Major seeding delays in Alberta Northeastern Saskatchewan isn’t the only region of the prairies facing severe seeding delays. Big problems exist over large areas of Alberta. In fact, the Agricultural Financial Services Corporation has extended its recommended seeding dates in recognition of seeding progress running weeks behind normal. Their crop insurance system works a bit differently than ours in Saskatchewan. On crops like wheat and Argentine canola, Alberta has moved its recommended seeding date from May 31 to June 5. What this means is that producers still have coverage for lost quality when seeding up until June 5. The overall seeding deadline is similar to Saskatchewan’s. The most recent Alberta crop report is for conditions up until May 24. At that time, only 56 per cent of the provincial crop had been seeded versus 85 per cent normally seeded by that time. Snow and rain through the central corridor from Calgary to Edmonton means seeding there is way behind normal. The Peace River region is the furthest behind. Many observers believe there will end up being a significant number of unseeded acres in Alberta. I’m Kevin Hursh.
May 30, 2007
Name that grain company Saskatchewan Wheat Pool has been successful in its offer to acquire Agricore United. Approximately 82 per cent of AU Common Shares were tendered to the Pool by the expiry date of the offer. The payment of $20.50 per AU Common Share will be flowing to shareholders shortly. After formal approvals are in place, the integration of Saskatchewan Wheat Pool and Agricore United is expected to take 12 to 18 months. The name, Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, will soon be gone. Pool president and CEO Mayo Schmidt says the operation is far more than Saskatchewan and far more than wheat. Will Agricore be part of the new name? Doubtful. After all, Agricore was the object of the takeover and its long-serving CEO Brian Hayward will be out of a job. Let’s play Name that Grain Company. Send me an email at kevin@hursh.ca with your thoughts. Perhaps it should be called Mayo’s Miracle or Mayo Incorporated. Beyond the names that are glib, if someone comes up with a suitable name, maybe it will actually be adopted. I’ll let you know some of the good ones and some of the humorous ones I receive. I’m Kevin Hursh.
May 29, 2007
Seeding trouble in the Northeast Saskatchewan’s overall seeding progress looks pretty good compared to the five-year average. The latest crop report from Sask Ag and Food pegs seeding province-wide at 75 per cent complete, just slightly behind the average of 77 per cent for this date. However, the numbers in northeastern Saskatchewan are worrisome. In Crop District 8B, the Humboldt to Birch Hills area, seeding progress is at 47 per cent compared to 70 per cent at this time last year. Crop District 8A, east of Melfort and Crop District 9AE, north of Prince Albert are both at only 35 per cent seeded. This compares to 52 and 66 per cent at this time last year. Of course, last year a lot of land ended up unseeded. Producers in the region are worried that could happen again this year. After snow and rain in recent weeks, the water is running just like in the spring. The northeast is not noted for summerfallow, but for the second year in a row, farmers could be forced to leave a significant acreage as fallow. The Crop Insurance seeding deadline is June 20, but based on last year’s experience, anything mudded in late in the season seldom makes much of a crop. The northeast really needs some warm, dry weather. I’m Kevin Hursh.
May 28, 2007
Seed Hawk expands It’s great to see that smaller farm equipment manufacturers can successfully compete against the major players. Seed Hawk, based at Langbank in southeastern Saskatchewan was established in 1992 to develop and build a one-pass air drill. Seed Hawk is doing so well that it has started construction on a new $2.8 million manufacturing facility at Langbank. This will include 15,000 square feet of manufacturing space and 4,000 square feet of office space. Production will expand from 130 machines to 300 machines per year. The expansion is partially a result of last year’s minority investment by Swedish company Väderstad in Seed Hawk. Seed Hawk says that agreement opened up new international markets, necessitating the new manufacturing facility. Seed Hawk only has 700 seeders in the field, but it’s a growing company competing successfully in the domestic and international marketplace. This continues a proud tradition of Saskatchewan built air drills from companies such as Bourgault, Morris Industries and Flexi-Coil, which is now part of CNH Global. I’m Kevin Hursh.
May 25, 2007
Canadian dollar cuts wheat and durum price outlook The surging value of the Canadian dollar has caused a significant drop in the expected prices for wheat and durum in the upcoming crop year. In its latest Pool Return Outlook, the Canadian Wheat Board has dropped the new crop wheat price outlook by 19 cents a bushel. The durum PRO has been cut by 30 cents a bushel on the major grades. On No. 1 CWRS wheat with 12.5 per cent protein, the expected price in Saskatchewan is now $4.00 a bushel. That’s down from the $4.27 a bushel expected for wheat in the current crop year. At four bucks a bushel, top quality wheat could be sold to ethanol plants for more money than it will fetch when shipping to the export market. The new PRO for No. 1 durum with 12.5 per cent protein is $4.50 a bushel once average Saskatchewan freight and handling is deducted. That’s significantly better than the spring wheat price, but the new crop PRO on durum looked a lot better last month at $4.80 a bushel. Of course that was before the Canadian dollar shot up to a 30-year high. I’m Kevin Hursh.
May 24, 2007
Assessing frost damage on canola Many areas of the grainbelt have suffered frost in recent weeks. Frost was forecast for many areas again last night. The Canola Council of Canada says the temperature at which frost injury occurs on canola varies with the plant’s stage of growth, moisture content and the length of time the temperature remains below freezing. Rapidly growing canola seedlings are more susceptible than plants growing under cold conditions. Canola at the cotyledon stage is more susceptible than canola at the three to four leaf stage. The Council says when a frost blackens the cotyledons and/or the leaves no action should be taken for at least four to 10 days. Time is required to determine the extent of the damage and whether or not the growing point has been killed. Under good growing conditions, green re-growth from the growing point should occur in four to five days. Under poor growing conditions, this may take up to 10 days. If there is any green colour at the growing point in the centre of the frozen leaf rosette, the Canola Council says the plant will recover and yields will be higher than if the field is reseeded. More information as well as photos are available at www.canola-council.org. I’m Kevin Hursh.
May 23, 2007
No-till seeding hits 60 per cent in Sask. Blair McClinton, the executive manager of the Saskatchewan Soil Conservation Association has crunched some of the numbers from the recently released Census of Agriculture. The numbers show that Saskatchewan leads the nation in the percentage of land seeded without the use of tillage. We’re at 60 per cent no-till seeding, followed by Alberta at 48 per cent, Ontario at 31 per cent and Manitoba at 21 per cent. The 60 per cent no-till or zero till in Saskatchewan in 2006 is a big increase from the 39 per cent back in 2001. There has also been a major change in summerfallow practices. Just over 30 per cent of the summerfallow in the province is managed by tillage only. About the same amount, just over 30 per cent, is managed with a combination of chemical weed control and tillage. Thirty-eight per cent of the summerfallow is managed as chemfallow, making that the most common management practice. Back in 2001, only about 17 per cent of the summerfallow area was chemfallow. Blair McClinton of the SSCA also notes that the total area devoted to summerfallow continues to decline. There has been a revolution in farming practices, but it doesn’t receive very much attention. I’m Kevin Hursh.
May 22, 2007
Love/Hate the rain The widespread rain that hit over the long weekend is a blessing for some producers and a curse for others. In much of the southern and central grainbelt, seeding is nearing completion. The rain will be great for germination. No matter how well the seeding operation is conducted, there’s nothing like a rain to get everything growing. In many areas, surface moisture was becoming short and some seed was stranded in dry soil. The rain is timely and welcome. However, in the northern grainbelt, there’s a lot of seeding left to do and the wet weather is going to delay progress. In the Sask Ag and Food crop report of May 13, less than 10 per cent of seeding had been completed in the northeast. This includes the area north of Yorkton, around Tisdale, and north and south of Prince Albert. This week’s crop report should show considerable progress beyond the 10 per cent level, but field operations will now be suspended for a while. The more rain that falls, the more unseeded acreage is likely. Farmers in different parts of the province are going to be watching the weather forecast from some very different viewpoints. I’m Kevin Hursh.
May 18, 2007
Define a farmer The Census of Agriculture data released this week will be thoroughly analyzed, but one thing that stands out right away is the huge diversity in what is considered a farm. There’s a lot of urban agriculture – agriculture in metropolitan areas, such as greenhouses, nurseries and floriculture. Organic farms are also more likely to be in urban areas, close to consumers. These kinds of operations are more likely to be small with gross sales of under $100,000 a year. On the other side of the equation, hog farms followed by poultry and egg farms are most likely to be big. Hog farms accounted for only 2.6 per cent of all the farms in the country, but nearly 18 per cent of them reported gross receipts of a million dollars a year or more. Field crop production is the most common type of farm in the country – 40 per cent of all the farms in 2006. Less than 2 per cent of field crop farms had gross income of over a million dollars a year. Since the last census in 2001, the number of million dollar farms has increased. Across all sectors, 2.6 per cent of operations were million dollar farms. This accounted for nearly 40 per cent of total receipts. However, nearly two-thirds of Canada’s farm operations reported gross farm receipts of less than $100,000. Little wonder that nearly half of all farm operators reported an off-farm job or business. I’m Kevin Hursh.
May 17, 2007
Unsung farm supply heroes There are unsung heroes who need to be recognized for the multi-billion dollar seeding megaproject underway in Saskatchewan. I’m referring to the legions of agribusiness people who provide support to producers. There are farm chemical and fertilizer retailers, fuel suppliers, custom chemical applicators and equipment repair providers. Their story typically goes untold, their sacrifices unrecognized. For seeding to move ahead, all the equipment has to be working. For a producer with a problem that’s preventing seeding or spraying, that becomes the most important concern in the world. For service technicians, there aren’t enough hours in the day to address everyone’s needs. And yet they try and for the most part they do it with good humour. Farm input suppliers face the logistical nightmare of accessing all the products their customers will want. There’s little that retailers can do about the price of products. However, they’re the ones who bear the brunt of the discontent regarding expenses. Many service people come from farming backgrounds. Many have their own farm operations or have families that are farming. They typically have a great deal of understanding and sympathy for the customers they’re serving and they deserve our thanks. I’m Kevin Hursh.
May 15, 2007
Provincial balkanization of farm support Canada really needs a national approach to farm support programs rather than the provincial jigsaw puzzle that we increasingly have. Often it’s Alberta coming up with farm programs that don’t exist elsewhere. They have the dollars to do whatever they want. Farm support is also dramatically different in Quebec where the farm lobby is united and powerful and the government likes to take every opportunity to be autonomous from the rest of the country. The latest example of national balkanization is coming from British Columbia. Ranchers in B.C. affected by drought in 2006 are going to receive $7.5 million in assistance from the federal and B.C. governments. Of that, $4.5 million will be targeted for direct payment to affected producers of cattle and other eligible livestock. Payments of up to $30 per cow will be made to producers in drought designated areas. Meanwhile, $3 million will be allocated to drought-related initiatives. While welcoming the assistance, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association notes that there were also producers in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario affected by drought last year. The CCA director from B.C. hits the nail on the head when he says this situation is a prime example of why Canada needs a national disaster program for agriculture to ensure that all regions are treated the same when disaster strikes. I’m Kevin Hursh.
May 14, 2007
American ethanol predictions The chief economist of the USDA sees the ethanol boom continuing for the next few years. Keith Collins gave his predictions at a recent conference in St. Louis and those predictions are reported in a story by Delta Farm Press. For the current marketing year, the USDA is estimating that almost 20 per cent of corn production will be needed to produce about 5.9 billion gallons of ethanol. For the next marketing year, the estimate is 8.8 billion gallons, which will represent 27 per cent of the corn crop. A total of 201 American ethanol plants are in operation or under construction with a total capacity of 12.1 billion gallons. Higher market prices for corn have encouraged a projected acreage of 90.5 million acres, the highest level since 1944. That should produce more than enough corn, causing prices to drop a bit. Overall the USDA is predicting strong corn prices through 2009, before they start trending down reflecting a tapering off in the growth of ethanol production. Long term, says Keith Collins, the future of ethanol and therefore corn will depend on crude oil prices, government policies on issues such as tax credits, and the cost of making ethanol from crop residues and wood chips. I’m Kevin Hursh.
May 11, 2007
Removing an auger shield Farm safety is one of those motherhood issues. Particularly at busy times of the year like now during seeding, many serious farm accidents occur. While all sorts of government and industry organizations spout the need for taking precautions, there are mixed messages at the farm level. Here’s an example. I just bought a new grain auger. It works great, except for the guard that goes around the most dangerous input end of the machine. I bought an eight inch auger to fit the grain hoppers that I have and to go into my bins – some of which are old with a narrow chute. With the guard, the end of the auger was more like 12 inches wide, so I had to take it off, which is exactly what you’re not supposed to do. To my surprise, I found that not only is the shield unwieldy, but there’s no way to easily remove it. Out came the side grinder to cut it off. Other people would use a cutting torch. What a waste. What a poor design. What a setback for farm safety. Some may reason that if a guard is easily removed, farm safety wouldn’t be well served. In my opinion, farm safety has to be functional or you may as well not waste the effort. I’m Kevin Hursh.
May 8, 2007
Good records win disputes Every year during the growing season, there are things that go wrong that result in insurance claims and sometimes even lawsuits. As a consulting agrologist, I’ve seen claims for seed that didn’t germinate properly. I’ve seen problems with pulse crop innoculant and seed treatments. Custom applicators can have problems with residues in sprayer tanks causing crop injury. Sometimes herbicides don’t seem to perform as intended. All too often spraying is done when winds are too high and spray drift damages adjacent crops. Autosteer systems can malfunction causing overlap or misses. Plugged nozzles can be an issue. Sometimes the wrong product is applied to a field or the wrong rate of a chemical or fertilizer is applied. Seed can be placed too deep or be damaged by air speeds being too high. There can be air drill blockages or trouble with the seed cart. Mistakes and malfunctions will happen. For custom applicators and for farmers, good records can help sort out what happened and who is at fault. A sample of seed from each crop should be retained in case it needs to be tested later. Detailed records should be kept of what product was applied where, along with the time and the weather conditions. And when a problem appears, take pictures and try to sort out the cause right away. Liability claims can be large. Good documentation is a key in any dispute. I’m Kevin Hursh.
May 4, 2007
Cute when they're little Beware the bottle raised male orphan. That warning comes from Joe Stookey, a well known and highly regarded professor of animal behavior at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon. Stookey says this applies to deer, elk, bison, cattle, sheep, goats and llamas. Newborn male orphans should never be bottle raised or at the very least they should be castrated before reaching sexual maturity. Stookey says many of the cases of people being hurt or killed by animals is due to bottle feeding. When the males become imprinted onto people, later in life they will direct their sexual behavior onto the surrogate species. Male aggression will be directed against the human competition. Stookey says the fact that dairy bulls are dangerous has more to do with their rearing conditions than their genetics. He says the best option for orphan newborns is to look for other lactating females in the herd or flock who may have lost their own offspring or who have additional milk. Stookey has written on the topic of bottle fed male orphans and he continues to sound the alarm. He has had many dangerous accidents strike close to home and he wants to spread the message until everyone is informed. People also have to be aware if they’re buying someone else’s animals. I’m Kevin Hursh.
May 3, 2007
BSE headlines after four years We’re coming up on the fourth anniversary of BSE in Canada. We’ve made a lot of progress, but we continue to have setbacks. Alta Genetics, a global marketer of livestock, embryos, semen and genetic technologies, is shipping 2,000 head of purebred Black Angus and Holstein heifers worth $7.5 million to Russia. This is the largest international shipment of breeding cattle since BSE hit four years ago. On Friday, near Trois Rivieres, Quebec, there’s a media event surrounding the loading of the cattle for shipment overseas. Unfortunately, this positive news is tarnished by the discovery of yet another BSE case in Canada. This time it’s a 66 month old dairy cow in B.C. While the CFIA says 66 months falls well within the age range of previous cases, the cow was born long after the ruminant-to-ruminant feed ban and that is not helpful as Canada tries to open the American border to cattle over 30 months of age. Meanwhile, an enhanced feed ban comes into effect on July 12. The U.S. is not enhancing its feed ban and there are worries that Canadian processors will be facing extra costs related to Specified Risk Materials that will make them less competitive with their American counterparts. It’s been a long four years for the cattle industry and it isn’t over yet. I’m Kevin Hursh.
May 2, 2007
Farm input shortages loom Seeding is just nicely underway in many southern areas of the grainbelt and already product shortages are emerging. The Sask Ag and Food crop report mentions glyphosate and fertilizer as a couple of key products that produces have had trouble accessing. At my local farm supply store I was surprised to hear that the less expensive brands of generic glyphosate are sold out with no expectation of further supplies any time soon. The farm supply manager had a list of other products ranging from some pulse crop innoculant to certain seed treatments that he was also unable to access. On a disease prone crop like chickpeas, not having a seed treatment is a serious matter. Through the winter there were a number of analysts who warned that fertilizer might be in tight supply. We’ve heard those stories before, but there has never been a serious shortage. This year might be different. The massive American swing into corn is slurping up nitrogen fertilizer at an unprecedented rate. The staggered nature of seeding across Saskatchewan this spring may be a benefit. With surplus moisture in the northeast as well as a big chunk of the east central region, seeding there is still weeks away. Accessing product and getting it where it’s needed is easier when everyone isn’t seeding at the same time. On the other hand, on products that absolutely run out, the last producers trying to buy are going to face the most acute problem. I’m Kevin Hursh.
May 1, 2007
Escalating fertilizer prices Keystone Agricultural Producers, the general farm organization in Manitoba, has released the results of a fuel and fertilizer price survey conducted in April. All categories of fertilizer and fuel showed significant price jumps as compared to a survey KAP conducted in February of this year. The average Manitoba price of farm diesel in April was 81.5 cents a litre. Back in 2005, the price was 69 cents, and back in 1999 the price of farm diesel was only 37.5 cents a litre. The price of urea fertilizer, 46-0-0, averaged over $591 a tonne in the most recent KAP survey. Phosphate fertilizer was more than $616 a tonne. Anhydrous ammonia was almost $880 a tonne. KAP says that a huge concern for Manitoba farmers is that anhydrous prices are significantly cheaper in North Dakota. At KAP’s annual meeting in January, delegates passed a resolution asking that the Competition Bureau investigate the price of fertilizer. That’s why KAP conducted surveys in February and again in April. There may not be much that can be done about rising fertilizer prices, but KAP is serving a useful role just by documenting the prices. Unfortunately, to my knowledge, nothing similar is being done here in Saskatchewan. I’m Kevin Hursh.
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Kevin Hursh's daily agricultural report is heard Monday through Friday on Swift Current (CKSW), Shaunavon (CJSN), Moose Jaw (CHAB), Estevan (CJSL), Weyburn (CFSL), Rosetown/Kindersley (1330/1210), Lloydminster (CKSA) and Melfort (CJVR).
