An organization called the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council wants to hear from small-scale farm operators across Canada regarding their labour needs, whether they are farming full-time or part-time, alone or with help. The council is currently conducting research on the labour requirements of farm operations with annual gross receipts of less than $100,000. Statistically farms under $100,000 gross make up 65 per cent of all the farms in Canada. It’s an online survey and the deadline to receive responses has been extended until the end of September to receive a greater number of responses from each region across the country. The Council plans to use the information to better understand the labour needs on small-scale farms and to develop tools and resources to meet those needs. I suspect they’ll find out that small-scale producers can’t afford to hire labour or if someone is hired it’s only on a part time basis in a peak season. The Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council isn’t fixated on small operations. They’ve already done a survey and a lot of work on operations with gross returns greater than $100,000, so this is a logical extension of their work. To take the survey or to see the work they’ve already done, go to www.cahrc-ccrha.ca. I’m Kevin Hursh.

DynAgra, an independent Western Canada-based Company, is dedicated to providing growers with the tools to manage the risk and maximize the profitability of their farm business through the continued innovation of agricultural products and services. We are committed to developing and providing growers with the latest in precision agronomics, variable rate technology, soil fertility, crop protection, fertilizers, custom application and financial solutions.

Take advantage of any little break you get in the weather. As I read emails from producers around the province, that’s a theme that emerges this year. Whether it was seeding, weed control, or now harvest, the producers with the best success are those who jumped on any reasonable window of opportunity to get the equipment rolling. It doesn’t always work that way. Some years you kick yourself for pushing the envelope. You regret not waiting for more optimal conditions. Patience would have been the correct course of action. This year, optimal conditions for field work have been fleeting. Jumping the gun has been the right decision. So far, the wet pattern that has prevailed throughout the growing season shows no sign of changing. Hopefully, we’ll get a break and see an extended dry spell at some point. In the meantime, there will be combines rolling and lots of tough and even damp grain going into aeration bins whenever an opportunity arises. It’s better to be putting tough grain into aeration now versus a month from now. I’m Kevin Hursh.

DynAgra, an independent Western Canada-based Company, is dedicated to providing growers with the tools to manage the risk and maximize the profitability of their farm business through the continued innovation of agricultural products and services. We are committed to developing and providing growers with the latest in precision agronomics, variable rate technology, soil fertility, crop protection, fertilizers, custom application and financial solutions.

September 1, 2010

Sclerotinia infection, late-season hail and frost threats have growers wondering whether to swath early. Take time to make an informed decision.

Many canola fields are still a week away from 50% to 60% seed colour change — the ideal swathing stage — but damage from sclerotinia, hail or frost has some growers eager to get he crop cut. Early action is not usually the best for overall crop yield and quality. Step 1 before taking any action is to assess the level of damage.

Sclerotinia

In the case of sclerotinia stem rot, 2% of plants damaged can look like a lot from the road. But damage at these low levels is not enough to alter harvest plans. Growers are encouraged to swath as they normally would.

The key with sclerotinia infection is to determine where most of the yield will come from. If healthy plants will provide the most yield, then make harvest decisions that favour those healthy plants. Swathing at 50% to 60% seed-colour change is optimum for yield and quality.

If infected plants account for most of the yield potential, then swathing at 30% seed colour change may be more appropriate — as long as seeds in pods on branches and upper main stems are firm. Swathing early limits shelling of pods that are diseased but contain healthy seed. Sclerotinia fungus may continue to grow on swathed canola if conditions are wet, but seeds that have reached the firm green stage or later should still mature.

When swath-rolling diseased canola, do it lightly to tuck swath edges into the stubble. Light rolling limits pod shatter and reduces the spread of sclerotinia, which tends to move faster in compact swaths. If crop is heavily diseased, it may be preferable to avoid swath rolling altogether, particularly if the swath is heavy enough to settle into the stubble and does not appear at high risk for wind damage. Swath in the direction of prevailing winds.  

Hail

Hail tends to damage top pods more than bottom pods. Since top pods are at later stages and typically have lower yield potential, don’t cut early to save these pods if seeds in these pods are still watery. Do what’s best for undamaged lower pods. That means swathing at 50% to 60% seed colour change.

An exception: If seeds in bruised top pods are firm when rolled between thumb and forefinger, then swathing immediately may save these top pods from shelling out. Seeds lower in the plant should be more advanced and also suitable for swathing.

Frost

Growers have two swath decision scenarios when it comes to frost:

1. Should a grower swath canola when frost is in the forecast? 2) Should a grower swath immediately after a frost?
    
2. Swathing canola in anticipation of frost only works when seeds are firm not watery, and when the swath has 3 good drying days before frost hits. This gives seed time to dry to below 20% moisture. At that point, frost damage to the seed will be minimal.

If light frost occurs before 3 good drying days, there is not enough time to have seed colour change. Frost can stop de-greening enzymes and lock in high green counts. Green seed levels can still be reduced after the frost event — but only if there’s enough time before the next frost and if there’s adequate moisture to rehydrate the seed.

When canola is fairly green and frost risk is only slight, there is more upside to leaving the crop standing. Swathing too early to avoid the risk of frost can often translate into yield and quality losses.

When to swath after a frost is more complicated. Assess fields one to 3 days after the frost, then make the harvest decision. Here are 4 situations and decision-making tips for each:

50% of the field has moderate to severe damage. Yield and quality will be significantly reduced. With severe damage, the canopy turns white, pods have a bleached and shrunken appearance, and seeds shrivel and turn white. If the remaining 50% of the field has light to minimal damage, swathing too early may further reduce yield and grade. Swathing when plants with minimal damage reach 50% to 60% seed colour change can allow the intact seed to continue to change colour and fill, improving both grade and yield. Anything severely damaged will likely shell out or be separated with the chaff or dockage.

More than 50-60% severely damaged. The crop will shell so it is best to swath to protect any viable seeds. Quality is likely to be poor anyway, so it is more important to protect as much yield as possible. If the grower decides to swath right away, the field in question should be one of the last fields combined to allow as much time as possible for green seed clearing.

Light to moderate damage in portions or throughout the field. Leave this for swathing at the proper stage. With moderate damage, pods will have white speckling on the outside and some seeds will turn brown and shrivel. However, pods remain reasonably intact and pliable and some seed remains green and turgid. Swathing when healthy seed is at 50% to 60% seed colour change gives healthy seed time to reach optimum yield and quality. Damaged seed will shrivel and blow out of the combine with the chaff or ending up as dockage. With moderate frost damage, growers will want to monitor the crop more closely than with other frost damage. If pods desiccate, they are prone to shattering, so consider swathing the whole field or just the affected areas if shattering losses could exceed gains from leaving the crop an extra day or two.

Some light damage in portions or throughout the field. Leave the crop and swath at the proper stage based on seed colour change of the healthy seed. Light damage may cause some seeds to turn “shoe polish” brown, but pods and most seeds generally remain intact and turgid. Swathing immediately after a light frost may result in higher economic and yield losses than if the crop were left alone.

For photos of severe, moderate and light frost damage, click here to download the Canola Council of Canada factsheet, “Early fall frost. Now what?”

For more information, contact a Canola Council of Canada agronomy specialist in your region: 

Doug Moisey, North East and East Central Alberta, 780-645-9205
Troy Prosofsky, Southern Alberta, 403-332-1412
John Mayko, West Central Alberta, 780-764-2593
Erin Brock, Peace Region, 780-568-3326
Jim Bessel, North Central and North Eastern Saskatchewan, 306-373-6771
Tiffany Martinka, Eastern Saskatchewan, 306-231-3663
Clint Jurke, Western Saskatchewan, 306-821-2935 
Derwyn Hammond, Manitoba Region, 204-729-9011

It could be considered an inadvertent intercropping experiment. Over the years, a number of farmers have tried growing peas with canola. This year, I have a 170 acre field that’s a mixture of large green lentils and oriental mustard. It wasn’t intentional. By the time I realized there were so many mustard volunteers in the lentil crop, the lentils were getting pretty advanced to do anything about it. Then there was another big rain and I decided to just let it go. When the mustard flowered, it looked like a mustard crop, but beneath the yellow blooms there was a good lentil crop. Both matured about the same time and I used Reglone as a desiccant, which is a registered product on both. If anything, it has been easier to combine the mixture than lentils alone. The gross yield was approximately 35 bushels an acre. I bought an old rotary screen cleaner and with it too wet to continue combining we’re now in the process of separating the seed. So far, there appears to be nearly 15 per cent mustard. It’ll be interesting to see how the yield and quality compares with my other lentil crops where there aren’t tame mustard volunteers. I’m Kevin Hursh.

DynAgra, an independent Western Canada-based Company, is dedicated to providing growers with the tools to manage the risk and maximize the profitability of their farm business through the continued innovation of agricultural products and services. We are committed to developing and providing growers with the latest in precision agronomics, variable rate technology, soil fertility, crop protection, fertilizers, custom application and financial solutions.

There is a wide range in quality over the limited amount of crop that’s been harvested. Within the lentil crop, a lot of disease and sprouting is evident, although there has also been some good quality harvested. With the weather this week, you have to think the quality of many crops is going to take a further hit. This is especially true on the eastern Prairies where there has been a lot of rain in the past couple of weeks and more rain is forecast. In addition to bleaching, sprouting and disease, the rain and cool weather is further delaying maturity. When the clouds finally clear, frost might not be far behind. It’s that time of year. The days are getting shorter and we can’t seem to get a sustained period of warm, dry weather. It’s been a difficult growing season and so far the same pattern is holding for harvest. We really need a repeat of last year’s abnormally hot and dry September. Otherwise the Saskatchewan crop is going to have below average quality as well as below normal quantity. I’m Kevin Hursh.

DynAgra, an independent Western Canada-based Company, is dedicated to providing growers with the tools to manage the risk and maximize the profitability of their farm business through the continued innovation of agricultural products and services. We are committed to developing and providing growers with the latest in precision agronomics, variable rate technology, soil fertility, crop protection, fertilizers, custom application and financial solutions.

The phosphate market is going to get very  competitive in the next 12 months.  There are three new plants coming on stream by the end of 2011. 

Kailin’s 600,000st per year DAP plant located in South China will be running by the end of 2010

Ma-aden’s plant in Saudi Arabia that will produce a 3 million st per year of DAP will be on stream by spring of 2011.

OCP-Bunge’s JV Moroccan 720,00st per year DAP/MAP plant is on target to open by the end of 2011  

The new production has North American phosphate manufacturers starting to position themselves to defend their turf.  I don’t believe that this new production will impact Canadian Phosphate pricing this spring (2011) but I expect to see it impact the 2012 crop year.

In an attempt to spray a wet field, a Saskatchewan grower unfortunately got stuck.

Sprayer gets stuck in Saskatchewan.

To fix the situation, a track hoe was brought to pull the sprayer out. Without much success, it was decided to wait until the following day to try again. The next morning, ready to resume their efforts, this is what was found…

The morning after...

Sunk.

 

 

Here are more pictures of the blunder.

Failed attempt.

Submerged wheel.

Two track hoes down.

Livestock prices are a lot better than a year ago. The Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture publishes a Market Trends report that lists current grain and livestock prices versus the price one year earlier. A1 steers in Saskatchewan are currently listed at 90 cents a pound. A year ago, the price was 82 cents. D1 / D2 cows are a lot better at around 59 cents as compared to only 39 cents last year. With the fall calf run approaching, a lot of cow-calf producers will be following the price of feeder calves. The report lists the current price of 500 to 600 pound steer calves at $1.20 a pound, versus $1.09 last year. That’s roughly another $60 per calf. While that’s helpful, prices will have to increase further to provide a decent return. Many livestock analysts and observers believe cattle prices will indeed continue to strengthen. Look at the big turnaround in the hog industry. A year ago, Index 100 market hogs in Saskatchewan were around $95 per hundred kilograms. Now prices are in the $150 to $160 range. That’s the kind of increase cow-calf producers would like to see. I’m Kevin Hursh.

DynAgra, an independent Western Canada-based Company, is dedicated to providing growers with the tools to manage the risk and maximize the profitability of their farm business through the continued innovation of agricultural products and services. We are committed to developing and providing growers with the latest in precision agronomics, variable rate technology, soil fertility, crop protection, fertilizers, custom application and financial solutions.

A rising tide is supposed to raise all the ships, but some grain prices have increased a lot more than others. Wheat, durum and barley price expectations took a major jump yesterday in the CWB’s newest Pool Return Outlook. Top quality spring wheat is up by nearly $1.50 a bushel. The price expectation for No. 1 CWRS with 13.5 per cent protein is now an average of nearly $6 a bushel net Saskatchewan. The PRO on top quality durum saw an increase of just over a dollar a bushel. No. 1 durum with 13 per cent protein now has a PRO of just over $5 a bushel. Malting barley is up by a dollar a bushel and now sits at $4.13 net Saskatchewan. Cereal prices still pale in comparison to canola, which has been around $10 a bushel and flax which is quoted at around $13. Price quotes approaching 30 cents a pound are now being seen for top quality large green lentils. Crops that you’d have to rate as disappointing include peas, mustard and canaryseed. Yellow pea prices remain under $5.50 a bushel, yellow mustard is only about 24 cents a pound and canaryseed is struggling to hit 20 cents. While some crop prices are in the upper range of historical bids, others are certainly not.

I’m Kevin Hursh.

DynAgra, an independent Western Canada-based Company, is dedicated to providing growers with the tools to manage the risk and maximize the profitability of their farm business through the continued innovation of agricultural products and services. We are committed to developing and providing growers with the latest in precision agronomics, variable rate technology, soil fertility, crop protection, fertilizers, custom application and financial solutions.