed fungal spores can all be sources of infections that cause root and crown diseases in wheat. In recent years the Fusarium popula-tion has built up in soils in

the Upper Great Plains, likely as a consequence of the Fusarium head blight (scab) epidemics on wheat. Disease occurrence and severity will largely depend on the presence of environmental conditions

Source: De Wolf, E., Shroyer, J.P., and B. Olson. 2011. Wheat disease identification. North Dakota State UniversityExtension Service.

By Itai Mutukwa, Special to Prairie Grains

A healthy root system is needed for a plant to take up adequate water and nutri-ents. Root and crown dis-eases affect this ability thus compromising yield quan-tity and quality. Due to their inconspicuous nature, root and crown diseases of wheat often go undetected and yet they can cause significant losses. Several different kinds of fungi are associ-ated with these diseases. Common root rot (Bipolaris sorokiniana), crown rot (Fu-sarium species) and take-all (Gaeumannomyces grami-nis) are the most commonly observed root and crown diseases in this region.

Common root rot is charac-terized by dark brown dis-coloration of infected roots and especially the sub-crown internode (the un-derground stem connecting the base of the plant to the seed). Crown rot is usually first observed shortly before harvest when tillers have died prematurely, known as whiteheads, appear scat-tered throughout a field. Honey-brown lesions at basal node and pink discol-oration of crown and stem bases are also symptomatic of crown rot. Shiny black roots, crowns and stem bases are the key symp-toms of take-all, though as the name suggests severe take-all may result in the death of the whole plant.

Common Root Rot


that promote the develop-ment of each specific root or crown disease. Conditions that promote early devel-opment of pathogens in the root system, especially above average moisture early in the growing season followed by dry condi-tions as the crop matures are most problematic as a maturing wheat plant with a compromised root system is more vulnerable to envi-ronmental stresses. Stress factors that may exacerbate the effects of root and crown diseases include drought, winter or chemical injury, and presence of other dis-eases. General symptoms of crops affected by root and crown rot diseases will be stunted growth, yellowing and bleaching of leaves. The early maturing of crops and the appearance of white-

heads and incomplete grain fill are indicative of the add-ed impact of stresses that ul-timately compromise yield.

Reduced tillage practices as well as growing successive wheat crops in the same field helps maintain plant residues that root and crown rotting fungi live on thus in-creasing the risk of disease development. On average, crown and root rots cause losses of 3-5%, though yield losses as high as 40% can be experienced in severe cases.

Ruth Dill-Macky and Madeline Smith’s study was aimed at improving wheat root and crown disease management. The specific objectives were as follows: • Evaluation of wheatroot disease incidence andseverity

• Identification and char-acterization of the fungal pathogens associatedwith root diseases • Development of effec-tive methods for screening for resistance against rootrot pathogens • Screening wheat lines for resistance to common root rot and Fusarium crown rot

A summarized version of the study and some research highlights are presented below.

SURVEY OF ROOT DISEASE INCIDENCE AND SEVERITY

MethodsRoot rot disease survey work was done to help understand the distribu-tion and prevalence of root

rot pathogens. Surveys were conducted in 2012-2015 in the wheat growing areas of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Plants were systematically sampled from several loca-tions in each field observed for symptoms to determine the incidence and severity

continued on page 16

Itai Mutukwa

Areas in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota that were surveyed for root rot diseases, 2012-2015.


Treatment Active ingredients g a.i./lb

Control Untreated

Charter HL Triticonazole 0.023

Stamina Pyrachlostrobin 0.022

Stamina F3 Pyrachlostrobin + triticonazole + metalaxyl 0.022 + 0.022 + 0.013

Dyna Shield Metalaxyl 0.063

Dyna Shield (reduced) Metalaxyl (half rate) 0.01

Raxil MD Tebuconazole + metalaxyl 0.007 + 0.009

Raxil MD Extra Imazalil + tebuconazole + metalayxl 0.015 + 0.006 + 0.009

Tebuconazole Tebuconazole 0.007

Vibrance Extreme Sedaxane + difenaconazole + mefenoxam 0.010 + 0.049 + 0.012

Vibrance Sedaxane 0.011

Systiva Fluxapyroxad 0.022

Evergol Energy (2014) Prothiolconazole + penflufen + metalaxyl 0.023 + 0.012 + 0.272

Table 1. Seed treatments tested for efficacy against root and crown diseases

contniued from page 15

of root diseases. A rating scale of 0-4 was used where 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 indicated 0, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of sub-crown internodes with visual discoloration, respectively. Collected root, sub-crown internodes and crown tissues from the collected plant samples were processed to recover fungal pathogens. The isolated fungi were initially identified based on mor-phological characteristics. Fungal isolate identifica-tion will be confirmed using genetic tests.

ResultsRoot diseases were more common than expected as symptoms were observed from most of the sampled fields. Pathogens that cause common root rot, crown rot and take-all were the most commonly observed. Crown rot (Fussarium spp.) was the most prevalent disease which represents a shift from older surveys which showed common root

rot to be more common. Being aware of this shift helps in better prioritizing research efforts and tailor-ing disease management.Evaluation of seed treatment strategies against root rots

MethodsEvaluation of seed fungi-cide treatments efficacy to protect wheat against latent root and crown rots as well as other common root pathogens of wheat was done. On farm trials were conducted in Minnesota at four sites in 2013 and 2014 to determine the efficacy of 11seed treatments (Table 1). Oxen, a variety known to be susceptible to root rots and crown rots, was used as the test variety. Data collected included stand counts, plant height, biomass and yield. Table 1. Seed treatments tested for efficacy against root and crown diseases

ResultsIn 2013, there were no significant differences be-tween treated seeds and the control (untreated) treat-

ment in any of the measured attributes. Visual inspection of crown and sub-crown internodes of seedlings showed very few lesions indicative of fungal infec-tions. No whiteheads were observed in plots associated with latent infections by root and crown rots and no late season symptoms were observed. In 2014 there were no yield differences with fungicide treatment with the exception of two trials (Fergus Falls and Benson).

In Fergus Falls, tebucon-azole reduced grain yield compared to the untreated control. In the Benson trial, Raxil MD increased yield compared to the control. The increase was probably due to a higher initial plant stand observed with the use of Raxil. Seed treat-ment trials show that only where disease is preva-lent will a seed treatment routinely protect stands. It is important to remember that seed treatments will not protect the crop from late season infections.

Root pathogen screeningmethodsTo make any recommenda-tion on the control of root rots using host resistance, it is important to be able to screen wheat cultivars for their relative suscep-tibility to these three root diseases. To establish ef-ficient screening methods is also critical of the breeding programs are to develop lines with improved resis-tance. A couple of methods to establish uniform fungal infection in wheat plants in the greenhouse and in the field have been evaluated and thus progress is being made in the development of inoculation methods for varietal screening.

Acknowledgements:This study was done as a collaborative project involv-ing pathologists in Minne-sota, North Dakota (Shao-bin Zhong, North Dakota State University) and South Dakota (Shaukat Ali, South Dakota State University).


MAWG on ICE

After several years of having to cancel the MAWG on ICE gathering in the Grand Rapids and Detroit Lakes areas,we decided to move it back to the Northwest Angle, the farthest north piece of land in Minnesota and the United States. The snow, fish and hospitality did not disappoint.From all accounts, the snowmobilers had one of the “best-ever” rides and the fisherman had plenty of actionwith huge crappies and fighting walleyes.

Over the years, we have never had to cancel MAWG on ICE when it is held at the Northwest Angle. Even this year as MAWG members were loading sleds in their yards, they were seeing black fields all around and no snow insight. But when they arrived in Roseau for the trip to the Angle they found great snow and the trail conditions only improved as they neared at the Angle. Tony Brateng, Roseau area farmer, was a great guide. He showed everyone some unique places, sights and a riding experience that they would not have had if they stayed on the trials. It was memorable! Thanks Tony!

The Jason and Lisa Goulet were our hosts at the Angle Out-post Resort. They had great cabins and a large and comfort-able lodge we all gathered in. The cooks were MAWG mem-bers participating in the event. They were Danny Howell, Badger; Sheldon Rice, Roseau; and Dana Gunderson,Badger and chief dish washer, Dave Torgerson, Red LakeFalls. The food was plentiful and enjoyed by all.

We also want to thank the fisherman who knew all the hot spots – Jeff Blom from NW Grain. Thanks Jeff and the NW Grain crew that joined us. It was much appreciated.

Check out all the pictures of all the great snow and fish. Mark your calendar for 2017 MAWG on ICE – February 14- 16, 2017. Call Dave Torgerson at 218-689-3607 to get on the contact list for 2017. Don’t delay; it will fill up quickly considering the great experience everyone had in 2016.

MAWG on ICE: 2016 Returned

to the Northwest Angle for some

Exceptional Snow and Fish

Art Brandli, MAWG member from Warroad, MN, along with Bruce Hamnes, Stephen and Jerry Kruger, Warren, were recognized with the MAWG Meritorious Service Award for their extraordinary work they have done to advance wheat scab research in Minnesota and the country. This recognition was announced at the Prairie Grains Conference last December. However, Art was unable to attend because he was helping to leadthe National Scab Forum at the time. So the award was presented to him at the 2016 MAWG on ICEby Tony Brateng, Roseau. It gave everyone an

opportunity to thank Art and to consider the importance of member involvement and how individual growers can makea big difference. The Meritorious Service Award is presented to an individual or individuals who have made a significant contribution to the US Wheat Industry and more specifically to the Minnesota wheat industry. Prior to 2016, only four individuals have received this award from MAWG since 1978.

~~~~~~


Prairie Talk Last Two Trial Options for 2016 On-Farm Research

By Lauren (Stai) Proulx,CCA, MWR&PC

Yesterday morning I drove to the Northwest Outreach and Research Center on the University of MinnesotaCrookston campus for an educational event. This one was largely on nitro-gen- how to reduce losses and get a better return on invested fertilizer dollars. What science says and what a farmer does sometimes doesn’t match up and that doesn’t mean either one is wrong. That is one reason why working in agricultureis never boring.

Nitrogen is a big expense and everyone wants to get the most bang for their buck. I also learned at a recent meeting one way to combat a low price is to push for better yields. We at the Wheat Growers are doing on-farm research to try figure out ways to bet-ter manage our nitrogen. We look at it as trying to develop a decision making

tool which will take into ac-count the soil type, mois-ture, crop history etc.… If a product or practice worked for some but not others we’ll try to isolate what it was that made the difference so others can use that informa-tion on their own farms.

N-SERVE Nitrogen is like your chil-dren. You do everything you can to try and protect them but there’s a point where you let them go out into the world and hope for the best. Sometimes there’s nothing you can do, the weather turns and you have the conditions where you know you’re losing some of the nutrient in the soil. We’re likely in the May-June timeframe and with my experience, it wouldn’t be northern Minnesota if we didn’t get that rainy season.

If you’ve done much in-vestigating into nitrogen stabilizers, N-serve or Instinct may be ones you’ve come across. They are both

nitrification inhibitors and Instinct is commonly used with urea and N-serve is used with anhydrous am-monia. Nitrification is when ammonium (NH

4+) gets

converted to nitrate (NO3

-) via certain bacteria in the soil. Nitrate is susceptible to loss through denitrification and leaching while ammo-nium is stable in the soil.

We have begun researching the use of N-Serve with an-hydrous ammonia appliedin the fall. We haven’t had many participants but a lot of interest in the data and the results. There was one plot put in last fall and the question the farmer wants to answer is if add-ing N-Serve will allow him to reduce his rate of pre-plant N rate while keeping his yield and quality?

The PlanWork together so everyone does the same thing. We need this so that the results are more easily compared at the end of the season. Here it would be that everyone uses the same amount of N-Serve with their am-monia. The fall rate is one quart or 32 fluid ounces per acre. The farmer do-ing this plot told me he

wouldn’t be saving much money by using N-Serve because the chemical costs something too but at least the investment is protected. The N-Serve is effective for 90 days. Once the soil is below 40 degrees Fahrenheit loss of the N-Serve virtuallycomes to a stop so some of that 90-day period may occur in the fall but most will happen in the spring.

We would also need every-one doing this trial to agree on the same question they want to answer. Same ques-tion as the farmer whose plot we’ll be harvesting this summer- does N-Serve protect fall applied ammo-nia so that the rate can be reduced? If this one is chosen everyone involved would have to reduce their rate very similarly. Or a different question such as is the use of N-Serve on fall applied am-monia cost effective without a reduction to the rate?

TOPDRESSING WITH 28% UAN AT BOOT STAGE,WITH A STABILIZERWe know we lose nitrogen so what do you do? Use the right placement, rate, source and timing. With this trial we want to better under-stand when our crop could

Typical Nitrogen Uptake Per Acre for a 45 bu/a Hard Red Spring Wheat

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Lbs

of N

itrog

en

May June July

Adapted from Wiersma U of M - 2009

Minnesota Wheat Research and Promotion Council


use the additional fertility and when to apply it. I often hear 200 pounds of nitrogen whether it’s in the soil, part of a previous crop credit or fertility added, you need about that to get the qualityand quantity we desire.

Once the soils start to warm up to 50 degrees Fahrenheit wherever you placed your nitrogen, whether it was applied in the spring or in the fall, the bacteria in the soil get more active and will start the nitrification pro-cess. We have to get planted early to take up the nitrogen before it goes out of the root zone or up into the atmos- phere from denitrification. The PlanThere are two questionswe’re interested in answering:

First- should we start apply-ing part of the nitrogen load pre-plant and balance it out with 28%, with a stabilizer, in season right before a rain event? Another way to put it is does it pay to split apply your nitrogen? We know yield is determined early and there is a rapid uptake of N starting at the stem elongation stage which is right before you start to feel nodes on the stem (jointing stage). The longer your ni-trogen sits in the field before the plants can take it up the probability for loss increas-es. If we can get the nitrogen on during tillering, use a ni-trogen stabilizer, and catch a decent rain event we have the potential to increase our nitrogen use efficiency. If this results in better yield and quality this could be the answer for some farmers.

The hang-up with this trial is that it’s more complicated than what we normally do. The piece of equipment ap-plying the preplant nitrogen would reduce the rate in at least three rounds across the field. We would flag the corners of these and then the sprayer applying the nitrogen would hope-fully line up enough so that there’s a big enough swath for the combine to take in all of the treatments. It’s more complicated but answers an important question.

Second- should we still apply all the nitrogen pre-plant and if we feel the yield potential is greater than we originally fertilized for, or if we think we lost some nitrogen, supplement with 30 more pounds with 28% UAN? Again, we would

shoot for that tillering – stem elongation timingfor the application so it has time to catch a rain and get into the soil and then into the plant.

This trial is much easier to implement than the reduced pre-plant rate version be-cause we don’t have the is-sues with equipment lining up. Where ever you apply the fertility and where ever you skip are the treatments and the controls. We will be there when you’re spraying and we’ll flag everything out so it’s clear at harvest.

Thank you for reading my article. If you have any interest in learning more or being a part of any of these projects call me anytime at 218-556-3174 or email me at [email protected].


Managing Fungal Diseases: An Integrated ApproachBy Itai Mutukwa, Special to Prairie Grains

Fungal diseases are of economic importance to wheat producers as they can compromise yield and grain quality. Rusts are among the most damaging fungaldiseases with a known history of epidemics and major wheat losses in the Great Plains. While resistant cultivars efficiently control stem rust, there so many races of the leaf rust patho-gen hence development of cultivars that remain resistant to all current and emerging races is a chal-lenge. Fusarium head blight is another important wheat fungal disease which has been causing yield losses

and price discounts due to reduced grain quality in this region. Tan spot, septoria leaf spot and leaf blotch are other fungal diseases of importance to wheat growers. There are several strategies that can be employed to help man-age fungal diseases and the best tactic is definitely an integrated approach.

To achieve efficient control of fungal diseases, decisions have to begin way before the season starts as one consid-ers the risk of disease devel-opment. Field history is one such factor to consider. Tak-ing field history into account will help with the selection of a cultivar that is resistant to the diseases that are most

likely to be problematic in one’s field. Yearly updated research based informa-tion on disease resistance as well as other important attributes such as yield, quality, and proneness to lodging is readily available to growers [refer to links on next page]. However, it is important to remember that disease causing organ-isms are always changing. There could be many races of the pathogen that causes a particular disease hence a resistant cultivar may not be resistant to all races. This is another reason why an integrated approach to disease management is best. Apart from selection of a resistant cultivar, there are other things a farmer can

do before planting that will help reduce disease risk during the season. Take crop rotation for instance. If wheat follows wheat or another cereal crop then chances are, some of the diseases will be carried over from one crop to the next which means the risk of disease development is high. Crop rotation will help reduce field infection and hence reduce the potential for disease development.

Destroying volunteer plants before planting is another practice that will help with disease control. Volunteer plants act as a ‘green bridge’ that allows safe passage of disease causing organisms from one season to the next.

Source: De Wolf, E., and E.P. Shroyer. 2014. Wheat disease identification. University of Minnesota.Fusarium head blight

Tan spot

Leaf rust

Stagonospora leaf blotch


At planting, use of disease free good quality seed, planting at the right time, and adoption of an opti-mum plant population will also go a long way towards reducing disease risk.

Fungicides are an impor-tant strategy for managing wheat fungal diseases to minimize yield and quality compromise. However, for efficient use of fungicides, careful consideration to determine application need, which fungicide to apply and when is important. At planting, farmers have the option of using fungi-cide seed treatments. This type of fungicide is usually aimed at controlling root and crown diseases to allow for proper stand establish-ment which is crucial for a healthy high yielding crop. Research has shown that routine seed treatment is not profitable unless root and crown disease develop-ment is likely for example in fields that have a historyof such diseases.

During the season, the need for a fungicide also needs to be carefully established before any application is done. Scouting is key for informed fungicide ap-plication decisions and it should be done frequently and efficiently in a way that truly represents the field. Farmers can make use of the available resources[see links on right] to ensure accurate disease identifi-cation and selection of an appropriate fungicide. Cor-rect identification is crucial since each fungicide works on a specified range of disease causing fungi. It is important to remember that fungicides will only directly

affect fungal diseases. Viral disease such as Barley yel-low dwarf virus and wheat streak mosaic or bacterial diseases such as bacterial stripe cannot be controlled through fungicide sprays.

Once it is confirmed that a fungal disease truly is present in the field, the farmer still needs to do a cost benefit analysis before spraying. Sometimes, there is disease present in the field but spraying is not the wisest move. For instance, if disease pressure is already so high that the damage can no longer be controlled by spraying or if expected yield is too low to justify the increased expense of fungicide spraying. On the other end, disease maybe present but its severity and impact minimal enough to not warrant spraying. For example, if disease is not close to the flag leaf but is found on the older lower leaves of the plant as the crop matures, this may not pause an immediate risk for yield reduction. Continued scouting during the seasonwill help with disease progress monitoring so that spraying can be done at the right time. Once a disease threatens to significantly re-duce yield or quality and the added expense of fungicide application makes sense financially, then spraying should be done. To optimize the level of control achieved through using a fungicide, farmers should ensure that the right fungicide(s) labelled to control the targeted disease(s) is used and that label specifications such as mixing, application rate, plant growth stage and weather conditions are diligently followed. Apart

from the financial loss, improper use of fungicides promotes resistance build up and causes unnecessary environmental pollution.

Not all fungicide application during the season is done in response to disease detec-tion during scouting. With some diseases, fungicides are more effective when applied before the disease is observed. For example with scab, preventative fungicide sprays are best. The risk of scab is higher when tem-peratures are around 77-86 °F, rains are frequent, and humidity is high, especially during flowering and in fields that have a history of scab. With leaf rust, control with fungicides is also more effective is spraying is done before infection. Once rust has already covered more than 5% of the flag leaf, there may already be too much infection for efficient control using fungicide sprays. Susceptible and moderately susceptible varieties are likely to de-velop leaf rust when infec-

tion is present and there are periods of prolonged moisture with temperatures between 60 and 80 degrees oF. Considering field history and use of disease forecast-ing tools which take into account prevailing environ-mental conditions will help farmers figure out when they need to apply fungi-cides. The North Dakota State University small grains disease forecasting model [see below] is one such tool which uses weather and growth stage information to help farmers assess the risk of disease occurrence in areas in North Dakota, Minnesota and Montana.

Management of fungal disease is important for at-taining high yields of good quality. With integrated management, a farmer combines cultural practices the use of fungicides where warranted. Farmers are encouraged to make use of the good quality resources at their disposal when identifying diseases and making spraying decisions.

University of Minnesota Cultivar Selection and GeneticInformation: http://www.extension.umn.edu/agriculture/small-grains/cultivar-selection-and-genetics/#indivitual-states-and-province-cultivar-trials

North Dakota State University Small Grains DiseaseForecasting Model: https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/cropdisease

Fusarium Head Blight Prediction Center: http://www.wheatscab.psu.edu/riskTool_2012.html

Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers Scab EpidemicRisk Model: http://mawg.cropdisease.com/

North Dakota 2016 Field Crop Fungicide Guide: https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/extplantpath/publications-newsletters/fungicides

NDSU Wheat Disease Identification: https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/plantsci/smgrains/pp1552.pdf


The Vietnamese are experts at hauling things on scooters. This guy is hauling piglets. We also saw full sized hogs on the back of scooters. Pickup trucks are extremely rare, and cars are nearly impossible to afford.

Agriculture is Universal Around theWorldBy Betsy Jensen,Editor, Prairie Grains

I just returned from a trip to Vietnam with the Min-nesota Ag and Rural Leader-ship program. We traveled from north to south, with stops in Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Ninh Binh Hoi An, and Ho Chi Minh City.

Like many of you, I did not have a favorable impression of Vietnam. I still associ-ate the country with a war that ended forty years ago. I wondered how my group of Americans would be welcomed, and how the war would overshadow our trip.

Effects of the war are still visible and discussed in Vietnam, but they have moved on from the war. U.S. embassy employees told us that America has over an eighty percent approval rat-

ing in Vietnam. They want to become more American. The war is in the past.

If you asked an American about TPP, most would look puzzled. If you men-tion TPP, the Trans Pacific Partnership, in Vietnam, you would hear hope for the future. TPP was men-tioned many times, and always with the belief it would increase trade and wealth in Vietnam. They cannot wait for passage of TPP. We visited a new sea port facility, just opened in 2011. This will help Viet-nam become a larger world exporter, and importer.

So what will Vietnam import? Dairy, dairy and more dairy for one. There were banners hanging on the Imperial Palace en-couraging people to drink and eat more dairy. They

want bigger, taller, more well nourished citizens, and dairy is simple step. The tropical climate makes dairy farming difficult, so dairy imports such as pow-dered milk are on the rise.

I also discovered that farm-ers share the same concerns across the world. We visited with a pineapple farmer, and his biggest concerns were price and weather. That sounds familiar.

We did visit one large com-mercial hog farm. You

need to see his webpage to believe it. Make sure you scroll down to see the tat-tooed hogs http://traiheo-banhty.blogspot.com/ You can also see his video on Youtube: Banh Ty Moi 2016.

He is using the internet, tattooed pigs and youtube videos to differentiate his hogs from other farmers. Most agriculture is small scale. Labor is cheap, so most rice fields are planted by hand, and with water buffalo. Many homes have a few chickens in the back

We surprised this rice farmer when we stopped by her field to watch her transplant rice. A few group members

hopped into the patty to join her and she kept laughing at our horrible planting techniques. In the north, rice was

being planted. In the south, rice was being harvested.


The owner of Banh Ty hogs shows us one of his many barns. The facility is very new. Like in the U.S., we were required to shower in before entering his barn area, for disease control.

Steve Sjostrom, dairy farmer from Lafayette, MN and I found the stock exchange during an early morning walk. I’m always bullish, even in Vietnam.

The country is growing faster than the infrastructure can support. This kind of power pole is visible on every corner.

yard. One of our hotels was incredibly beautiful, and included a 4 am wakeup call from the neighborhood roosters. Looking out at the pool and manicured grounds it was easy to forget there were roosters right behind the row of shrubs.

Agriculture is so different than the U.S., but it works for Vietnam. They don’t have the infrastructure to haul semi loads of hogs, so instead one guy hauls six pigs on the back of a scooter. Rice farmers don’t have dryers, so instead they are at risk of weather while their rice lies in the sun and dries. Part of me wants to “Amer-ican-ize” their production and give everyone a dryer, tractor and truck. The other part of me realizes that cannot be done because of labor and infrastructure. Where would all the dis-placed workers go? How can we give every farmer a truck, instead of scooter to haul rice? I expect agri-culture to modernize,just not overnight. This was an eye opening

trip, and it changed my impression of Vietnam. It is time for me to stop associating the country with war. The country is so much more than that.

Special thanks to Lona Rookaird, Dupont CropProtection, for many of thephotos.


Flavor of CubaFairfax Farmer Gets Closer Look at the Market’s PotentialBy Doug Monson, MSR&PC

Frosty relations that have existed between the United States and Cuba for more than 50 years have begun to thaw, potentially openingthe door for increased trade between the two countries. Farmers and agricultural companies could be among the first to benefit if that happens.

Fairfax, Minn., farmer and Minnesota Soybean Re-search & Promotion Council director Paul Simonsen was part of a 17-person delega-

tion from Minnesota that went to Cuba to assess and evaluate the possibili-ties for future agricultural trade. The group, which also included several representa-tives from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, also went to make con-nections with businesses and government officials.

Cuba, which has a popula-tion of about 11 million people, imports between 70 and 80 percent of its food. Poultry is the number one import from the U.S., fol-lowed by soybeans, soy meal and oil. Cuba imported

about $75 million worth of soy products in 2014, mostly from Brazil and Argentina.“There is potential for the U.S., because soy is the second largest import into Cuba,” Simonsen says. Butwe’ve lost a good share inthe last couple of years toSouth America.”

Despite improving relations,a trade embargo with Cuba remains in place. Only congressional action can lift the restrictions that have existed for 55 years, severely limiting the amount of trade that can take place between the U.S. and Cuba. Simon-sen believes the shrinkingshare of U.S. soybean trade may be an attempt by the Cuban government to convince Congress to lift the embargo. Simonsen says other countries, includingCanada, Germany and several from the European Union and the Caribbean are already working to position themselves favor-ably in the event the U.S. does normalize relations.

“We should be able to get some of that market back. If more soy comes from the U.S., that will impact farmers in Min-nesota,” adds Simonsen.

Simonsen says going go Cuba was like going “back to the 50’s” as many of the buildings and vehicles are from that era. Cuba isn’t a wealthy country because most people live on about $20 per month. Despite that, Simonsen says the people

were friendly and want what the U.S. can offer.

Cuba presents a number of factors and restrictions lim-iting how much trade could happen. There is limited infrastructure in place for handling large shipments and the Cuban government must own the majority share of any business. Because the government doesn’t have much money, giving Cuba most favored nation tradingstatus would allow U.S companies to extend credit.

Lifting the trade embargo is a “political hot potato,” Simonsen says. With 2016 being an election year, it’s uncertain whether Congresswill have the appetite to take on that issue until after the elections. Liftingthe embargo won’t mean instant results, but it would open the door for more U.S. ag trade.

“It’s going to happen sometime,” Simonsen adds. “From an agriculturalstandpoint, I’d like to see ithappen sooner rather than later.”

In addition to soy products, Minnesota-grown turkeys, chickens and vegetables could benefit from normal-ized relations with Cuba.

Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council Director Paul Simonsen (left) represented the soybeanindustry when the delegation from Minnesota visited Cubathis winter.


Minnesota Department of Agriculture Commissioner Dave Frederickson (left) led the Minnesota delegationto Cuba.


2016 Wheat Open Golf TournamentJoin the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers at Detroit Lakes Country Club Thursday, July 14, 2016 for a great day of golfing!

Fill out the registration form at right or go online at www.smallgrains.org. Space is limited to the first 144 PAID registrations.

Whether you are an advanced, intermediate or beginning golfer, you will have an enjoyable day at this tournament. Golf this beautiful course and win prizes. Be a part of the experience. We guarantee you will have fun.

Everyone is Welcome!


Registration and complimentary driving range opens at 8:00 am Shotgun Start at 10:00 amAwards, Social and Supper at conclusion of tournament play PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED!To register, complete and return this form or register online at www.smallgrains.org.

TOURNAMENT REGISTRATION:

NAME:______________________________________________________________

ADDRESS:___________________________________________________________

CITY, STATE & ZIP:_____________________________________________________

PHONE:_________________________EMAIL:_______________________________

18 hole handicap or 18 hole average score (required): ___________

ENTRY FEES:MAWG members __________ X $75 = $ ______________ Non-Member Guests __________ X $110 = $ ______________

Grower Membership Special __________ X $130 = $ ______________ (includes MAWG membership & tourney entry fees - NEW MEMBERS ONLY)

Associate Membership Special __________ X $175 = $ ______________ (includes MAWG membership & tourney entry fees - NEW ASSOCIATE MEMBERS ONLY) Extra Tickets for Supper & Social __________ X $30 = $ ______________ (for non-golfers)

TOTAL ENCLOSED $ ______________

PAYMENT OPTIONS: My Check is Enclosed Please Bill my Credit Card

MasterCard #_________________________________ Exp. Date: ________ Visa Card #___________________________________ Exp. Date: ________

TEAM MEMBERS: (List your team members -- maximum of 4. Leave blank if you wish to be assigned to a team)_________________________________________________________Average____ _________________________________________________________Average____ _________________________________________________________Average____ _________________________________________________________Average____

Golf Course Location:Detroit Lakes Country Club24591 Country Road 22 (located on Highway 59)Detroit Lakes, MN 56501(218) 847-5790

Mail Entries to:Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers2600 Wheat DriveRed Lake Falls, MN 56750(218) 253-4311 / (800) 242-6118

Thursday, July 14, 2016 - Detroit Lakes Country Club

24th Annual Golf Tournament


Gov. Mark Dayton’s much anticipated MN Water Summit came and went with agriculture taking center stage early and often. Overall, however, plenty of discussion and collaboration occurred between the 800 stakehold-ers representing the ag community, environmental groups, landowners, busi-ness owners and citizens.

“We had very good dialoguehere,” said Minnesota Soybean Growers Asso-ciation (MSGA) President Paul Freeman. “A lot of parties came together with different ideas but there was a lot of agreementthat water quality is im-portant to the state.”

Freeman joined MSGA directors Brad Hovel, Gary Joachim and Steve Com-merford for the daylong

summit at the St. Paul Inter-continental Hotel. Also in attendance was Minnesota Soybean Research & Promo-tion Council (MSR&PC) Di-rector Rochelle Krusemark.

“The population here was so non-ag that I think our voice was important,” Krusemark said. “I had several people thank me for my comments.”

Krusemark said a lot of the discussion in the breakoutsessions she attended centered around farming practices, to which she said most people were curious.

“I think it was a good thing so many farmers and farm groups attended,” she said.Freeman echoed that sentiment.

“I think we are getting more of an understanding with the involved parties,” he said. “We’re coming togeth-er some. They understand that we want to stay in busi-ness. Several times I had to remind people I’m not putting excess product out there because the product is expensive and I’ve got to manage the best I can. Peo-ple didn’t realize the strides we have been making, and I really tried to make it a point that we’ve made some major strides and we’re try-ing to improve all the time.”

Hovel said he was surprised at how well the summit went. Leading up to the event, a MN Water Summit discussion board, meant to engage the online commu-

nity discussion, was littered with anti-ag sentiments.“We all need to be on the same page,” Hovel said. “Everyone needs to do a better job. There is always room for improvement, and not just with water but with efficiencies as well.Hovel said a lot of the discussion he heard in the breakout sessions stayed away from pointing blame and looked at solutions.

“I thought they were get-ting down to the local level, where it should be, to look at some of these issues,” he said. “It’s always a chal-lenge because funding doesn’t always trickle down to where it needs to be.”

The Water Summit covered a wide range of opinions on how to improve water qual-ity. Some of the suggestions were to have more cover crops; to create markets for cover crops to encourage planting; recognition for people doing the right thing; more education for farmers and cities; more funding at the local level, especially for Soil & Water Conserva-tion Districts; setting nitrate standards for tile lines; cre-ating more holding ponds; more research and funding at the university level, and creating better partnerships between farmers and cities.

Freeman said the dis-cussions are helpful for MSGA with the session just around the corner.

“There was consensus that we can do better but

there wasn’t consensus on exactly what road we’re going to take to do better,” he said. “When we have these people come together and there is a consensus for funding research and funding the university, we have some direction on the Hill. Getting the right answers is important.”

The next step is to review the harvested information from participants at the sum-mit. Each breakout session involved questionnaires and group notes, which will be compiled into a report and sent to Gov. Dayton.

Source: Minnesota Soybean Growers Association blog. Reprinted with Permission

Farmer Leaders Educate, Help Look for Solutions

MSGA Director Gary Joachim (hands folded) joined stake-holders to discuss options for keeping water on the land at the Governor’s Water Summit Feb. 27 in St. Paul.

Each breakout session at the Governor’s Water Summit

recorded participants ideas on large sticky notes such as this one. The notes will be compiled into a report

for Gov. Mark Dayton.


Membership MattersTwo MAWG members take on new roles as Board Members.

Matt was appointed for one year to fill the At-Large board position that went unfilled at the Prairie Grains Conference. The position will be up for election at the 2016 Prairie Grains Conference.

Matthew is the Operations Manager for K & D Krueger Farms and Sons who oversees the overall activity for the farming operation. Matthew obtained his Bachelors of Science in Ag Business from the Unviersity of Minnesota Crookston in May 2012 and is currently working on obtaininghis Masters of Agribusiness from Kansas State University.

Gary Anderson, Grygla, MN

Thank you to outgoing MAWG board members, Erik Younggrenand Garner Eeg

(Left) Tim Osowski, currentMAWG President, hands Erik Younggren (right) a plaque, thanking him for his years of service.

Garner Eeg

Current MAWG Board of Directors: Tim Osowski, President, Argyle; Jay Nord, 1st Vice-President, Wolverton; ConnieGunderson, 2nd Vice-President, Bejou; Steve Lacey, Secretary/Treasurer, Wendell; Gary Anderson, Grygla; Kevin Anderson, East Grand Forks; and Matt Krueger, East Grand Forks.

The Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers places a high priority on legislative issues such as Crop Insurance, Tech-nology and Research, Trade, Conservation programs and Grower Communication & Information. Call the MAWG office at 1-800-242-6118 and choose the type of membership that is best for you. Go to www.smallgrains.org to learn more.

Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers

Matthew Krueger,K & D Krueger Farms & SonsEast Grand Forks, MN

The MAWG members in District 1 elected Gary

through a mail ballot in January. There were three

other wheat growers running in the election.

This is a three-year term.

Prior to farming, Gary graduated from Bemidji

State University and University of Illinois with a degree in Plant Physiology.

He also worked at NDSU for four years prior to farming.

Garner Eeg, Greenbush, served nine years on the

MAWG Board of Directors from 2007-2015. Thank you

Garner for the volunteer service you gave to MAWG.

Erik Younggren served nine years on the MAWG Board of Directors from 2007 – 2015. In addition he served the National Association of Wheat Growers as an officerfrom 2009-2013. He served as NAWG President in 2012 and MAWG President in 2015. Thank you Erik for your dedication and exceptional leadershipyou shared with both wheat organizations.


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& &In the photo above, Margie Martin, representing the North Dakota Wheat Commission, shows these fourth graders what wheat milled into flour looks like. Over 2,300 kids from 39 area schools visited theLiving Ag Classroom at the West Fargo Fair Grounds.

The Living Ag Classroom was an unique educational experience for area fourth graders who stopped by the West Fargo Fair Grounds in March. It was designed as a teaching tool about the processes involvedwith production agriculture.

A dozen ag organizations set up booths for the students to rotate through an assortmentof hands-on activities in an effort to help teachthem all about North Dakota agriculture.

The North Dakota Wheat Commission’s booth featured two main classes of wheat grown in the state, hard red spring and durum. They learned that a bushel of wheat makes a tremendous amount of food, as well as a wide variety of food products,ranging from bread to pasta to licorice.

Through a hand-on activity, they learned that the farmers share is minimal in the price of a loaf of bread and see that North Dakota farmers truly do help feed the worldthrough vast exports.

Living Ag ClassroomA Learning Experience About Where Our Food Comes From

National Wheat Yield Contest Announced for 2016 Crop YearThe National Wheat Yield Contest will be conductedfor the first time in 20 years, and winners will be announced at the 2017 Commodity Classic in San Antonio, Texas.

All state wheat organiza-tion grower-members are encouraged to participate.

Through the contest, NWF is encouraging growers to achieve the best yields and quality from their crop, and highlight the sustain-able practices America’s wheat farmers use every

day to provide a consis-tently healthy product to the world. NWF hopes that by participating in the contest farmers will share knowledge to drive further innovation in sustainabil-ity for the entire industry.

Early registration dead-lines are April 1 for win-ter wheat and June 15 for spring wheat. The entry fee for early registration is $100 per seed entry.

After the early registra-tion deadline, the entry fee is $125 per seed entry.

All completed entry forms and contest fees must be submitted online by 5:00 p.m. Eastern time on May 1 for winter wheat or Au-gust 1 for spring wheat to be eligible to compete.

For full contest rules and to enter the 2015-16 National Wheat Yield Contest visit wheatfoundation.org or https://yieldcontest.wheatfoundation.org/


Calendar of EventsJUNE 2016

Nigerian and South African Wheat Trade Team –Hosted by Minnesota and

North Dakota Check-offs – June 20-24

ND Grain Growers E-Tour for EPA – June 20-24

JULY 2016

NDGGA Golf Tournament Hawktree Golf Club, Bismarck -July 11

MAWG Golf Open – Detroit Lakes CC –July 14

MAWG Shootout – Thief River Falls Sporting Clay Course,

Thief River Falls – July 21

US Wheat Associates Summer Board Meeting, Fargo, ND – July 18-20

AUGUST 2016

Minnesota Wheat Research Committee Meeting,

Crookston – August 30

SEPTEMBER 2016

Big Iron Farm Show West Fargo, September 13-15

September Marketing Seminar, Fargo Hilton Garden Inn - September 14

DECEMBER 2016

Minnesota Wheat Research Committee Meeting,

Alerus Center Grand Forks – December 7

Prairie Grains Conference,Alerus Center, Grand Forks – December 7 and 8

JANUARY 2017

Small Grains Update Meetings -Wheat, Soybean and Corn

Northwest and West Central MN,January 16-20, 2017

MN Ag Expo – Mankato – January 25 & 26, 2017

Best of the Best in Wheat and Soybean Research,

Moorhead January 31, 2017 and Grand Forks February 1, 2017

FEBRUARY 2017

NW Farm Managers Annual Meeting, Fargo – February 1, 2017

Northern Soybean Expo, Fargo - February 7, 2017

ND Cornvention – Fargo – February 8, 2017

MAWG on ICE- NW Angle, Lake of the Woods, February 14-16, 2017

International Crops Expo, Grand Forks - February 22 and 23, 2017

NDSU Advanced Crop Advisors Meeting, Fargo – February 28 and March 1, 2017

Commodity Classic, St Antonio, TX – February 28 – March 4, 2017

MARCH 2017

MAWG Bus Trip to St. Paul, NW MN to St. Paul – March 16. 2017

Watch Smallgrains.org for an extensive list of upcoming events in northern Minnesota and eastern North Dakota.

To add events to smallgrains.org – email them [email protected]


MARCH 2017


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PRAIRIE GRAINS · Page 2. Prairie Grains • April 2016. THERE’S A SIMPLER WAY TO PROTECT YOUR SPRING WHEAT FIELDS. Don’t go to absurd lengths to kill weeds and grasses in your