Tag: farming

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Costs in the Cattle Business

It’s good to pencil out the costs of your business once in awhile just to see where you are at on the balance sheet. But if you are a cattle rancher, you probably shy away from looking at how much money you have been losing especially in the last few years. There is a reason why cow/calf operations in Manitoba contracted by 7% in 2022.

So here’s some back of the napkin costs for someone thinking of keeping a few cattle. The assumptions are that you already have a small plot of land, say 80 acres, some outbuildings, and ready access. Many young families are already choosing this type of lifestyle out in the country.

The numbers will be for Manitoba in $CAD using costs from 2022. Your goal is to start out with 20 bred cows plus 1 bull calving in March with the weaned calves for October sale. Assumptions are that costs will be low end of the scale and you will be putting in a lot of sweat equity and will be able to be mostly available to look after the animals.

INPUTS

  • 20 Bred Cows – $2000 each, these are low quality animals but you have to start somewhere – $40000
  • 1 Two Year Old Bull – you got real lucky at the auction, stole this one – $4000
  • Infrastructure – Upkeep of barn, sheds, fences, drinkers, tools, chute, headgate, cattle/calving supplies, etc. – $10000/yr
  • Normal Vet Bills – vaccines, medicine, supplies, preg/semen checks, can’t even count taking an animal in or calling them out to the ranch – $2500/yr
  • Pasture Rental (1/4 Section) – hopefully pasture is available close by or there’s a community pasture with space. BTW, two years ago the community pastures were kicking the animals out in August to save the grass. Also, you might have to improve the fencing for added costs – $6000/yr
  • Manure Removal – if you haven’t got your own machinery, you’re either renting or calling in custom to clean your pens yearly – $2000/yr
  • Transport – you have to move cattle back & forth to pasture, to market, to the vet, etc. We’ll assume you have a buddy that can help out and you can trade favours to cover these costs. But custom trucking is in the range of $300/hr.
  • Feed – dry hay is your most cost efficient feed source. To get cattle through our Manitoba winters, we figure on 8 X 2000lb bales per animal. Feed has been in very short supply due to the drought years on the Prairies. They’re still using straw laced with molasses to get animals through this winter. You’re lucky and found reasonable priced bales with reasonable transport costs. BTW, the truckers pay full Carbon Taxes & guess where those costs get pass to. So $100/baleX8X21 animals = 168 bales – $16800/yr
  • Bedding – hopefully you can source some straw nearby, we were selling ours for $50/bale last year. That’s going to be lots of forking for you since you don’t have your own front end loader. Let’s say 100 bales for the winter – $5000/yr
  • Salt & Mineral – salt happens to be incredibly cheap, something like $8/50lb bag. Mineral more expensive at $50/40lb bag. Your animals need it plus some way to feed it other than just throwing blocks on the ground – $500/yr
  • Operating Costs – we could assume you have a nice old farmer who is okay with unloading all your bales and setting it up so you could creep feed through the winter. You will still have to feed the cattle in their pens during calving but you could go old school and just fork the hay over the fence. Have fun doing that twice a day. The farmer could be paid in cookies baked by your wife and she could show him a little skin once in awhile. But you’ll have some extra fuel costs and electrical costs – $1000/yr
  • Cost Year 1 – @$88000, yearly costs for subsequent years – @$45000

INCOME

  • Will lose 1 calf (heifer this yr) due to accident, illness, predators
  • Need to keep back 3 heifers as replacements
  • Assuming 50/50 split, there will be 6 heifers/10 steers for fall sale
  • Assuming really good gains on the pasture, steers will average 700lbs, heifers 650lbs
  • Last years prices were the best we’ve seen in quite awhile, $2.40/lb for steers & $2.10/lb for heifers
  • Assume about $1500/cull cow sold
  • Assume about 5% costs for the auctioneer to sell the calves
  • Gross Income – $8190 for the heifers/$16800 for the steers/$4500 for the cull cows minus 5% commission = $28000

Congratulations! Your first year losses are in the range of $60000 and each year after you are losing an additional $17000. Not to mention, you are tied to animals that could all die on you if you don’t constantly pay attention to them especially during calving season. Hope you enjoyed having a life before cattle cuz that’s your whole life now. You now have a time consuming, expensive hobby farm.

The smart people who think about going into cattle for a living just burn their cash instead of going through all this hassle.

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STUDENT FARMER – PART IV

A droopy ear on a beast can be the first sign of an issue with the animal
An Almanac of Farming – A Series

This is a continuation of a series of notes to myself on farming that I would like to share with those who are interesting in the subject.

  • If an animal can figure out a way to open a gate, get stuck, or just die, it will. Found a calf the other day that had pushed two gates out enough to stick his head in and then get stuck. Then he fought me when I tried to push his head down to let him go as the chains holding the gate were jammed. Cattle and calves will chew on plastic twine which can get in their gut and kill them. We pick up as much twine as we can find to prevent this.
  • If animals are doing something strange, it is for a reason. If calves are drinking from a manure puddle when there is fresh water right next to them in a drinker, then check the drinker for issues. Turns out the wires were grounding out and the water was electrified.
  • Always shut the gate!
  • If you have to pull a large animal, you can use a non-choke chain and pull them by the head. If you pull them by the legs you can hurt them.
  • When feeding silage to cattle make sure they have a good water source. After eating silage, cattle are quite thirsty.
  • Since cattle are not bright enough to go down both sides of a trough, if you stand in the middle of the stream of cattle going by it will split them enough to even things out.
Bored, itchy cattle like to get into mischief and knocked over this section of wind fence
  • When the weather is warm and pleasant, cattle will get up to mischief. They will wander through the whole paddock so make sure the fences are in good shape, fencers are on and sparking, and the gates are secure.
  • On our farm, if a cow is going to slip a calf (have a spontaneous abortion), it seems to happen in the first week of January. Look for an animal that is acting weird. The aborted fetus will attract birds and coyotes. Finding the cow after can be difficult if she is not hanging around the dead calf. Look for obvious signs of birth like a loose vagina, blood, a dirty tail, and signs of the udder starting to bag up.
  • Dipping of an ear is an early warning sign of something awry with an animal. In one case, the young heifer was ovulating. Signs include restlessness, cattle jumping each other, and very noticeable sweating. Also, I usually have a dog with me and his first reaction was to run up and have a good sniff of her hind end.
  • In poor hay years, ranchers have to start scrounging for cattle feed to replace or supplement the usual dry hay rations. Some options are Distillers Dry Grain (DDGs), potatoes, green oat silage, corn silage, ground barley, or grass seed screenings pellets. Ranchers also can feed canola, barley, or wheat straw bales to give the animals some roughage. A few gallons of feed molasses poured or injected into the bales helps to ‘sweeten the pot’ and seems to make the straw more palatable. Some pitfalls come with the different feeds. DDGs are fine like dust and wind will blow it away if they are in an unprotected area. Cattle can choke on whole potatoes. Silage is costly and prone to spoilage before freeze-up. Grass seed screenings can contain ergot which can cause health and reproduction issues in your herd.
  • Before straight cutting became so prevalent, there was not much use for canola straw. When canola is swathed, it needs to sit for a few weeks before combining. There was not much use in trying to keep straw which had been sitting on the ground. But with desiccation and different varieties, the straw has become very useful as a bedding material and feed source. Canola straw actually has a higher feed content than barley or wheat straw. There is a trade-off though by not chopping straw back into the field as the nutrients and fertilizer value is being taken away. Plus there is the extra cost of putting up the straw. But when hay yields are down and round bales are going for $100 plus each, canola straw with a little molasses gets the job done.

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BEAN-COUNTING FARMER

Input Costs Associated with Growing a Commercial Grain Crop

The social media feeds were buzzing over a large Federal Carbon Tax levy on a propane bill from a Saskatchewan grain drying company. Angry commenters were concerned that the cost was going to be transferred to the consumers. Not to worry, grain is sold on the open market and it is the farmer who has to eat this cost. They do not have the luxury of passing their input costs along to the consumer.

Here’s a quick exercise in cost comparisons for the consumer versus the farmer. In 1920, adjusted for inflation a dollar was worth about $11.91. White bread was about 10¢/loaf (1lb) or $1.19/loaf in 2019 dollars. Compare that to about $1.88/one pound loaf today. For the farmer, their wheat/bushel has dropped in value over the last 100 years from about $17/bushel to today’s value of $7.

That increase per loaf has not been going to the farmer. The middle men have been passing along their increasing costs along to the consumer. Meanwhile, the farmer’s input costs have been steadily rising and they have been forced to become more and more efficient or just simply go under.

In order to better understand the costs to farmers associated with growing cereal, pulses, or oil seed crops, presented here is a list of all the major inputs. The Manitoba government releases a very detailed guide each year to help farmers estimate their upcoming costs. As a rough guide, in order to be profitable a crop of wheat needs to produce in the range of 30 bushels/acre. Again, the farmer is unable to pass any of these costs along to anyone else. They only receive what the market will pay when it is time to sell their crop.

Also, as a note, although farm fuel (known as marked or purple gas & diesel) was exempted from the Federal Carbon tax (only after concerns were raised), it does not mean that farmers are not paying significant extra costs due to this draconian tax.

  • Land Costs – for older farmers, their land is no longer mortgaged. For younger farmers or for a farm to expand, agricultural land is becoming prohibitively expensive and harder to carry mortgages on. Farmers from Europe, BC, Alberta are selling their land and coming to Manitoba to buy our relatively cheap land and driving up the cost. Here is an article illustrating the climbing value of SK farmland. Many farmers also rent land which in Manitoba can run at $60/acre and up.
  • Crown Land Costs – Many farmers lease Crown land from the government as a method of using land at a relatively low cost. In Manitoba, the long leases are being dropped to 15 years and changes are coming where highest bidders may be able to snap up leases. Farmers are concerned about being squeezed out of the market if they cannot compete against these increased costs.
  • Land Taxes – As land becomes more valuable, the assessed value for taxes increase. Municipalities are receiving windfalls from large landowners and see them as cash cows when applying special levies. The mantra is ‘if you can afford to have land, you can afford to pay more tax.’
  • Land Improvement Costs – Although there is sometimes some assistance from the Municipality or Watershed organizations, if a farmer wants to improve drainage, plant trees, or improve their land, the costs and paperwork are borne by the farmer.
  • Fertilizer Costs – This is one of the highest input costs and is most subject to Carbon Tax pressures. Farmers spread or inject a variety of fertilizers onto their fields depending on soil need, crop grown, or time of year. A main component of most fertilizer blends is nitrogen. Nitrogen fertilizer in MB is made with natural gas at the Koch Fertilizer plant in Brandon. This plant is the highest CO2 emitter in MB and is firmly in the government’s crosshairs regarding emissions. Due to it being a large emitter, private sweetheart deals were being negotiated with companies like these regarding the Carbon Tax. Fertilizer prices themselves fluctuate regularly due to a number of factors, so it has been difficult to determine what increases have been passed down to the farmers. Koch is a private company and is reticent regarding this issue.
  • Seed Costs – Farmers source their seeds from a wide variety of outlets. Our farm happens to plant our own wheat seed and buy canola and soybeans. But even with our own seed, we pay a mobile seed cleaning company to clean it in order to remove poor seeds and weeds. Canola and soybeans are bought as treated seed. A 50lb bag of canola seed will cost $600-$700 and is sown at about a 4-5lb/acre rate.
  • Planting Costs – most farmers plant their own fields with their own equipment. But in certain cases, such as corn which needs a special seeder, it may not be worth it for the farmer to have their own machinery. In these cases, a custom outfit would be hired.
  • Machinery Costs – most major pieces of farm equipment for preparing the field, seeding, maintaining, harvesting, and transporting grain to the buyers cost hundreds of thousands of dollars each. Farmers cannot share too much equipment as everyone’s fields and crops need attention at the same time, so each farmer needs their own machines. In addition, farms need to replace and upgrade machinery on a timely basis or the cost of the upgrades becomes prohibitive.
  • Maintenance Costs – farm machinery needs regular maintenance and is prone to breakdowns due to the adverse conditions they are run in. Filters can be $100 a piece. Oil and lubrication has to be constantly monitored. Bearings burn out and have to be replaced. The list can be endless. Plus, back when machinery was less sophisticated, a farmer could fix most of their own gear. Now, technicians from the dealerships frequently visit the farms to set sensors, conduct mobile tire repairs, update GPS monitors, etc. Also, in many cases, the machine must be transported to the shop for major repairs.
  • Fuel Costs – this is a major bill on any farm. Thankfully, marked fuel or purple has a cost discount plus it was exempted from the Carbon Tax. Originally, the Liberals were going to include it but an uproar helped change their minds. But added into the fuel bill category, is a liquid called Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF). Many newer engine equipped machines come with DEF tanks which are designed to reduce the pollution created by diesel engines. Some machines such as our combine are unable to run if the DEF tank goes empty. Unfortunately, DEF freezes at zero degrees and it creates obvious problems during Prairie winters. It’s just another cost built into the system.
  • Spraying costs – without the use of herbicides/pesticides there would be no use in even planting a crop. As a side note, organic operations also use these products which are typically more toxic than synthetic products. Mother Nature throws everything she’s got at the farmer to knock down his crop from pests, to fungus, to weeds, etc. Sometimes the farmer can spray their own fields, sometimes they may need to contract aerial spraying, and sometimes they may need to contract high clearance sprayers all for various needs.
  • Harvesting and Storage costs – special equipment in the form of combines, grain carts, grain trucks, augers, and grain bins are needed to bring the crop in. None of these items are cheap and when the crop is ready, it is taken. Also, with certain crops such as corn, again the farmer may hire a custom outfit due to the specialized machinery. A very handy invention are the grain drying systems that run on forced air (with some systems, heated by propane or natural gas) are available. This allows the farmer to harvest damper crops and dry them as opposed to being caught by the weather and unable to get the crop off. Mother Nature can be a bitch, so technology can aid the farmer greatly. The Liberals are also bitches and did not exempt those fuels from the Carbon tax.
  • Labour costs – during busy times of the grain cycle, the farmer may hire temporary help. When it’s time to go, the farmer can’t dilly dally as prime conditions do not last long and there are only so many hours in the day.
  • Transport costs – when the Prairies started producing grain in earnest and the rail systems started to crisscross the land, little towns with elevators were placed every 5 to 10 miles along the tracks. This was to accommodate the farmer’s horse drawn grain carts. With large scale mechanization after WWII, trucks became more common and elevators spread out to every 10 to 20 miles. With time, the trucks are larger, rail tracks were torn up, the grain companies consolidated, and the little elevators have all disappeared to be replaced by centralized inland grain terminals which are 100 to 200 miles apart. Some farmers transport their own grain still but many hire trucking companies with B-trains to custom haul. The fuel for those haulers is not Carbon Tax exempt and that extra cost is passed to the farmer.
  • Subscription & Advisor Service costs – long gone are the days when I was a kid running across the field with a  string acting as a reference point for Dad as he tried to run me over with the sprayer. GPS and auto-steer functions run the larger equipment now. The precision needed is a service that needs to be paid for. Also, farmers keep up with the torrent of farm information available and subscribe to periodicals and crop advisor services. Crop advisors can cost $3-4/acre and will constantly monitor the farmer’s crops.
  • Insurance costs – Again, Mother Nature is frequently a stone, cold bitch and frequently attempts to wipe out a farmer’s crops. Crop and hail insurance is a vital component required by farmers otherwise a bad year or two in a row would wipe them out. Insurance claims do not replace the entire amount of your losses but take the sting out of them.
  • Banking costs – the banks and other loan companies make sure to take their little slices of the farmer’s bottom line for the privilege of using their services.
  • Hopes & Prayers costs – Thankfully, these are free! To be a farmer, you have to be an eternal optimist, ready to bounce back from constant adversity from all corners be it Mother Nature, costly government regulations, or meddling townies who feel they know better.

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DISGRUNTLED FARMER

The Canadian family farm is in its sunset years unless action is taken soon

Canadian Farmers in Crisis and No One Cares

*** Trigger Warning ***

If you are a farmer you might be triggered if you read this and may need to seek a safe space in the Back 40.

*** Trigger Warning ***

As Canadians prepare for their Christmas feasts of turkey, ham, potatoes, and all the trimmings, it would be nice if they would give a thought to all the hard working farmers who make it possible for them to be enjoying all of their food abundance. It would also be nice for Canadians to wake up to the fact that Canada’s family farm is headed towards extinction.

Once in a while, I get into a circular farm related discussion on social media with some townie who think they are farming experts and don’t need to listen to someone who actually farms. The easy way to shut them down is to challenge them to go without any farm produced products for six months and I will go without whatever they produce for the same period. Townies would be eating grass to stay alive and most of the population would be dead in a month without a regular food supply. So, maybe farmers are perhaps a vital industry and maybe they should be treated as such.

As you are loosening your belt after too much holiday eating, many Prairie farmers are selling grain and livestock to generate some year-end income in order to pay the bills. Farmers sell their produce on the open market and get paid according to whatever the going rate is. The problem is that over the years, their input costs keep increasing and unlike other industries they cannot recoup their losses by passing increased costs along to the consumer.

Here are a few examples. Adjusted for inflation, the $7/bushel wheat that our farm has been selling this week was worth $34/bushel back in 1870. The feeder calves we sold at market the other day are fetching about the same price per pound as my great-grandfather was getting back in 1918. The value of farm receipts wildly fluctuate year to year with StatsCan reporting that farmer’s net income across Canada took a 45% drop in 2018 compared to 2017.

Imagine for one second if a union or civil servant was asked to take a 45% pay cut for the coming year.

So what’s to be done in order to bring this crisis to the forefront of Canadian politics? Here are a few thoughts:

  • Canadian farmers need to take a page from their EU counterparts and stage large protests. At less than 2% of the population, farmers do not wield much political power except in specific pockets such as the dairy industry in Quebec. Shut down Ottawa for six months or as long as it takes until the politicians start paying attention. Going on strike would not be practical as Canada produces such a surplus of food, most of it gets exported. But if there were food shortages, that would get the public’s attention pretty quick.
  • Farm groups need to mount massive advertising campaigns to educate the public on the importance of farmers to Canada and the World’s food supply. The Dairy Farmers of Canada are on the right track with their recent ad series. Like it or not, marketing ads work.
  • Farm groups need to pressure politicians to shut down NGOs and activists who are spewing absolute nonsense about farm practices. Alberta is on the right track with beefed up laws to crack down on nuisance farm protesters. The anti-farm crowd uses constant fear-mongering, hyperbole, and outright lies to demonize farming. This has led to burdensome and costly regulations enacted by legislators who have little to no understanding of farming and its benefits.
  • Food security should be a national interest. Government programs need to be set up to halt and reverse the hemorrhaging being experiences by Canadian farmers. Very few young people are staying with or entering the field of farming. Incomes need to rise and farmers need to be paid a fair price for their produce. But none of this is new as farmers have been dealing with this crisis since the mid-80’s and have been proposing the same solutions to deaf ears.

It is unfortunate that our country is so vast and our farmers are so independent. Otherwise serious action probably would have taken place much earlier to halt this farming crisis.

So have a thought this Christmas season regarding who made it possible for you to set your table.

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PRAIRIE SCRIBBLER – SOUTH MOUNTAIN PRESS, VOLUME 11, NUMBER 51 – Part 2

Canola Field – Image courtesy of the Canola Council of Canada

***Original published in South Mountain Press, April 5, 2019***

China’s Canadian Canola Boycott not Affecting Local Farmers – Yet

Ever since last December when Canadian authorities arrested Huawei executive, Meng Wanzhou, the Chinese government has been putting pressure on Canada to release the Chinese national who is facing extradition to the United States. Among the tactics employed by China has been the slowing down and now outright blocking of Canadian canola imports from the Winnipeg based, agribusiness company Richardson International. This begs the question of how is this going to affect the local farming economy and summer seeding programs.

After speaking to area farmers, seed companies, and elevator operators, it appears that at least for this season, farmers will not be changing their 2019 seeding programs due to this latest international trading spat.

Agriculture Canada spokespeople had no comment other than they are aware of the situation and people are working on it.

Jeremy Andreychuk, who farms north of Newdale, has no plans to change this year’s planned crop rotation of a combination of canola, wheat, barley, and oats. “We will seed our usual acreage of about 1250 acres of canola. Sure, prices for canola are a little lower but I think after this issue resolves itself, there might be a rebound. The Chinese market for canola oil is strong and most of them use it for cooking.”

Agriculture Canada literature backs up this sentiment. The Chinese have a large population with an oil-based cooking style. Due to the increase in their living standards and awareness of health and nutrition, they are demanding ‘higher-end and healthier oils with value-added nutrition.’ Growth for Canadian canola seed exported to China has grown from 2.9 million tonnes in 2013 to 4.8 million tonnes in 2018.

Local area seed companies are also backing up the assertions that farmers are not overly worried over this latest canola issue. Ron Knight of Knight Seeds in Hamiota does not foresee any major changes to grain farmer’s programs for this upcoming season.

As Ron explained, “Farmers had already pre-bought canola seed and signed contracts with the elevators by last December before this fuss started with China. In fact, I expect to see an increase in canola production in our area due to the poor soybean yields from last summer. Canola is a good crop to rotate to after growing cereals such as wheat.”

As for impacts to farmers if the dispute drags on, Ron was of the opinion that other grains and markets will take up the slack. For example, due to the lower hay production for cattle farmers, there is a higher demand for feed crops such as barley, oats, and corn. These commodities are trading above the 10 year averages and farmers were already increasing those acreages. In addition, Ron expects an increase in fall rye and malt barley plantings this year.

But according to Ron, trade disputes over Canadian grains and pulses are nothing new on the world trading scene. India used to import higher quantities of Canadian yellow peas until they imposed a 50 per cent import tariff back in November, 2017. Ironically, China picked up the slack in sales and picked up about 65-70% of Canadian yellow pea exports. But along with canola, those sales are also starting to slow.

As Ron said, ‘You have to remember, China is a major buyer of all grains, not just Canadian canola which is accounting for about 40% of our canola exports. All grain farmers and related Canadian jobs could be affected by the slow down. In the short term, grain is going to be stored longer on the farm and at the elevator. But this grain will have to start moving before next fall’s harvest starts to come in. Farmers can only sit on their full bins for so long before bills start to come due. I am starting to see a trickle of farmers getting squeezed this way. They can only wait so long before they will be forced to sell at a lower price. Farmers do not have the luxury of passing inflationary costs downstream, so if this issue doesn’t resolve in a timely fashion, it’ll be another hit to their bottom line.’

For people interested in the background of Canada’s grain trade, the Canadian Grain Commission has a comprehensive site with all sorts of statistics on the subject. For example, for the 2017/2018 crop year (runs from August to July), China imported 25% of Canada’s total crop exports. The main grains imported were wheat (7%), Barley (91%), Flax (58%), Canola (44%), Peas (67%), and Soybeans (44%). The numbers are the percentage amounts of total Canadian grain exports of each particular commodity. In 2016, canola seed and canola meal exports were worth $2.8 billion (CAN). Obviously, the Chinese market is immense when it comes to the financial well-being of Canadian farmers.

Bringing the economics of canola closer to home, the readership area of the South Mountain Press and Crossroads This Week held a farming area of approximately half a million acres of canola last year which produced about half a million tons of the oilseed. Roughly, the net value of the crop was $250 million (CAD).

As for worries about the quality of Canadian canola, all large Canadian exporters and producers of food such as Richardson International follow the Canadian Food Inspection Agency Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) protocols. The regulatory regime is extremely strict. Each delivery of grain is scrutinized numerous times and if need be, can be individually traced back to the source. Then before export, the Canadian Grain Commission conducts their own licensing and inspection requirements. In fact, even before the cargo ship leaves a Canadian port, the importer has to accept the shipment as satisfactory.

It is obvious that China is promulgating this farce of a canola food safety incident only as a thinly veiled political retaliation to the Huawei executive’s arrest. The practical upshot of the ploy is that it will probably result in the temporary lowering of commodity prices. Frankly, it’s laughable that a country which tried to cover up the lacing of its baby formula with poison would accuse Canada of selling them tainted seed.

But the general consensus from industry is the Chinese government cannot hold up the import of Canadian grains for long. There is too much of a demand from a billion, hungry, Chinese citizens.

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PRAIRIE SCRIBBLER – SOUTH MOUNTAIN PRESS, VOLUME 11, NUMBER 42

The Popp Family of Clanwilliam, MB

***Original published in South Mountain Press, February 1, 2019***

Clanwilliam Farming Family Wins Conservation District Award

Recently, local Clanwilliam cattle ranchers Adele and John Popp, were presented with the 2018 Little Saskatchewan River Conservation District Award in recognition of their land stewardship practices. The Popp family received the award during the Manitoba Conservation Districts Association Awards Banquet held in Brandon on December 11.

The Little Saskatchewan River Conservation District was created in 1999 with the mandate to ‘facilitate and support integrated development and stewardship of water and land resources within watersheds, in ways that assure ecosystem health and sustainability through engagement of local citizens.’

Since the Conservation District’s inception, they have recognized families and organizations who have made contributions that align with the CD’s vision of stakeholders focused upon the land, the water and the other natural resources within its watersheds.

John Popp, who originally emigrated from Germany with his family, has over 20 years of experience in the livestock industry and has a Ph. D. in Ruminant Nutrition. In 1998, he and the family moved back to the Clanwilliam family farm to take it over from his parents. Since then, he and his family have been active stewards of their land and promoting sustainable farming management practices.

Along with ranching, John runs the company Big Bear Genetics Ltd. John’s late father, Werner Popp, had the dream of introducing the Bavarian Fleckvieh cattle breed to North America and started the process in 1999. Today, John continues his father’s vision of promoting Fleckvieh lines to North American beef and dairy producers. Part of the couple’s herd of 170 Red Angus acts as a recipient herd for top quality Fleckvieh dairy embryos.

Adele, who hails from a Saskatchewan grain farm, is an active partner with her husband and runs the farm while John is away on company business. From the fall of 1992 to the spring of 1993, she was with the International Agriculture Exchange Association in Australia. As a trainee, Adele was placed into the home of a host family in the town of Marysville, Victoria (approximately 1.5 hours from Melbourne).  She chose a livestock exchange and was matched up with a beef cattle operation that did a lot of rotational grazing of yearlings and cow calf.

Adele has taken her knowledge and overseas farming experience and has since applied it to the running of their own cattle operation. She is very active in studying their farm’s soil nutrition and exploring different methods of land regeneration.

The couple’s children, Viktor and Hanna, also shared the Award with their parents. Both kids have been active with running the farm. Viktor is in his third year of Engineering at the University of Manitoba in the faculty of Biosystems Engineering.  He took an 8 month work experience job with MacDon Industries as a test technician.  His position involved the operation of prototype combine header out in the field, collecting data, writing reports, and acting as a liaison between the cooperating farmer and company.

Hanna is a high school student at Erickson Collegiate. Along with helping out on the farm, she is active in the local 4-H Beef Club. Through 4H public speaking competitions Hanna qualified to speak at the 2018 Royal Winter Fair at the Canadian Young Speakers Association competition.

The Popp family is well deserving of their recognition in light of their contributions to agriculture and land stewardship. They are happy to share their knowledge and experience and welcome visitors to ask questions and tour their Clanwilliam operation.

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Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.

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STUDENT FARMER – PART III

A Manitoba Ice Rainbow viewed from the farm yard


An Almanac of Farming – A Series

This is a continuation of a series of notes to myself on farming that I would like to share with those who are interesting in the subject.

  • When placing bale rings back onto a bale, make sure a calf is not caught on the back side of the ring.
  • When dumping bales into a ring with a partially eaten bale, make sure young calves are not hiding in the hay.
  • Moldy bales or ones full of foxtail grass are hard on cattle, especially calves. If you have to feed one, push it around so that the mold will fly out before the cows get into it too much.
Example of a cow’s prolapsed rectum
  • Occasionally, cattle will experience a prolapsed rectum or uterus due to a variety of causes. The ailment needs swift attention or the animal will die either of blood loss or infection. The animal should be treated in a chute to contain their movement. Movement should happen sooner than later or they may become too lethargic. Treatment consists of a freezing shot in the tail head to prevent further pushing, then thorough washing of the exposed tissue. Once the freezing has taken effect, attempt to re-invert the rectum/uterus within the animal. This is apparent once it occurs. Then the anus needs sewing with very heavy stitching around the outside circumference, then tied off. The opening needs to be sufficient for excrement to pass but hopefully small enough to keep the tissue within the animal. Of course, the animal needs treating with a good dose of antibiotics and monitored until the stitching can be removed. Hopefully, the tissue remains inside the animal. One note, even though it may be severely cold outside, your hand and arm will stay warm enough when it is up inside the animal’s ass.
  • If a cattle beast is moving slow and not up with the rest of the herd, there’ is something wrong with it. The drooping of their ears is a dead give-away. Take a look at their demeanor, look how they move, compare their girth to the others to see if they’ are losing weight. They could be huffing or short of breath. Further along into the sickness, snot and blood will be in their nostrils. Antibiotics can be a life saver and will turn the animal around if you get them onboard quick enough. If the animal has been suspected of ingesting metal that is irritating their internal organs, a magnet can be given orally. The magnet will hopefully attract the piece of metal and keep it from damaging the animal further. When working with the animal, they will easily drop due to exhaustion. You might have to give them a minute or two to rest or you might have to motivate them to get moving again. Also, as they are probably disoriented and out of sorts, they will not react normally. An animal can turn on you and could take a run at you for no reason, so it is best to be on your guard.
  • If a cow is starting to act weird and aggressive when nearing calving season, they are probably starting to calve. It will be a premature birth and will end up with a ‘slipped calf. There are any number of reasons for aborted fetuses such as carrying twins, sustaining an injury, or there was something wrong with calf. There is not much you can do with the situation but determine which cow it was and probably just sell her as a cull cow.
  • Never trust that an animal that has been snared is actually dead unless it is really obvious. They could be playing possum and a little poke with a stick could save you from being nipped by a coyote.
  • When the weather gets particularly cold, make sure to keep up on the bedding for your bulls. Their testicles can freeze and result in infertility.
  • One extra sign of a calving cow, look for a telltale kink in their tail.
  • Cattle can get fooled into thinking they are going to give birth. If the calf is moving around a lot or if the animal is having strong false labour pains, they may exhibit the signs of calving. 

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PRAIRIE SCRIBBLER – SOUTH MOUNTAIN PRESS, VOLUME 11, NUMBER 32

Anhydrous Ammonia tanks idle for the season

***Original published in South Mountain Press, November 9, 2018***

Farmers Persevere Despite Challenging Fall Weather

In spite of inclement fall weather conditions, Shoal Lake area farmers are not too far behind with their usual field work for this time of year. Farming is difficult at the best of times but some long hours during the dry spells between the snow and rain falls got most farmers caught up.

Then once harvest is in the bins, farmers usually like to get a jump on fall field work before freeze up forces them to push it into next spring. For farmers growing crops such as wheat or canola, the practice is to apply nitrogen in the form of anhydrous ammonia by deep tilling and injecting the fertilizer into the soil.  During those brief October dry spells, highway motorists would have noticed the numerous large white anhydrous ammonia (NH3) trucks shuttling back and forth to replenish the farmers out on their fields.

Shoal Lake Shur-Gro Manager Wes Arnfinson says that although there is still some harvest left to be brought in, his company is seeing normal demand for fall fertilizer application. Their customers are mostly applying NH3 this time of year along with some granular nitrogen. Since the area does not have enough heat units to support good soybean growth, their outlet does not see much demand for phosphorous or potassium at this time of year.

Other local Ag Supply companies are also reporting close to normal levels of business for this time of year. Over at Richardson Pioneer, Senior Director Gerald Bryson says they are seeing, ‘A slightly less than average fall fertilizer season taking place. Volumes would be around 90% of average and it may not be done yet based on weather.’ His company is keeping up with the usual fall surge of demand for NH3. Dry fertilizer blends were also applied in normal quantities and supply was less of a problem.

As for Federated Co-op Limited, they should be getting caught up on suppling local Co-op Agro Centres with propane for farmer’s grain dryers. Back on October 9, the company released a statement stating that it’s been ‘impossible to keep up’ with demand. The company alleviated the situation with the hiring of more drivers and re-distributing its trucking fleet.

Of course, Mother Nature is not finished with the farmers yet. Unseasonable cold weather is moving into the area and as soon as the ground freezes down a couple of inches then fall work will grind to a halt.

As for the rows of downed canola or the fields of flattened wheat, it may have to wait to be combined after a full freeze-up or into next spring. Unfortunately, quality and quantity of those crops by that point will have degraded to the status of animal feed.

Either way, crop insurance reps will be busy with the expected numerous crop insurance claims being filed due to this fall’s poor weather.

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STUDENT FARMER – PART TWO

An Almanac of Farming – A Series

Spending time with your animals and out in the wild is invaluable experience. Today’s youth are too caught up with swiping their tablets or blowing out their eardrums to loud music. Even their parents have trapped themselves indoors and rely on directed information instead of gathering their own first hand knowledge. My recommendation and hope is to have some of these bon mots be an inspiration to a person or two to get out and see and understand real living for themselves.

  • When you are herding cattle out to pasture, plan for frequent stops for the animals to catch their breath. Cattle that have been in pens all winter will have low stamina and their calves will tire easily. You also need to keep ahead of the lead cows to slow down the herd. Quite often they are so excited, the animals will run themselves to exhaustion. Also, once they are in the destination pasture, hold the herd for a bit just so the calves do not lose their mothers.
  • Cattle are not smart enough to keep moving through a pasture from new to old grass. They will tend to keep eating the new growth and overgraze an area. They need to be periodically shifted from spot to spot.
  • Animals can have all sorts of ailments affecting their internal organs. If they have stomach issues, the catch all phrase is colic. Symptoms include confusion, agitation, distention of the abdomen, throwing themselves to the ground, random kicking at their midsection with their hide legs, listlessness, and death. Treatment includes tubing with Bloat-Eze, mineral oil and other medicines. But unfortunately, if the animal has bloated for too long or there is a serious issue with their stomach, often they will die within hours. Bloat In Young Calves & Other Pre-ruminant Livestock
  • Bulls will act like jerks to other bulls to exert dominance. They will even attempt to drown their opponent if that means winning the fight. A much smaller bull pushed a rival with a sore leg into a dugout and kept pushing him back in and under until his opponent made it to the far end and made his way out.
  • Be careful when feeding corn, stalks and all to horses. If they get too much they can get grain overload which can cause stomach bloating and death. You do not have to be as careful with cattle because they’ are too stupid to know they should be eating it. They are just as liable to play or trample the feed instead of eating it. Cows are dumb!
  • It is unfortunate and somewhat stupid that when an animal has to be destroyed for an illness such as a bad foot, that the carcass cannot be used for any purpose including cat or dog food. It seems the height of idiocy that a literal ton of meat must be buried instead of being put to good use.

  • The neonicotinoids used on seeds such as canola are only effective for about three weeks once the seed is in the ground. Therefore, bees cannot be affected by gathering pollen off of treated canola plants.
  • Porcupines always spin their back to you. They are slow moving and easily killed with a stick. Be careful of the quills and skin them from the belly out.
  • Ok, stop believing Disney and thinking animals are all cute and friendly. Everything eats everything in the wild. Chickadees and squirrels eat beaver meat, Fishers love the taste of cat, coyotes will eat each other and Martins hunt squirrels. One animal can be dead in a conibear trap and its buddy will push it aside to finish eating the bait. Plenty of times if the animal is dead for a time, other animals will chow down on it.
  • When you are out checking the cattle, look for groupings of magpies or crows. They are probably eating something like a stillborn calf that a cow has slipped.
  • During winter, frozen cow turds can turn into knee-high missiles when a tractor tire occasionally squirts them out sideways. Beware!
  • Deer are mean to each other. If there is a supply of feed, a senior doe will chase calves and other does away even when she is finished eating. During rutting season, bucks will herd a doe into a small bush area and will keep her penned in until he breeds her. If you see calves that seem to be wandering aimlessly, their mother was probably chased off by an amorous buck.

  • If you need to put down a cow by shooting it, there’s a sweet spot in the middle of the forehead. Make an ‘X’ from the base of the ears to the eyes and try to shoot straight in from about a foot away. It should kill the animal quickly as you have hit the brain. Even a small calibre .22 will kill a large cow this way.
  • If you have put an larger animal down and intend to just use it for coyote bait, partially skin the underbelly so animals can get to the innards easier. If an animal freezes without the skinning, it is too difficult for a coyote to break it open.

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STUDENT FARMER – PART ONE

Old School Cultivating

New School Cultivating

An Almanac of Farming – A Series

As the farm population in North America gradually dwindles, ‘corporate’ knowledge related to basic farming practices is being lost. Simple farming points that were passed from father to son are starting to pass to the wayside. Below is a selection of bon mots related to running a farm and caring for large animals.

  • Do not feed horses dusty or moldy hay. Their lung system is designed to be conducive to running so bad hay pulls the dust in deeply and creates breathing issues. When haying selection has to be put into the proper grass to be cut. It has to be dry and when you think it is dry enough, still wait a few days before baling. If rain hits the hay, forget about using it for your horse.
  • If there is skunk grass in your bale of hay, it should be rolled out instead of being fed in a bale ring. The grass is liable to poke cattle in the eye or damage the inside of their mouthes when eaten out of a ring.
  • When checking young calves, here is a couple of points. When they stand up and have a good stretch, they are probably feeling ok. Check for alertness, see if their ears are up or droopy, and examine their navel for signs of stiffness. If the animal is standing all hunched up or will not get up easily, they are probably sick. Infection of the navel can easily kill the animal especially through the tube that leads to the liver. Turn off your vehicle and just listen. You’ll hear the wheezing of a calf with pnemonia. Also, keep half an eye out for cows whose udders don’t look as if they’ve been sucked. If their calf isn’t sucking, it’s not feeling well.
  • When carrying large loads with a hydraulic loader, keep the load close to the ground. If you hit a rough patch, it will help prevent a shock load on the hoses which could cause them to pop.
  • Clean bedding in the pens is important for many reasons. A dirty cow sells for less at market partly due to looks and because when they are slaughtered, the plant has to spend more effort cleaning the hide. Good, fluffed-up straw helps keep the animals warm and clean. Cows will lie in their own manure and if their bags get dirty, their calves will come down with scours.
  • Horses are cleaner than cows and you can stand up a bale of straw and they will use it for bedding for months with little maintenance.
  • Older hay in bale rings will go uneaten if the ring is not lifted. Once the ring is moved, the cattle will stir up the hay and eat up the leftovers.
  • Sometimes when cattle do not eat a bale of hay right away, the outer crust needs disturbing so they can start digging into it.
  • To prevent excessive wear and tear on your tractors during the winter, remove spilled hay from the roadways. During the freeze/thaw cycle, the hay or straw will create lumps that the tractor has to bounce over. The material is extremely effective as an insulator and will prevent the snow and ice underneath from melting.
  • Push down the snow in the hay yard as you pull down on the hay supply. Hardened snow makes for a rough ride while bouncing over it with the tractor.
  • If the sides of the cattle look dirty as you drive by, it is probably time to bed the pen. If the cow’s udder becomes dirty, the calf will come down with scours.
  • If a cow loses its calf, a twin can be grafted on to the animal by skinning the dead calf and tying the hide on the other one. This should fool the mother into taking the twin.

Grafting a twin calf with a fresh hide

  • To keep a cow from kicking while you are trying to get her calf to suck, tie a rope nice and tight around her just forward of the udder.
  • Occasionally, when a cow is ornery and you have to work with her calf, open a gate and the cow will rush through leaving the calf behind. Then you can work on the calf without fear of the animal coming at you.
  • When starting a slow calf on the mother, milk the cow a bit first (with warm hands), wet your fingers with the milk and get the calf sucking on you first.
  • To differentiate between foot rot and lameness in a cow, look at the hoof for splitting. Excessive spacing and smell indicates the presence of foot rot.
  • When trailering cow/calf pairs out to pasture let them out in a way that the cow does not take off without her calf. Point the trailer at a fence line or even consider letting them out in a corral just to slow the cow down before she takes off without her calf. Cows will sometimes head for the hills and leave a lost calf behind. Unless you’re dumping them in a corral, it is best to trailer the animals as a cow/calf pair.
  • Newborn kittens can survive on their own for about three days if their mother abandons them. Sometimes, you can entice the mother to return if you put some food out and leave the area for a good period of time. Probably after a couple of days, if the mother has not returned, she is gone for good and you would have to eye-drop feed the kitten to save it.
  • If a cow is calm enough, she will let other calves suck from her udder. Most will just let their own suck but enterprising calves will steal milk from whoever will stand still.

All four teats on this cow are in use!

  • Younger cow fitted with a Calf Weaner

    Most animals will self-wean themselves but occasionally a younger cow (two to three years of age) will steal milk from other cows. This would deprive the calf of milk so the offending animal is fitted with a hard plastic nose attachment called a Calf Weaner. The barbs will irritate the udder of the other cow and she will move off.

  • Part of checking calves is to determine if they have been hurt by their mother or the other cattle. Occasionally, the calves can be stepped on and have their legs broken. If you can find the break, it can be casted and the animal can still feed itself.

Casting allows the calf to suck on their own

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