agripost february 22 2013

February 22, 2013 1The Agri Post

February 22, 20132 The Agri Post


By Les Kletke

The story of Manitoba’snewest brewery reads morelike the little engine thatthought it could than thebuilding of the traditionalbrewing empire, though itdoes have the same familylines as Labatt, Coors orBusch. The Warwaruk broth-ers have been partners andworked together at variousventures in the food businessover the years. Eric Warwaruk is back be-hind the bar at Luxalane and

Warwaruk Brothers Use FarmIngenuity to Build Farmery Beer

working the shovel handledraft tap releasing thefamily’s newest product,Farmery beer. BrothersLawrence and Chris have op-erated Luxalune Gastropubon south Osborne for severalyears. It evolved from Luxolerestaurant, their initial ven-ture, which was intended tobring food production andconsumers closer together.The eatery evolved into apub that today features over100 beers from around theworld but the brotherswanted more, they wanted to

market a beer that was madefrom the crops they grewthemselves. The idea for the Farmerybrewery was born. Thebrothers have purchasedland and planted hops on thesite at Neepawa. The long-term plan is to build a brew-ery on the site but for now,the brothers are growingcrops that can be convertedto a local beer. Having grown up on thefarm at Erikson and livedthrough the challenges ofhigh interest rates in the

1980s, they are familiar with thechallenges of agriculture pro-duction. Lawrence Warwaruk readilyadmits the business of grow-ing the crop got in the way ofplanning a building to housethe province’s first estatebrewery. “We have had the conceptfor a long time and looked atlocations in Winnipeg butthen thought about why wewere doing this and decidedto go back to the farm and startgrowing the crop. We plan onbuilding the estate brewery onthe land at Neepawa but thengot busy growing the cropand after harvest brewing beer,now it is only a couple monthsfrom putting in another crop

so we don’t have a definitetime line for construction. Wehave a good working agree-ment with the craft brewerythat is making our product andwe can work with them for thepresent time.” He is cautious about an-nouncing plans for thecompany’s next product butsmiled when he said, “Wecannot announce that yet,but there are some excitingthings happening in the brew-ing industry and we will be apart of introducing them toManitoba.” Warwaruk is realistic aboutplans for the future and hasno intention of taking on thebrewing giants, “If we get to5,000 hectolitres that is only

about 1 1/2 percent of theManitoba market so we havea long way to go.” He said the shovel handletap at the Luxalune Gastropubwas as much farm boy re-sourcefulness as marketingresearch. “It was a shovel on the farmthat broke when we wereplanting the hops. Wethought we should put it touse and it became the taphandle. Now it seems to be amarketing tool. Who knew?”he says. He does know thathe can succeed in establish-ing the province’s first estatebrewery or at least he thinkshe can, just like the little en-gine that did.

Amanda Dyck draws a glass of Farmery beer made by Manitoba’s newest brewery. The shovelhandle tap handle is from an actual shovel used to plant the hops on the Neepawa farm.

Photo by Les Kletke


As spring approaches, and with so much snow remain-ing on the ground, flooding remains a real possibility inManitoba. Another possible flooding contributor is cli-mate change, resulting in greater episodes of wet weather.It is time for the NDP to effectively help farmers deal with

Manitoba’s wet springs and dry summers. They must work with farmers to create anincentive-based water management system so that water can be used innovatively. Drainage has been the focus of water management in most of Manitoba. Yet, when wateris drained away, farmers lose the potential to use water resources in dry years or in dryingspells when water can be used for irrigating crops. A shift from drainage to water retentionis long overdue. When water is drained off the land rapidly the water can contribute in a major way toincreased flooding and in addition such water has been found to have very high levels ofphosphorous, which when it arrives in Lake Winnipeg contributes to the problem of giantalgal blooms on the lake. Effective water retention would reduce the amount of floodingdownstream into Lake Winnipeg. In February, Lake Winnipeg was named the most threatened lake on our planet by theGlobal Nature Fund. The declining health of the world’s tenth-largest freshwater lakeneeds to be a wakeup call of preventing the damaging rapid drainage of water from the landinto Lake Winnipeg. I recently held a “Save Lake Winnipeg and Lake Manitoba” forum in Winnipeg withpanellists from the University of Manitoba, Ducks Unlimited Canada, the WildernessCommittee and the Experimental Lakes Area. There was a unanimous call for water reten-tion to prevent phosphates from draining into Lake Winnipeg. How can we act to retain water so that it can be used as a resource instead of beingflushed away? Increasingly, we must look to what has worked elsewhere in the world andto what has worked in Manitoba. Along South Tobacco Creek farmers got together to put in 27 small dams which holdback water. In some cases, it was temporary retention, as in back flooding a pasture.Sometimes it was in more permanent locations in gully’s or along streams. In other regions, including in Manitoba, water retention ponds for irrigation or otherpurposes are helping farmers manage their crops or livestock in times of less rain ordrought. We need to move quickly to change the way we manage water in Manitoba. I would liketo hear your ideas. Please email me at [email protected] or phone my office at204.945.5194. Jon Gerrard is the Leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party.

By Matt Gehl

In recent years, pension funds have started buying up farmland around the world, seeing it asa safe, long-term investment. Farmland investment companies like AgCapita, Assiniboia Capi-tal, Bonnefield Financial and Prairie Merchants are sowing the seeds of speculation across theprairies. Saskatchewan, with our low land prices and a farming population averaging 58 yearsold, is shaping up to be very fertile ground for them. Already hundreds of thousands of acres of Saskatchewan farmland are under the managementof these investment companies. Several seek to attract “institutional investors” such as pen-sion funds and RRSP-eligible mutual funds to finance further land purchases. AgCapita as of2011 had purchased $12.8 million of Saskatchewan farmland, is RRSP eligible. Two RRSPmutual funds, Golden Opportunities and SaskWorks, have invested in farmland investmentfunds. SaskWorks has invested $20 million with Agco Ag Ventures, and Golden Opportunitieshas funnelled $3.5 million into Assiniboia Capital (via ADC Enterprises) as well as another$2.5 million into Input Capital Limited Partnerships, a division of Assiniboia. Some of thefinancing for Assiniboia Capital’s acquisition of over 115,000 acres across Canada has beenprovided by Farm Credit Corporation, which is funded by Ottawa to pays dividends to thefederal government. Retiring farmers and those suffering under the high debt levels seemingly inherent to modernfarming are targeted by these companies. While the investment companies wait for the sellingprice of this land to rise to sufficiently profitable levels, they rent the land back to farmers.Usually this is done on a cash rent basis where all of the day-to-day risk of farming is bornesolely by the renting farmer. This situation has similarities to that in Europe of the 19thcentury, ironically a situation that led many Europeans to uproot their families and escape tosettle in Canada. Retiring farmers are faced with a choice: look to pass your land on to another family farmer,possibly taking less than the maximum value, or sell to the highest bidder with no concern forthe legacy of the land. Retiring farmers should be happy in their twilight years; urbanites withpensions invested in farmland are happy with the long-term outlook of their retirement mon-ies; the land grabbing companies are happily taking their cut as land values and rents keeprising. However, how do we expect young Canadians to consider becoming farmers? Theunavoidable reality is that today there are not enough young farmers. Farmers under 35 onlyrepresent 8% of the farming population, begging the question, “Who will work the land in thefuture?” Who will grow our food? This is where the long-term vision of retirement planning seems to have a blind spot.Speculation around farmland is already putting the cost of land out the reach of many indi-vidual farmers looking to either start or expand an operation, leaving investment companieswith millions of dollars in capital in an even better position to increase their land holdings. Ifmore of them are able to generate investment dollars through RRSPs, it will further this cycle.While policies and tax breaks that encourage Canadians to plan responsibly for their retire-ments are essential, there is a clear lack of planning for the next generation of farmers. Familyfarms have been the backbone of Canadian agriculture for our entire history and now they arebeing priced out of the market for the most essential of assets: the land. Without a plan and policies in place to ensure that the next generation of Canadians can carryon our proud farming tradition, the only future in store for Canadian agriculture is one occupiedonly by the largest, most corporate farms sparsely scattered over an increasingly emptyprairie. This is not a future that bodes well for Canadian food security and sovereignty, and itcertainly does not look promising for family farms. That is not a future I want to see in Canada. In “The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz” Mordecai Richler wrote, “A man without landis nobody. Remember that Duddel.” I wonder what Duddy’s grandfather would have to sayabout a farmer who has no land? Twenty-eight year-old Matt Gehl is a National Farmers Union Board Member who farmsgrain with his family near Regina.

There is something about human nature that has us be-lieve that whatever the conditions are at that time will lastforever. When it is dry we believe that our part of theworld is on its way to becoming a desert, a few cloudsappear in the sky and we wonder if it will ever stop rainingor if we should be building a big boat and collecting pairsof animals. That is just the way we are. Last summer had some challenges but thankfully a

drought in the part of North America that really impacts grain prices sent prices soaringand we were the benefactors. It is a harsh reality that North American prices are estab-lished by the yields of the Midwest United States not the Red River Valley despite what wemight think. For now prices are strong and things look good. If you’re planning on leaving thebusiness, land values have jumped and your retirement package just got a whole lot betterin the last year. If you’re new to the business, prices from last year have allowed you tomeet your payments and maybe put extra away… okay just a little extra. History has taught us that things will change and many times sooner than we think.Droughts don’t last forever in our part of the world nor do floods, thankfully. Things willchange and there is the distinct possibility that grain prices might fall or as the marketsays, soften, or as the trade calls it, see a correction in the market. Call it what you wantnothing lasts forever not even bad times or good prices. That doesn’t mean we have to pretend that good times are not here and hide any extra wehave in a tin can in the backyard. It means this is a time when the business plan will workand give us a little cushion. Enjoy it and prepare for the times when we come up short. One of the other characteristics of our industry is to forget that tough times are coming(they always have) and then we ask others for help, and my taxpayer friends tell me theyare getting tired of that, so this could be the year to buy and umbrella because it is goingto rain again and we may have to shoulder the responsibility ourselves.

Dear Editor: The NDP doesn’tunderstand the entrepreneur-ial spirit of Manitobans.That’s why when a group ofprivate investors, through aprivate entity, decided toinvest in the construction of

Are Our Pensions Retiringthe Family Farm?

WWWWWater Must Be Usedater Must Be Usedater Must Be Usedater Must Be Usedater Must Be UsedInnovatively inInnovatively inInnovatively inInnovatively inInnovatively in

ManitobaManitobaManitobaManitobaManitoba

By Dr. Jon Gerrard

NDP Needs to PutMoney to Work

a slaughter facility inManitoba, the NDP didn’twant to listen. I want to congratulate thiskeen group of investors forrecognizing a need for aslaughter facility in thisprovince. At the same time, I want toinvite Minister of Entrepre-neurship, Training and TradePeter Bjornson to meet withthese fine entrepreneurs, andget the NDP onside with thisvital project.” The proposed facility inCarman, Manitoba wouldsatisfy the needs of theprovince, and the require-ments that this governmentlaid out. While the NDPcontinues to back aninvestment in a slaughter-house in St. Boniface,entrepreneurs and producers

Let the Good Times Roll

in this province are doingwhat needs to be done. Theyare not waiting for anothergovernment handout andmore indecision. The NDP can do the rightthing right now; invest in aslaughter facility that isbeing led by entrepreneursthat understand what isrequired to be successful. Wecall on them to put cattleproducers first and use themoney they took from themto enhance slaughtercapacity on slaughtercapacity.Cliff GraydonMLA for Emerson


by RolfPenner

PennersPoints

[email protected]

The Ram Trucks SuperBowl commercial entitled“Farmer” featuring thevoice of Paul Harveyreciting the popular speech“So, God Made a Farmer”was powerful. Powerfulbecause of its message andalso because it sought tokick-off a yearlong cam-paign to raise money forthe U.S. National FutureFarmers of America (FFA)Foundation, while declaring2013 “The Year of theFarmer.” The opening statementwas from their website thatstarted this whole thingabout a year and a half ago.More on that later. I’m so happy to relivethat awesome day as mywife Judith and I stood upon the media platform tohear Paul Harvey speakthat day at the FFAconvention, and to stayand hear then PresidentJimmy Carter. We took inour first National Associa-tion of Farm Broadcasters(NAFB) convention in 1978in Kansas City, U.S.A. Westayed for that now grandand glorious day of the50th FFA convention tohear both Paul Harvey andPresident Jimmy Carter.What memories! I havemore, as they say in this

For centuries, the concept of “equality” has spurred a long-standing battle between the left and the right. The formerprefer a world characterized by “equality of outcome” andthe latter one based on “equality of opportunity.” Accord-ing to Yaron Brook and Don Watkins, co-authors of a bookreleased last fall, the Free Market Revolution, both posi-tions are wrong, and in a truly free society, irrelevant. On their shared blog, LaissezFaire, Yaron Brook explains,“The only relevant thing in a free society is how am I doing?Am I doing as good as I can do? If not, it’s up to me toimprove.” He goes on to say that, the central issue is notabout how people are doing relative to their neighbours; thewhole issue of income inequality compares people, entirelythe wrong approach. He argues that the focus should ratherbe on the individual. “Am I doing the best that I can? Is mystandard of living rising? Am I living a better life?” Watkins points out some of the problems with the tradi-tional argument for equality of opportunity. “The more youpromote ‘equality of opportunity,’” he said. “The less op-portunity any of us will have. Equality of opportunity isincompatible with freedom. Indeed, in practice there is nodifference between the egalitarian attempt to equalize out-comes and the attempt to equalize opportunity. One man’soutcome is another’s opportunity. A parent’s success is hischild’s opportunity. A business owner’s success is a futureemployee’s opportunity. The only way to try to equalizeopportunities is to equalize outcomes.”

Freedom is Personal Opportunity

He makes a good point. Do you have the same equalityof opportunity as someone who has a farm twice the sizeof yours? Nope. Do your children have the same oppor-tunities as say Barack Obama or that of Wayne Gretzky?No, again. Do I have the same equality of opportunity asmaybe one of Bill Gates’ kids? Certainly not. Do you thinkthe government needs to do something about all of theseinequalities in opportunity? It doesn’t, and furthermore itshouldn’t. History has shown us repeatedly that when govern-ments try to make everyone equal in these ways theysimply drag everyone down to the lowest common de-nominator. According to Watkins, “The sad irony in allthis is that freedom is the source of opportunity. When acountry is free, everyone has the opportunity to suc-ceed. Although some will inevitably face greater strugglesthan others, no one can stop another person from suc-

ceeding.” Self-admittedly an uncompromising pro-capitalist, YaronBrooks nonetheless makes another surprising commenton the subject: “Life’s not about money. It’s not aboutbeing the richest you can be. What about the happinessinequality? That’s what it’s all about. It’s about being thehappiest you can be.” He cites an example: “You’re nevergoing to be super rich if you’re a teacher. But you can be agreat, great teacher and be as happy as a billionaire.” “An opportunity is only valuable to someone who pre-pares himself to take advantage of it,” said Don Watkins.“A talent scout wouldn’t benefit a couch potato—becausehe’s not in the game, and even if he were in the game, hewould be completely awful because he didn’t spend yearspracticing. Getting into a particular school wouldn’t ben-efit a lousy student—because chances are he wouldn’tget in, and even if he did get in through some accident, hewouldn’t be able to benefit from the professor unless hemade the effort to become a better student. Even inheritinga million dollars wouldn’t benefit the kind of person whocan’t spend $10 responsibly.” The final word goes to Watkins, “The great virtue ofcapitalism is not that it provides people with ‘equal oppor-tunity’, whatever that means. It’s that capitalism providesthe best possible environment to capitalize on opportu-nity—for those who choose to do so.”

How a Super Bowl Ad BringsBack Great Memories

business, stay tuned, orif you like, now the restof the story. Joe Dales, owner ofFarms.com, a goodfriend for some years,called up to catch upand arrange a time wecould get together theweek he would spend inWinnipeg for a few daysin February. We shared thingsgoing on in our lives,and he talked about thisRam commercial, theFarmer. While somewhatfamiliar with it, I had notpaid much attention to itbecause I did not watchthe Super Bowl and wedon’t have television. Joe told me about howhe’d taken this speechand how it went viral onYou Tube, to make along story short. Dodgepeople called him andthe rest, they say, ishistory. The remarkable thingfor me and for him is thefact that my wife and Iattended that meeting in1978 and I have thepictures to prove it. Some other time I willcomment on the poemand Paul Harvey, but therest of this column hasto do with a sidebar,

meaning a secondary partto that story. At first, when peoplefrom the NAFB suggestedwe stay for the FFAmeeting and in particular,the day when both PaulHarvey and PresidentCarter were to speak, itseemed like totallyimpossible. We had nomedia identification otherthan our birth certificatesand a business card. Well,we figured we hadnothing to lose but thetime spent trying to get in. We passed the firstsecurity inspection aftersome doing, talking, andlooking as innocent aspossible. It wasn’t onlyone person, but two, anda ton of equipment,including recordingequipment, big stuff, andcameras, big stuff, too.We passed the secondone, and the third one,and finally the fourthsecurity checkpoint andeach one seemed heavier,but it kept getting easier. Ireally think someone waswatching out for us andwanted us there. We finally got to thehuge media stand to takein Mr. Harvey’s speech inthe morning and then tryto hang on for the

President’s speech in theafternoon. The trickiness startedwhen the secret servicecontingent moved in. Yousee, this media stand wasfor the national main-stream media TV networksand their cameras, and itwas filling up. They askedus to move, but we stoodour ground. Finally ashort stocky fellow cameto us and said I’ll makeyou a deal. He askedwhether I’d get off thestand if he and I wouldcrawl to the front of thepodium so I could get aclose up picture of thePresident. Crawl we did,at least a hundred feet. Itook my pictures andcrawled back on all fours.Climbed back onto themedia stand, joinedJudith, and never moveduntil the Presidentfinished speaking. Thissecret service man simplykept looking at us, butnever said a thing.

It takes a Super Bowl adto bring back those lovelymemories. Mr. Harvey, thank youfor sticking up for thefarmer then, and now yourmessage lives on today.Mr. Farmer, you keepmaking us healthy, safeand affordable food.

President Jimmy Carter.


FFFFFate of Hog Pate of Hog Pate of Hog Pate of Hog Pate of Hog Producers Depends on Wroducers Depends on Wroducers Depends on Wroducers Depends on Wroducers Depends on WeathereathereathereathereatherBy Harry Siemens

The Manitoba hogindustry, while still hurtingcontributed $1.55 billiondollars to the Manitobaeconomy. Andrew Dickson, GeneralManager of Manitoba PorkCouncil (MPC), outlinedboth the benefits at theannual Manitoba PorkSeminar in Winnipeg inJanuary and quickly addedthat the 2013 weather isexpected to determine thefate of pork producers. Dickson said in 2012 thatManitoba produced over 8million pigs from about314,000 sows, down fromabout 10 million and 370,000sows in 2007. There areabout 500 hog producers inManitoba on about 1,600sites, down from 1,200producers in 2005. In 2012, the industry sawsales of about 4.7 millionmarket hogs to the twoplants in Manitoba, MapleLeaf Foods in Brandon andHyLife in Neepawa. Morethan half a million hogs camefrom Saskatchewan to thetwo Manitoba plants forprocessing. In addition, in 2012,Manitoba exported overthree million live weanlingsand about 400,000 liveslaughter hogs, mainly sows,to the U.S., down from 5.5million weanlings and 1.2million market hogs exportedin 2007, largely as a result ofthe M-COOL restrictions,Dickson said. Over 93 percent of thepork goes out of Manitobato other provinces and about35 other countries makingManitoba the largestexporter in Canada. Dickson outlined thefinancial picture onManitoba hog farms with$638 million invested in 540sow barns, $218 million in170 nursery barns, $754million in 375 finisher barns,for a total of $1.66 billiondollars. Manitoba hog farmers sold$825 million worth ofcommercial pigs with $475million in feed purchases,fixed costs of $130 millionand $105 million in labourcosts. “Impact on the Manitobaeconomy involving labour,with 1,800 supplier jobs,2,000 indirect, on-farm paidand family 2,000 jobs, 3,800in-plant processing jobs, and2,300 in-direct jobs for atotal labour force of 11,900jobs,” said Dickson. “Exportsales of live hogs, $225million, $476 million of porkproducts with 58 percentgoing to Japan and into thedomestic Canadian market$800 million for a totalbenefit to the Manitobaeconomy of $1.51 milliondollars.” On the issue of weatherdetermining the fate of porkproducers in Manitoba,Dickson said weather in theU.S. Corn Belt this comingspring will be the factor that

General Manager of Manitoba Pork Council, Andrew Dickson,said the Manitoba economy gets 1.55 billion dollars from thepork industry, but its fate lies in the weather for 2013.

Photo by Harry Siemens

determines the challengespork producers will face inthe coming year. He recalled how good 2012looked until June when theimpact of the drought on theU.S. corn crop starteddriving up feed costs,pushing producers intonegative margins and manyout of production. “This is going to be aweather year, no doubt,”said the MPC GeneralManager. “It’s going to beabsolutely critical to knowwhat spring moistureconditions are when it comesto planting the U.S. corncrop.” He commented on thetrade mission to Minnesotaand Iowa in January andhow the talk mostly focusedon the corn crop and what’s

going to happen this year.Southern and western Iowaare very dry. “There are no reserves inmany areas so this is goingto present a real problem ifwe don’t get timely rains inthe spring and through thegrowing period all the waythrough to harvest in whatwe would consider late fall,”Dickson said. The other difficulty is thatthere is very little carry-overof grain reserves. It’s not asit was 20 years ago whencountries held significantamounts of grain in stock,easily and quickly releasableinto the marketplace to dealwith issues like droughts andso on, he noted. “So we’re going to havesome challenges trying to getfeed costs back to a five year

average like we’ve had overthe past number of years,”he said. Dickson said to cope,producers avoided capitalexpenditures, pulled pigsearlier resulting in slightly

lower weights, tried to lockin summer prices, and triedto get a handle on grainsupplies and in some casesphysically accepted grain inadvance because of doubtsover availability.


By Les Kletke

The President of Alltech France is not sure whatthe capabilities of livestock production are. He doesknow that North American producers have not yetreached the level they are capable of and sees a realopportunity in the future. Julian Martin told an audience in Winnipeg that byfocussing on the problem that limits their productionand embracing the technology available to them, thebar for production levels would continue to rise.Martin joined Alltech 8 months ago after working inEastern Europe, Asia and South America. He saidproducers in various areas have different levels whichthey think is the maximum of production but thetools available to researchers today will solve someof the challenges producers face and they must makechoices that will increase the production on their farm. During his presentation, he pulled a credit card sizeobject from his pocket and explained how it held thegeonome for an animal and that information could beused to design the proper feed regime that wouldincrease production at several levels. “Danish producers target 35 piglets per sow peryear,” he said. “While in Asia they are content with18, but when you decode the genetics of the animal

and identify the limiting factor you can address that and move the bar up.” In the dairy business, he cited a Canadian cow that produced 32,000 kg in her third lactation. “Theaverage in France is 8,000 kg and there are limiting factors like the feed and other factors but as weunlock the geonome we can increase the production of these animals dramatically. Will every animalproduce 32,000 kg? Probably not, but we can raise production levels dramatically.” He said that many things have changed on the farm and some have lagged behind in technology. “Our animals have changed and our plants have changed,” he said. “But in some cases we have notchanged the charts for feed production in 20 years. This tool will allow us to consider things likeselenium levels in the corn and how it affects animals. We used to be content with 20 percentabsorption of nutrients in an animal. That is no longer acceptable or necessary. We can do better.” Martin is part of Alltech’s North American tour that will visit 23 cities across the continent andchallenges everyone to ‘Stay Curious’, this year’s lecture focus for the company. “You have to keeplooking at the challenges that limit you on your farm and embrace the technology that will allow youto solve the problem and that will increase the production and profitability on your operation.” Alltech is headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky U.S.A. and has offices and distributors in 128countries, 4 bioscience centres, and 31 manufacturing facilities throughout the world.

Insurance affects everything and everything affects insurance. We can all agree that insur-ance allows those who own a car, a home or operate a business, to do so without the fear thatsome terrible incident could leave them unable to function. However, few people are awareof the extraordinary impact the industry has on the country’s local and national economies. Both property and life insurance contribute to our economy far beyond helping to managerisk. Property/casualty (auto, home, farm and commercial) insurance allows those who are thevictims of accidental loss to recover financially through the payment of claims for propertydamage and injury. When property/casualty insurance claims are paid, funds are transferredto local businesses in the form of payment for goods or services. Among those that receivethe most revenue are auto repair shops, building contractors and the health care community. Life insurance helps households manage their finances in the face of death and disabilityby minimizing disruption to a wage earner’s dependents. Annuities reduce the likelihoodthat a retiree will run out of money. By providing a measure of financial security to individu-als, life insurance products help stabilize the economy. Insurance companies also contribute to the economy through their investments. As part ofthe financial services industry, insurers act as financial intermediaries, investing the fundsthey collect for providing insurance protection. P & C Insurers alone have sales of over $30 billion. Their taxes amount to $6 billion everyyear. They are also very large employers, providing jobs to 100,000 Canadians. This is a great industry to be involved in as the consumer’s advocate; your insurancebroker gets to provide insurance advice and coverage. Be sure to seek advice and purchase insurance from those who understand your business!Andy Anderson is an Associate Insurance Broker specializing in General, Life and GroupBenefits for Farm, Commercial/Agri-business Ph: 204-746-5589 Tf: 866 765 [email protected] / rempelinsurance.com / valleyfinancial.ca.

Focus on the Problem andEmbrace the Technology

Julien Martin of Alltech France told ameeting in Winnipeg that focusing on thespecific production problems, they faceand embracing technology would lead toincreased efficiencies and better marginson the farm.

Economic ImpactEconomic ImpactEconomic ImpactEconomic ImpactEconomic Impactof the Insuranceof the Insuranceof the Insuranceof the Insuranceof the Insurance

IndustryIndustryIndustryIndustryIndustry


A milk urea nitrogen(MUN) test is a still aneffective management toolthat many dairy producersuse to improve dairy dietaryefficiency. Routine bulk-tankMUNs should not be usedby themselves. Rather, milksamples should be taken andtheir results should bereviewed with other milk andcomponent data, forage/dietanalysis and reproductionrecords to get an overalldairy picture. Therefore, ifnecessary, quick andeffective changes made to thedairy diet and other areas ofinterest can be taken. Testing milk urea nitrogen(MUN) gives the dairyproducers an actual tool toevaluate whether theproteins in their dairyrations are efficiently beingconverted into bodyfunction, tissues and milk.The underlying idea ofMUN is the ruminalmicrobes are digesting feedproteins into ammonia.Ammonia that does not getused in microbial proteinsynthesis is quicklyabsorbed through the ruminalwall and transported to theliver, where it is convertedinto urea. This urea is spilledback into the bloodstream.As the blood flows into theudder, some of this ureaquickly diffuses into milk. A general range of 11-16mg/100 ml milk is consideredacceptable MUN levels inbulk-tank milk tests,although there are no actualofficial MUN standards forlactating dairy cows. Itsgeneral acceptance amongdairy producers andnutritionists is based uponinformation derived frommany university andextension field studies. For example, someEuropean studies havedemonstrated that broadlinear relationships existbetween MUN and theamount of protein formu-lated in the dairy diet. Suchresearchers and others haveshown that as ration proteinfor lactating dairy cowsincrease; MUN valuesincrease, urinary nitrogenincreases and the efficiencyof protein utilization by therumen microbe populationdecreases. Respective excessiveMUN values are usuallyexplained as a reflection oftoo much soluble protein(lush alfalfa protein) or notenough readily availablestarch-energy (grain) in thedairy diet. Such dietaryimbalances are thought toprevent ruminal microorgan-isms from turning ammoniainto microbial protein thathelps dairy cows meet theirown protein requirements.Other smaller contributors tohigh MUN values are pHimbalances or a poor rumenenvironment for goodfermentation of the dairydiet. These practical MUNvalues taken from anindividual farm are also

Use MUN Testing to Improve DietaryEfficiency in Lactating Dairy Cows

affected by a number of non-protein factors as well; sizeof the dairy cows, stage oflactation, herd health status,dry matter intake and waterconsumption. Such variationin MUN tests is one of themain reasons that bulk-tankMUN testing, rather thanindividual cow tests, areoften preferred. Despite bulk-tank orindividual MUN tests, thereis much agreement that highMUN tests could be a signof wasting dietary protein inthe dairy barn. It is alsocoupled with the belief thatexcessive MUN values are alink to a possible cause ofpoor reproduction in dairycows. Subsequently, CornellUniversity (1996) showedthat a concentration ofMUN greater than 19 mg/100 ml in the milk of earlylactation dairy cows wasassociated with a 20%decrease in pregnancy rates.They explained that highMUN values are associated

with an increased energydemand in the cow’s body todetoxify ammonia in thebloodstream and convert itinto MUN. Associated highammonia levels in the uterus(originating from thebloodstream) may causeunfavorable conditions,which often leads to earlyembryonic deaths. Although there is a lot offocus upon the MUN valuesthat exceed the normal 11-16mg/100 ml milk, dairyproducers are advised todevelop their own MUNbaseline that is normal fortheir own particular herd.When this personal baselinechanges by more than 2-3points, look for dietary oranimal changes in one’s ownherd. Finally, it is advisableto record and review weeklyaverages rather than largeday-to-day variations. Dairy producers mightnotice large/subtle trends orout-of-range changes oversignificant time in theirherds’ MUN bulk-tank tests.

To return to more modestMUN levels producersmight look into the followingareas:1. Dairy diet formulation:As mentioned, review thetotal protein content of theration as well as the rumendegradable protein (RDP),dietary soluble protein levels(SP) and available non-fibercarbohydrate (NSC) levels.It is also a good idea to knowthe rumen undegradableprotein (RUP) levels; toomuch RUP versus RDPmight lead to too low MUNlevels.2. Adequate effective foragefiber: Dairy cows that arenot receiving enougheffective forage fiber can leadto sub clinical acidosis(SARA). When rumenacidosis occurs, residentmicrobe function is ofteninhibited which could lead tonot enough ammonia beingturned into microbialprotein, thus contributing tohigh MUN values.3. Ration changes: Opening

a new bag of lush alfalfahaylage and using it at thesame significant level as amore grass-based alfalfasilage may cause a dramaticrise in MUN values. It is agood idea to test all foragesand know their nutrientanalysis before implementa-tion.4. Mixing and Sorting:Inadequate mixing could leadto technical erratic MUNlevels in the milk ofindividual cows (whichmight not be shown in bulk-tank MUN tests). Sorting bymilk cows could lead to asimilar situation. In contrast,excessive mixing of the rationcould cause effective fiberbreakdown, SARA condi-tions, and excessive MUNtests!5. Sampling and analyticalerrors: An automatic infraredinstrument is used tomeasure MUN. Organicmolecules such as protein,

fat and urea molecules innormal cow’s milk have aunique spectrum whenheated and analyzed foraccurate results. Very highfat and protein componentlevels in milk, as well as highsomatic cell counts, havebeen shown to produceerroneous MUN results. Even by following thesesuggestions there will anoccasional blip in producers’MUN tests. However, thereis no need to panic becauseeven long-term MUN valuescan be adjusted. It is a matterof noting undesirable MUNin the lactation herd andtaking corrective action. Byfollowing this route we tendto promote well-balanceddairy diets, make the cows’rumen work more efficiently,as well as avoid possiblereproductive problems. Italso provides a gooddirection that leads toprofitable dairy herdperformance.


By Les Kletke

Livestock producers can expect to fine-tune their feedrations to fit the needs of their livestock in the near future. Ty Yeast is the Canadian Managing Director with Alltechand he told producers and industry representatives whoattended a meeting in Winnipeg that by adjusting the rationsfor their animals they would be able to ‘wake up’ the genesand achieve better results in reproduction, weight gain orearly maturity. Yeast said that with the challenge of feeding nine billionpeople by 2050 the efficiencies of production have to beincreased to keep pace with the demand. He said that currentaqua culture practices are yield products that do not give theconsumer the benefits they expect from eating fish but thatcould change in the near future. He points out that while the area of productive land isdecreasing the advances in technology are bringing marginalland into greater production and the two thirds of the earthssurface that is covered by water could be used to producemuch more of the increasing population’s food. Yeast said that one of the products being tested by hiscompany shows an increase of half a ton an acre in cornyields, “And that may not seem like much but when it isturned into milk it provides an increase of $728 or $928 peracre for an investment cost of $11.” Alltech has gained a reputation as a company, which, basesits technology on yeast but said that they are also addingalgae production and utilization. “There are over 3,000 different types of algae,” said Yeast.“And they are much different than the types we think of onlakes that require light to multiply. There are opportunitiesthat have not been developed in the utilization of algae infood production but it is something that our company islooking at.” Yeast acknowledged that the use of algae in food productionmaybe a bit further down the road, but he said changes in thegenome mapping of animals enables researchers to makeadvances much more quickly in traditional productionmethods. “We no longer have to feed and weigh animals tosee the result. We are able to see which components of feedhave the desired affect on animals and that is makingadvancements come much more quickly.” “We will see advancements in fertility that will increase thenumber of piglets per sow dramatically,” added Yeast. “Wecan see advancement in the rate of gain of beef cattle and atthe same time see improvements in the taste of the steak theanimal yields. We are closing the gap from nutrition toconversion.”

With the invention of farm machinery such asthe ground hog thresher, came the need for a powersource on the farm. Wind was one answer but thewind does not blow all the time so other means ofgenerating power were needed. The treadmill wasan obvious candidate having been around sinceRoman and Greek times. Both animals and peoplewere used by the Greeks and Romans to powertreadmills and on up to the 1800s to pump water,grind flour, and even power cranes. Treadmills wereeven in use in British prisons as a means of sup-plying labour. Prisoners could be on a treadmill forup to eight hours a day with few breaks and werefeared by even the most hardened prisoners. So as mechanized farm machinery was introducedthe treadmill was a logical choice as a power source.Treadmills had some advantages and disadvantagesover power sweeps. The treadmill was more com-pact and so could be operated in a barn; however,treadmills were limited to usually two horses, lim-iting its power output. The larger horse sweepscould accommodate eight horses. With a treadmill, it was not necessary to applythe whip to the horses because the horse treadmill’sbed is inclined. Once the horses were brought ontothe bed and the tread began turning, the horsesnaturally kept walking forward as the horse wouldfind it unnatural to stop walking to be moving back-wards due to the inclined bed. In addition, thehorse’s weight was more efficiently applied whenusing a horse treadmill with the result the horsetreadmill provided more power on a per horse ba-sis than if the horse was involved in a straight pull. The downside to the treadmill was that if the beltconnecting the treadmill to the threshing machinewere thrown off, suddenly reducing the load on the

treadmill, the treadmill would immediately gain speed. This could possiblythrow the horses off their feet, perhaps breaking legs. A brake was fitted totreadmills and someone had to be in close attendance to throw the brake if thedrive belt came off. Horse sweeps did not suffer this problem. Overall, it isthought that treadmills were more common than horse sweeps in agriculture. Oxen were not used on treadmills for the simple reason that oxen will notback up and very difficult to get off the bed. Also it was thought the oxen wouldbecome dizzy walking in a circle. The Manitoba Agricultural Museum has a horse treadmill in its collectiondonated in the late 1950s by Charles Nicholson of the Franklin district. Be-cause of the danger to horses it is not operated. There are no markings on thetreadmill as to its manufacturer but it is largely built of wood with a few piecesin the drive train made of iron. Horses were the primary source of farm power up until the late 1920s whentractors finally became reliable and economical enough to replace them. How-ever, with the onset of the Great Depression horses once again became a moreeconomical source of power on farms. Horses continued on farms through theSecond World War due to the limited production of tractors. Only when normalproduction was resumed after the war, were horses finally retired on mostfarms. However, draft horses have retained a significant following and attractmuch attention. A Horsepower Expo celebrates the role of horses in agriculture. If you have Horsepower artefacts or Massey artefacts, remember the 2013Reunion at the Manitoba Agricultural Museum and consider displaying youritems.

Horse Treadmills

The horse treadmill stored at the Manitoba Agricultural Museum. Showing therear of the machine with the inclined belt made of wooden planks hingedtogether to form a continuous belt.

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CFGB Marks 30 YCFGB Marks 30 YCFGB Marks 30 YCFGB Marks 30 YCFGB Marks 30 YearsearsearsearsearsBy Elmer Heinrichs

Manitoba Resource Coor-dinator Harold Penner, forthe Canadian Food GrainsBank, says, “It’s a special

year, as the CFGB marks its30th anniversary.” He announced a new initia-tive for 2013 - a partnershipwith Seed Depot. It’s an offerof free seed if you would like

to grow Conlon Barley orSouris Oats for the CFGB. “So far we have two newprojects for 2013, with a fewmore communities thinkingabout it. And so far, I don’tknow of any projects closingdown, so things look verypromising indeed!” said

Penner. CFGB Executive DirectorJim Cornelius added that dur-ing the year they will spendsome time thanking the manypeople and organizations thathave created, built and sup-ported the Foodgrains Bank.


By Les Kletke

A marketing expert with Alltech Corporation suggests that farmers shed the title ofproducers and go back to being farmers. “How many of you tell people you are farmers and that you produce food,” asked EmilyKay to a group in Winnipeg. “We have gotten caught up in being ‘producers’, but topeople that can mean someone in a movie editing suite or a dozen other things. Tell themthat you are a farmer. They want to know where their food comes from.” Kay cited the example of horsemeat from France finding its way into British supermar-kets where it was labelled beef, “The consumer wants to know where the food came fromand that it is what the label promises. An event like the one in Britain destroys a lot ofconfidence in the food chain.”

She uses the acronym SMART to describe what today’s consumer is looking for in theirfood. “S is for Safe, they want safe food. M is for Measurable difference, the want to be ableto measure why a specific brand is different. A is for Appetizing, it has to taste good as wellas be good for you,” she said. “R is for Researched. The information available today isamazing, and T is for Traceable. They want to be able to see which farm or tank it camefrom.” Kay’s message to farmers is to be aware of the brand they portray in the actions. “Youare your own brand in what you do and it is a way that you can differentiate your prod-uct.” She said that the image of the farmer is becoming more important in the sale of foodat all levels and now even McDonalds have the face of a farmer in their restaurants. “McDonalds uses the face of a farmer to represent their products,” she said. “They usetheir Olympic sponsorship to give staff and customers the chance to be involved in theexperience of the Olympics and you probably would not have thought of them as the foodchoice of Olympians.” Kay said that while scares like the one in England do hurt the consumer confidencelevel, most consumers are comfortable with the safety of their food but are looking forsomething more. “The story is becoming more important than the product, and that iswhere farmers can come in, telling the story of how food is produced.”

Back to Being aFarmer is SMART

“The story is becoming more important than theproduct, and that is where farmers can come in,

telling the story of how food is produced.”


Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP) has just completed its Annual General Meeting (AGM). I knowI might be perceived as biased, but I think it was a great success. Producers from all across Manitobacame together to debate policy and give direction to the board. This will help drive what theorganization tackles in the coming year. But, the information flow is not just one way. One of the roles of associations like MBP is to lookdown the road and give producers a bit of a heads-up about what is coming at them. That is what Iwould like to do now – polish my crystal ball and look down the road. It is almost a cliché to say that we live in an information age. New technologies from Apple orBlackBerry seem to be coming at us every second week. Televisions that used to have rabbit ears and13 channels are now “smart” and give us access to billions of pieces of information from the comfortof our couch. While it is true that we are in the information age, it has not been as quick to envelopethe beef industry. That is changing and it is changing rapidly. The information revolution is coming to beef produc-tion. This will make us more efficient, competitive and profitable. If Canadian beef production isgoing to remain viable on the world stage as an industry, we need to embrace the opportunities thatinformation management has to offer. The beginnings of this revolution are with us today. But often the systems are viewed as a largepain rather than a competitive tool that will allow us to differentiate Canadian beef from ourcompetitors. Traceability is the best example of an information exchange system that is often viewed withscepticism. That is because most of us don’t view traceability as an information tool. Rather it islooked upon as a cost imposed upon our industry because of BSE. But, the components of traceabil-ity will be able to provide you with the tools to improve your genetics increase your return fromyour management skills and better connect with consumers. One of these new tools built around traceability is the Beef InfoXchange System, or BIXS. BIXSallows producers to capture exchange and track specific individual animal data. For example, thesystem can give you the carcass yield and grade data when your animals eventually go for slaughter.Not only does the system give you the individual data, it also shows you where you rank comparedto the rest of Canadian production. BIXS will also facilitate targeted marketing plans for specific niche requirements on the worldstage. If a particular client in Japan or another country wants to purchase a specific quality of cut, wecan do a better job of meeting their needs through programs like BIXS. What is the result for producers? This will allow you to adjust your breeding programs andmarketing plans based on the productivity and quality of the cattle you produce. The program hasthe potential to help you improve your efficiency, lower your costs, and down the road increase,what you are paid for your cattle. This is how information can help you become more profitable. BIXS is a flow of information from processors back to the producer. Information flow in the otherdirection-from producers to consumers-is also an important marketing tool. Consumers are askingtwo key questions. First, “Where does my food come from?” and second, “How is my foodproduced?” Producers who can answer these questions will open up access to a different kind of consumer, onewho is willing to pay a little bit more for their food. This applies to individual operations but it alsoapplies to Manitoba and Canada as a whole. If we, as an industry, can answer these questions morecompletely than our competitors can, we will better differentiate Canadian beef on the world stageand do a better job of securing high value customers. How do producers answer consumers’ questions? Production management programs like VerifiedBeef Production (VBP) are key tools in the process. Verification processes like VBP, combined withtraceability, will allow you to tell producers exactly how their beef was produced and exactly whereit comes from. This is not as far-fetched or as far off into the future as you might think. Earlier this year,McDonalds in Australia released a smart phone app called “Track My Macca’s.” Users can down-load the free app, point their phone’s camera at a special code on the side of their burger box and seewhere the beef originated. Why is McDonald’s doing this? Because answering the question “wheredoes my food come from” will help them, sell more burgers and increase their profit. Part of thatprofit is shared with the producers who take on the information management practices that allow theprogram to function. Traceability, Verified Beef Production (VBP) and BIXS are just some first examples of the cominginformation revolution. Millions of dollars are being spent on genomics research. The end results ofthis research will allow you to tailor your breeding programs based on the genetic analysis of yourcattle, leading to better growth rates, increased feed efficiency and improved meat quality. Thescience of genomics is rapidly changing. Tests are now available that allow an animal to be tested for50,000 genetic differences. Other research, such as Residual Feed Intake, or RFI, will help increase efficiency and lower costs.This research will also help lower your carbon footprint, which might just be a selling point that youcan market to a willing buyer using programs like VBP and BIXS. When will the information revolution hit your ranch? That is not an easy thing to predict. But youhave already seen the first changes on your operation. More information management tools likeBIXS and VBP are starting to become available to you. I think the potential value of systems likethese is going to grow exponentially in the coming months and years.

By Les Kletke

The University ofManitoba’s (U of M) Facultyof Agriculture’s Stockman’sClub is representative of mostthings at University, a blendof educational and socialevents with a healthy mix ofpersonal interaction. This yearthe club has 30 members andPresident Lisa Weins said theyare representative of themakeup of the faculty. “We have some people whohave been involved in 4-H andjudging livestock for a longtime, and we have other mem-bers who have little experiencewith animals and joined theclub to get some experiencewith live animals,” said Weins.Weins has been a member of

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Stockman’s Club is aSlice of University Life

Lisa Wiens of theUniversity ofManitobaStockman’s Clubsays the club is amix or urban andrural students.Members of theclub staffedstations at a recentevent for Alltech toraise money forclub activities. Theclub has beeninvited to participatein two competitionsin Alberta in March.

4-H for 13 years and contin-ues to be involved with theprogram. She is in her fourthand final year of studies. “I came from a dairy farmand had a lot of experiencewith dairy animals so I joinedthe club to get experience withother animals,” said Weins,who was part of a contingentthat attended a competition inRegina at the Canadian West-ern Agribition. “The Regina event had moreemphasis on the beef compe-tition and had a judge come tospeak to the group about judg-ing beef cattle and that wasreally good,” she said, “Ourgroup did not place well at thatevent because of our lack ofexperience with beef.” The club hosted its own

event in early January as a partof Hoe Down Week and in-vited teams from other insti-tutions in western Canada tocompete and take part in otherfaculty activities. The U of Mteam has been invited to sev-eral competitions in Albertabut has some scheduling prob-lems. “We have been invited toOlds and to Lakeland Collegein Alberta but those two eventsare the first two weeks inMarch and that makes it diffi-cult for us,” she said. The clubhas its own events at localdairy farms and equestrian are-nas. Weins said that some mem-bers have an urban backgroundand may have riding experi-ence and are not familiar withother species. The club ac-cepts members at all levels ofexperience and offers every-one the experience of judgingvarious species of animals. “We have some experiencedmembers and some who jointo gain the experience and getthe club membership listed ontheir resume,” she said. Weinsalready has a job offer withCargill after graduation work-ing with the firm’s dairy divi-sion in Alberta.

Photo by LesKletke


Cattle Chat is a monthly webinar happening the third Wednes-day of each month, which brings current information to livestockproducers throughout Manitoba. The internet web conference allows you to sit at your personalcomputer (or iphone/ipad), see the presentation, hear the pre-senter and ask questions of the specialists by typing them into amenu provided. The webinars are recorded, so if you are unableto watch them live you can watch it on your schedule. Contact your local GO Office to get a registration form emailedor if you feel your internet is too slow there are some GO officesthat provide a better location. Here are some highlights from the January 23 Cattle Chat.Calving toolbox and tips and equipment needed in the barn:

- Maternity pen- Chains and handles (no twines)- Head snares or extra chain (no twines)- Obstetrical gloves- Lube or surgical soap- Esophageal feeder (colostrums)

With this coldweather, it is importantto make sure that lac-tating cows haveenough nutrients tosustain herself and hercalf. It is a good prac-tice to keep an eye onyour cows to make surethey are maintaining in this cold weather and not going back-wards. If you are not sure how your cows are doing, have an-other set of eyes look at them to check to make sure they aremaintaining their body mass. Some of the forage this year thatcame into the office tested poorly and supplements may have tobe used. During cold weather calving, it is important that cattlebe given nutrition that will carry them through the winter monthsand calving season. If you are looking for more information contact your local GOOffice.

By Peter Vitti

Profitable cow-calfoperations achieve a calf-crop of more than 90percent, while herdsstruggling to meet athreshold calf-crop of 85percent will likely not meetmost production expenses.The root of reproductivesuccess often lies in cowsconsuming nutritious post-calving diets, whichencompass a good supplyof essential trace minerals. As part of this post-partum trace mineralpackage, there are fourprincipal trace elementsthat are very important forgood beef cow reproduc-tion, namely copper, zinc,manganese and selenium.All too often in nature theyare either low or marginallydeficient in soils and cattleforages or are bound up byinorganic antagonisticcompounds that make them“biologically unavailable” toeven the most fertile beefcows. For example, even themost promising beef cowsthat are truly marginally orclinically copper-deficientwill often suffer from poorfirst-service conceptionrates and poor embryonicsurvival. Some of thesecopper-deficient cows mayactually show normal estrusbehaviour, but normalovulation does not occurand may lead to futureestrus retardation. Such erratic heat cyclesmight also be caused byantagonistic minerals suchas molybdenum or highlevels of zinc, which affectscopper metabolism.Unfortunately, beefproducers could have a hardtime pin-pointing copper,and the other three essentialtrace mineral deficienciesbecause there manynutritional as well asunrelated reasons that causepoor reproductive perfor-mance. Sometimes beef cow tracemineral-linked reproductiveproblems are caused byproducers not providing ona regular basis a well-balanced commercial cattlemineral fortified with bio-available copper, manga-nese, zinc and selenium.Failure to invest as little as15c per cow per day toassure good trace mineralstatus after calving and intothe subsequent breedingseason has dire conse-quences. It may start with a goodportion of the cowherdhaving one delayed estruscycle by 80 – 85 days post-partum. The consequenceof only heat cycle offsetsthe birth of their respectivecalves by a corresponding21 days. Because they wereborn later, these calves losea potential 21 days ofgrowth and if they shouldhave gained 2.0 lbs perhead; results in 42 lbs of

Good Trace Mineral Status in Beef CowsLeads to Good Economics

lost weaning weight on anyspecific sale date. Assuming$1.55/lb for a 600 lb weanedcalf translates into $65 of lostrevenue per late-born calf.These calves from delayedmothers might still be sold ata targeted weaning weight at alater date, but there is alwaysa likelihood of off-seasondiscounted markets. Fortunately, producers canstill recoup some revenuefrom selling late-weanedcalves, but if the same cowscontinually fail to cycle dueto poor mineral status theymay become “open” cows. Itis no secret that if a cow thatdoes not cycle, conceive andproduce a calf for the fiscalyear she not only does notproduce any calf-revenue, buther existing feed andmanagement costs become afinancial burden to the rest ofthe productive cows in thecowherd. We might choose toillustrate an un-pregnantcow’s liability to rest of theoperation in the followingway: (1) assume it costsabout $2.00 to feed a broodcow during a 200-day winterand $1.00 per day to feed heron summer pasture and thesefeed costs account for 65percent of her total costs(housing, medical, fuel, etc).Consequently, the total costper beef cow would be about$870 per year, (2) we pencilin that X percent calf-cropproduces: X multiplied by600 lb calves = sold lbs, and(3) there is no open cowsalvage value. By using only these threeparameters and regardless ofthe sale price of the presentcalf crop, the “additional”cost of keeping open cows,which must be covered byactual sold lbs of weanedcalves, increases dramatically;

90 percent calf-crop = $0.16/lb, 85 percent calf-crop =$0.25/lb and 75 percent calf-crop = $0.48/lb! This is anundesirable trend thatdictates that as the herd’scalf-crop shrinks, an opencow’s herd liabilitiesdramatically increases andinherently must be coveredby diminished revenues. How easy it would be toprevent such reproductivedrama and chaos if a goodmineral feeding program wasestablished in the first place! Consequently, thefollowing nutritional andmanagement suggestions arehelpful in assuring thatfertile beef cows build goodtrace mineral status for thebreeding season, whencommercial cattle mineral ispoured into their feeders:- Target cowherd mineralconsumption. The best well-formulated mineral contain-ing adequate copper levelscannot do its job unlesscattle eat it. Target theabove-mentioned 50 – 100grams per head per day. Ifcattle are not eating enoughor too much, add 1/3 portionsalt to the mineral mixture.- Know the dietary tracemineral sources in yourmineral. This is particularlyimportant when purchasingcattle mineral. For example,knowing copper’s finalconcentration of your cows’diet without knowing thesource of supplementalcopper is of little value.Copper comes in manyforms such as copper oxide,copper sulphate, andchelated copper that hasrelative biological availabili-ties of 5 percent, 100percent, and 125-150percent in beef cattle.- Feed a “Breeder mineral”all winter long. Some

producers feed a morefortified breeder mineral(with more bio-availableorganic trace minerals) allwinter long. The cost-difference between a basicgestation and calving/breeding mineral calculates toabout $4.00 per headpremium for the first half ofthe winter.- Fill your mineral feederson a regular basis. Mineralfeeders should be filled every2 – 3 days and hardened oldmineral should be removed.It is also important toremove snow and debris thatprevents good mineralconsumption. The success of taking suchconscious trace mineralfeeding actions to build goodtrace mineral status for goodrebreeding in beef cows iseasily visible; post-partumcows cycle one or two timesbefore a limited breedingseason actually begin andthey tend to get pregnant bybreeding bulls within weeksof release. These cows alsotend to give birth and nursehealthy calves, which in turnare heavier and thus moreprofitable on an establishedweaning date.

Monthly Cattle ChatMonthly Cattle ChatMonthly Cattle ChatMonthly Cattle ChatMonthly Cattle Chat

- Clean puller- Calving suit- Calf cart- Disinfectant- Kit – tags, shots, etc.

Calving Tips- Check viability of calf first- Keep yourself and the cow clean- Don’t pull in improper position- Always, check for tears- Use lots of lubricant especially in fat heifers or dry calves


Getty Stewart, MJ Feek, and Doug Chorney faced some questions about the videos outlining theirpassion for agriculture at a screening at Winnipeg’s Park Theatre. The three videos tell individualstories of why people feel passionate about food produced in Manitoba.

By Les Kletke

They may not win Oscars at this year’s Academy Awards but three short videos produced by theCanola Growers of Manitoba do a noteworthy job of telling the story of Manitoba food production. “They are all a part of a larger Be Well program that includes a blog and a newsletter,” said EllenPruden, Education and Promotion Manager with the Canola Growers. The three-minute videos tellthe story of three individuals from very different parts of Manitoba’s food industry. “We selected people who represented different aspects of the industry,” said Pruden. “But theyare all very passionate about what they do, and that was the criterion for the selection. For 2014,there will be two more videos produced and the selection will be run as a contest that is open tonominations until April 2013 at the association’s websites blog.canolarecipes.ca and facebook.com/bewellcanola. Pruden said reaction to the release of the videos at an event at Winnipeg’s Park Theatre onFebruary 12 was overwhelming. “We had people coming to us and saying they loved what they saw and they had people whowould be great subjects for next year,” she said. “That is what the contest is about, we want to drivepeople to the website to watch the video and think of other people who are passionate about thefood production and what they do.” The contest will have two winners next year, one fromManitoba and one from outside the province. “We want to partner with other organizations, like our sister grower associations in other prov-inces, and tell the story of people who are passionate,” said Pruden. She is not relying only on trafficto the website but will take the videos with her to show at meetings she will be attending, “Like theHome Economist conference, or the Food Bloggers or Ag in the Classroom and of course 4 H.”

That’s a Good Story

Doug Chorney could have chosen his signature story to be about leading Manitoba’s

largest farm group and the contribution he has made as its president, but Chorney chose to

tell the story of taking over the family farm.

“Some of the best moments were with my mom and her being able to be on the farm until

she was 90,” said Chorney. “That is what the family farm is all about, and seeing my

daughter grow up in the business.”

Erin Chorney is a second year student in the Faculty of Agriculture and was at the

screening of the video that featured several still photographs of her in the vegetable

business. “Growing up in the vegetable stand has been a great part of my life,” said Erin. “I look

forward to seeing the same people every summer and they laugh at how I have grown up.”

She has not yet made a final decision about her life vocation. But, has plans to return to the

family farm and grow the direct marketing business.

“My passion is people and I really miss them in the winter,” she said. “I am not as

excited about the grain business but we [will] see what the future brings.”

In the question and answer period following the screening of the three videos, Doug

recounted how the business had started with his mother selling some of her strawberries

at the side of the road.

“I remember one of her clients telling her that she should expand to other produce

because people were looking for fresh food and would be willing to buy it directly from the

farm that led to the expansion to other vegetables.”

The video profiling the Chorney farm features Doug’s grandfather, who began growing

potatoes on the farm at East Selkirk.

“My grandfather started farming here in 1903,” he said. “So with our family it is all

about sustainability. We have been here over 100 years and want to be here producing food

for another 100 years.”

Chorney sees the opportunity of being a, Be Well Story. “It all ties together with healthy

food and producers being here to produce that food. This is a great opportunity to tell our

story and move ahead in our business with the people that consume our products.”

Chorney said that one of the things they started when his daughter was an infant turned

into a marketing tool.

“We took pictures of my daughter every year with the crop and posted them in the

shop, people like to see how she had grown and they liked to be served by the person in

the picture. One of the last pictures was of my mom when she was 90 and my daughter as

a young adult.”

The ChorneyThe ChorneyThe ChorneyThe ChorneyThe Chorney ’s F’s F’s F’s F’s Family Pamily Pamily Pamily Pamily PassionassionassionassionassionM J FeekM J FeekM J FeekM J FeekM J Feek’s Food Instills’s Food Instills’s Food Instills’s Food Instills’s Food Instills

FFFFFamily Strengthamily Strengthamily Strengthamily Strengthamily Strength Feek readily admits that food is her passion and having found a vocation that allows

her to work with food every day is somewhat of a dream come true. She began in the restaurant business when she was only 19, opening a restaurant in

Selkirk called Benjamin’s (her maiden name). Now Benjamin’s is a full service catering

operation as well as an outdoor restaurant in the summer and she recently opened an

indoor facility with seating for 100 called the Cellar. Looking to the future, she hints there

might be a supper club in the future, “But we are concentrating on doing what we do well

before we start something else and suffer the growing pains.” She is trained as a pastry chef and has competed at the Culinary Olympics, “But if you

ask someone in town, I am probably known for our pizza that we make on an outdoor

oven.” For Feek the love of food runs much deeper than nutrition. “Food is more that vitamins

and calories, for me it is about emotion and memories,” she said crediting her mother with

instilling a value for food. “My mother always made great meals and we ate together as

a family. That is what I try to instill into my kids, that food and family go together and

are more than either alone.” “I opened Benjamin’s as a place that people would come [to] and enjoy good food,”

she said. “We have been fortunate to have good suppliers of local food. We have a

vegetable supplier from just across the river in East Selkirk and that has helped so much.”

Her supplier has greenhouse facilities that accommodate the production of micro greens

and allow her access to greens not normally thought of in Manitoba production. She said that during events like the beef scare this past summer it was a real advantage

to have products sourced locally. “We know where we source our inputs and that gives

us the confidence that comes through to our customers. It is great to be in Manitoba at

this time when there is increased interest in eating locally grown food.”

Getty Stewart had an idea to share some of the fruit that was not being used by Manitobans and describes the response

to her idea as “overwhelming”. Stewart also authored a cookbook that was released this past year and remains on the bestseller list in Manitoba and is

available at several bookstores in the province. A Home Economist by profession Stewart said it was seeing fruit on trees in her neighbourhood that inspired her to start

a venture called Fruit Share. The organization partners people who have unused fruit with pickers and groups such as

food banks. “It was seeing unused fruit and knowing that 860,000 Canadians use food banks every month that drove me to do

something,” she said. “I had read an article about a fruit rescue in another city, so in 2010 with 10 people and by the end

of the season we had 13,000 lbs of fruit that had been transferred to people who could use it.” She said not everything happened on a grand scale but sometimes the little things made a big difference. She recounted

one of the early events where she came away with two pounds of rhubarb and felt somewhat disappointed, “But I took

it to a senior who was so thankful, and said he would use the pound of rhubarb to make rhubarb crisp for his wife. It is

moments like that when you know it is all worthwhile.” “We set up partnerships where the fruit is shared equally by the owners, pickers and groups like food banks where it

can end up in the hands of people who need it the most,” Said Stewart who credits modern technology with allowing her

to reach the greatest number of people. “We use things like Facebook and a website,” she said. “Otherwise we would still be trying to contact people with the

telephone tree system, now we post the news that there will be a pick and many more people know about it.” “Food is a staple. We need it to survive. By knowing that others are needed to produce it helps us connect,” she said.

“Bridging the gap between growers and consumers is an important part of what we do.”

StewartStewartStewartStewartStewart ’s Drive for F’s Drive for F’s Drive for F’s Drive for F’s Drive for Fruit Shareruit Shareruit Shareruit Shareruit Share

agripost february 22 2013

Documents

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local beer

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agri postfebruary

actual shovel

shovel handletap

eric warwaruk

farmery beerworking