Cramer Ag Expo
Cramer Ag Expo has been postponed till Thursday May20th, in hopes that COVID 19 restrictions have been lifted and tradeshows are allowed.
All SASK Health protocols and guidelines will be followed; booths will be distanced, one way directional aisles, hand sanitizing stations, mandatory masks, limited attendance. Plus large outside tent to allow for extra space.
Modified registration packages are now available. For complete details please check out the website
www.cramereventmanagement.com
Final decision will be made April 30th if able to hold show or have to cancel due to COVID 19 restrictions. Should the show be cancelled full refunds will be given to exhibitors and sponsors.
For more information please contact Kelly Turcotte trade show co ordinator at 306. 737.6262 or email
kelly_turcotte@hotmail.com. •
AFAC Conference
The 2021 Livestock Care Conference’s (LCC) year’s theme, “Are We There Yet”’ epitomizes many attitudes as we roll into a new year and advancements in livestock welfare.
Kicking off March 4, the virtual LCC runs every Tuesday and Thursday in March. AFAC is proud to bring a variety of speakers and workshops from all corners of the livestock industry and the globe to highlight just how far livestock welfare and practices have come, and also to focus in on what’s next.
Check on the website afac.ab.ca for registration, complete agenda, and a complete list of sponsors including Alberta Pork. •
London Swine Conference Modified Online
With the rapidly changing COVID-19 situation, the LSC Planning Committee has decided that we will not proceed with LSC 2021 live and in person. We will be live streaming sessions, one per day, on March 30 and 31 and releasing a series of video presentations for on-demand viewing.
Thanks to our loyal sponsors, registrants and speakers for standing by us through the decision making process. Our industry continues to be strong together. The LSC planning committee wishes good health to all!
For details session topics check their website londonswineconference.ca •
Alberta Pork Congress
Due to the Covid 19 situation and uncertainties with the virus, no commitments have been made for a date for Alberta Pork Congress at this time by the planning committee.
Check the Alberta Pork Congress website albertaporkcongress.com for updates. Contact Kate Kelly at ConventionALL Management for more details and information.
E: kate@albertaporkcongress.com
PH: 403.244.7821
The April/May edition of Prairie Hog Country will have more updates too. •
Feds Announce $3.7 Million More for Farm Management
When federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau participated online for the Agriculture Excellence Conference in early December, she announced $3.7 million to help farmers improve their management.
There is more than $1.8 million for the AgriCompetitiveness Program which will helps farmers improve their business management skills.
It features sharing of skills among participants, helps them to add to their suite of skills and outlines best practices.
There is $1.8 million for Farm Management Canada to offer producers education about risk management and help them to develop risk management plans. •
— By Jim Romahn
Canadian Pork Producers Are Pleased with Minister Bibeau’s Proposal to Fix AgriStability
Canada’s 7,000 pork producers are pleased that the Federal Government has proposed a solution to fix AgriStability, but disappointed a consensus was not reached at the recent Federal Provincial Territorial (FPT) meeting. The lack of a consensus is especially troubling given the unprecedented volatility and risk that pork producers face due to COVID 19, its impact on consumers and the economy and ongoing challenges in international markets.
“Pork producers welcome the leadership from Minister Bibeau and are calling on provincial ministers to do the right thing and fix AgriStability,” said Rick Bergmann, Chair of the Canadian Pork Council. “While farmers are the first to feel the impact of these broken programs, the impacts are also felt in rural communities, along the entire value chain and across the country as the resiliency of the food supply weakens.”
The impact of broken programs is more significant given the losses producers are facing. Pork producers operate on razor-thin margins, so a small decrease in sales can significantly impact farm income. Statistics Canada’s recent data confirms that revenue has fallen more for pork producers than most other sectors. Those revenue declines lead to devastating income losses. The national numbers understate the losses faced by independent pork producers who are extremely exposed to volatility and risk and have fewer tools to protect against it.
“Pork producers are calling on Premiers and their Agriculture Ministers to accept Minister Bibeau’s proposal to fix AgriStability, including increasing the payment rate to 80%” added Mr. Bergmann. “Provincial governments will fail most farmers if they choose not to fund fixing AgriStability when they are spending $1 billion on crop insurance.”
British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Prince Edward Island all have made unilateral changes to improve AgriStability. It is important that there is agreement to fix AgriStability across the country so that farmers are treated equally. Only changing Reference Margin Limiting will not fix AgriStability for pork producers.
COVID 19 has had a devastating impact on many producers in our sector, a sector that contributes more than $24 billion to Canada’s GDP and exports more than $4 billion to 100 markets around the world. Pork producers have had to deal with extreme price fluctuations including some of the most profound price declines in history, border closures, and processing plant shutdowns. •
Sow Crate Deadline Ban Now 2029
The National Farm Animal Care Council has delayed the deadline to ban sow crates by five years to 2029.
It said “the physical complexities of adapting various barn designs was severely underestimated. Moreover, the importance of the quality of the space offered to animals might have been underestimated and the quantity of space overestimated.”
The council said it is also concerned about how much it costs to either convert barns or to build new ones.
The council said it decided to ban sow crates for animal welfare reasons, however, animal activists groups managed to persuade a number of the largest companies selling pork or pork-containing fast-food meals to announce their own bans. •
— By Jim Romahn
New Disease Detected in Pigs
A new coronavirus, PDCoV, has been identified in a finishing hog farm in Huron County, ON in early January.
It’s a disease that has been found in the United States hog population, but this is the first case in Canada.
Health and veterinary officials do not yet know whether it can transmit to people.
It causes severe diarrhea.
In 2009, porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) was detected in fecal samples from pigs in Asia, but its etiologic role was not identified until 2014, when it caused major diarrhea outbreaks in swine in the United States. •
— By Jim Romahn
An Update on Proposed
Amendments to the 2014 Pig Code
of Practice
The Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Pigs was released in 2014. In March 2019 a Code Technical Panel was established to undertake the pig Code’s 5 year review. Subsequently, amendments to the Code were proposed.
The Five-Year Review Summary Report -Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Pigs, completed in August 2020 outlines the complexities of the issues deliberated by the CTP, the agreements and recommendations made (including proposed amendments to the pig Code), projections for group housing, and a detailed literature review of research priorities and gaps that were identified during the 2014 pig Code’s development. It is a broad summary of the work undertaken by the CTP and provides important context for the proposed amendments to the pig Code. This substantial 137 page report has been summarized into a “What You Need to Know” clickable document. Which can be located on the National Farm Animal Care Council website nfacc.ca
Proposed amendments to the pig Code were open for a Public Comment Period (PCP) from September 21, 2020 – November 19, 2020. The PCP garnered a total of 1,122 submissions from across Canada, the U.S.A, and around the world. The majority (62%) of respondents identified themselves as members of the general public with 24% identifying themselves as animal welfare advocates. While less than 2% of respondents identified themselves as being affiliated with the pork sector, a number industry associations provided input on behalf of the producers they represent.
The Code Amendment Committee is now considering the feedback received toward finalizing amendments to the pig Code. The final Code of Practice will be released by early 2021. •
Canadian Business Groups Call for Swift Action on Interim Canada-U.K. Trade Agreement
A group of Canadian business organizations issued the following statement on December 10, 2020:
“We call on Parliamentarians across party lines to avoid trade disruptions between Canada and the United Kingdom (U.K.) and swiftly review the interim Canada-U.K. Trade Continuity Agreement. In what remains a challenging time for the global economic recovery, Canadian businesses need to maintain existing market access to the U.K. as our largest trading partner in Europe.
“This transitional agreement provides stability and predictability at a time when it is needed most. We welcome the commitment by the Canadian and British governments to negotiate an ambitious and permanent trade deal starting next year. But for now, job number-one should be to limit supply chain disruptions and ensure there are no negative consequences at the end of the year.
“As a trading nation, our road to economic recovery depends on trade. That is why we must implement this interim agreement without delay and swiftly act to ensure that mechanisms are in place January 1, 2020 to avoid trade disruptions.”
The group consists of the Business Council of Canada, the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. The five organizations collectively represent many thousands of companies across Canada, employing millions of Canadians.
Wild Boar Population on Prairies is Worrisome
An associate professor at the University of Saskatchewan is worried about the increasing population of wild boars across the three Prairie provinces.
And so Ryan Brook has developed a map showing where they have been spotted and invites hog farmers to check it out so they can take precautions.
By far the biggest threat would be an outbreak of African Swine Fever among these wild-pig herds. That is already a major threat to the hog industries of European countries.
Saskatchewan and Manitoba are home to 90 per cent of all known occurrences of wild pigs in Canada, but Ontario does have some.
“For producers in Canada or those in the U.S. concerned about wild pigs spilling over from Canada into the U.S., producers can look at the map and/or download the and view them on any phone, tablet or computer after they install the free Google Earth app or program on their device or run it on any browser,” Brook said.
Brook and his team have been documenting wild pig occurrences using trail cameras, documented hunter harvested animals and through verified observations. The current map is based on 4,352 trail camera photos, 3,818 confirmed sightings and 800 hunter-harvested animals across Canada.
His work is funded by the university, by SaskPork and by the United States Department of Agriculture ..
“This tool can be used in combination with farmers’ own experiences and coffee talk about wild pigs in their area. This is especially important for wild pigs because as I’ve been working on this issue now for over a decade, I’ve seen so often how farmers have wild pigs on or near their lands and don’t even know about it because they are primarily nocturnal and hide in the heaviest cover available,” he said. “
Unfortunately, that cover is often corn fields where they can do tremendous damage. Some farmers in southwestern Manitoba have said they can’t grow corn anymore because pigs are so destructive,” he said.
“It is well established in Asia and Europe that wild pigs can act as a reservoir and vector for African Swine Fever. Small investments of time and effort to address this potential disease concern now could prove invaluable,” he said. •
— By Jim Romahn
U.S. Contract Producers Get Windfall
In the waning hours of the Trump administration, $2.3 billion has been dedicated to helping farmers producing pigs, chickens, turkeys and beef cattle on contract.
The administration said the money was left over from the $23.6 billion set aside for COVID-19 relief.
It will cover 80 per cent of declines in revenues from their level of income in the previous year, said U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Purdue. •
— By Jim Romahn
Robots With Music for Pigs
Hog farmers in Brazil are lining up to buy robotic feeding systems that also play classical music.
Reuters News Agency reports that pigs’ feed efficiency improved when they were fed by robots instead of people.
Demand for the robots has increased four-fold to 60 units per month since the advent of the COVID 19 pandemic, Roboagro said.
The robot reduces the presence of humans on the pig farms, and generates data that helps improve overall herd management, said Roboagro director Giovani Molin.
“In today’s feeders, there is a lot of waste and a lack of management and information. The robot offers the farmer the opportunity to adjust his production according to market variations and input costs. It makes the business more competitive,” he said.
He said the robot can save about $9,600 per year per 1,000 pigs. That does not include savings on labour.
Playing classical music is based on research at the University of Sao Paulo which showed that it results in better behaviour, maintenance of growth rates and improved feed conversion.
It’s common for dairy farmers to use music to provide a background that masks other noises that disturb cattle. •
— By Jim Romahn
Farm Management Canada Goes Live
Farm Management Canada, with the support of Farm Credit Canada, MNP and the Government of Canada, are proud to announce the debut of farmtransitionguide.ca on January 12, 2020, a brand-new web portal for all stages of farm transition planning. This bilingual website connects farm owners and farm owner hopefuls to the tools, experts, and resources they need to develop and implement their farm transition plans.
Over the next 10 years, 75% of farms will change hands, yet only 8% of farmers have a written transition plan. This uncertainty about the future of the farm is putting tremendous stress on our farmers and future farmers and jeopardizes the future of farming in Canada.
Farm Management Canada knows transition planning is part of effective business planning. Each farm has unique circumstances and each situation requires its own plan using the tools, resources, and expertise to best support their needs. That’s why farmtransitionguide.ca has been designed to help farmers navigate their transition journey, starting with a needs assessment, all the way through to creating and implementing the plan, and connecting with advisors along the way to support the journey. The resources and tools include family and non-family transition options as well as inspiring stories from future farmers.
The website will be launched on Farm Transition Appreciation Day, the first event of its kind that invites farmers to celebrate farm transition planning and take action.
“By pledging to take steps towards transition planning, farmers are not only building upon their own legacy, but ensuring the continuity of Canada’s agricultural excellence through effective management planning,” says Heather Watson, Executive Director. •
Despite Pandemic, Viterra Wraps
Generous Calendar Campaign Gift From Clients to STARS
In a holiday season that is anything but normal, STARS is receiving an extraordinary $42,000 gift of support from Viterra’s customers.
The world-leading agriculture network just wrapped its annual program to sell STARS calendars – nearly 1,000 in total this year – from its grain handling and marketing facilities across the Prairies on behalf of the non-profit air ambulance organization.
Since 2015, Viterra has supported STARS’ popular calendar program as its print sponsor, helping the charity share its mission stories of rescue and recovery through patients’ eyes. With bases across Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta, funds raised through calendar sales help keep STARS in the sky.
Over the years, STARS has touched the lives of Viterra employees, customers, and their families. This partnership helps ensure that STARS can continue to provide immediate medical attention in critical situations.
In addition to Viterra’s very generous print sponsorship, its employees have contributed to an additional $300,000 in calendar and merchandise sales and collected donations over the past six years.
The calendar campaign is in its 28th year, and while it has always been a significant source of revenue for STARS, it is particularly important this year, when so many fundraisers have had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. •
Rebel Nutrition & Proveta Nutrition Team up to Boost Farmer
Success
A newly formalized alliance between two fast rising independent Saskatchewan based animal nutrition companies has been announced to ramp up efficiency, value and profitability for local livestock operations.
Rebel Nutrition and Proveta Nutrition Ltd. have joined forces under a new strategic partnership, designed to utilize the complementary expertise and resources of both companies to support new synergies and enhanced animal feed solutions – bringing both short- and long-term advantages for producers in the Swift Current area and more broadly across the West.
Though the partnership merges ownership, it will maintain the core team members and independent brands of both companies. Rebel Nutrition will continue to operate as usual but with new advantages such as strengthened local manufacturing capabilities and broadened access to the latest cutting-edge knowledge and solutions. Proveta Nutrition will come full circle on recent multi-species expansion and strategic diversification plans – driving progress for southeastern Saskatchewan via its support of the Rebel team. •
Lakeland College Develops First Bachelor of
Agriculture Technology Degree
Lakeland College is offering Canada’s first degree in agriculture technology this fall. Developed to enable students to keep ahead of the curve in the rapidly evolving world of agricultural technology, Lakeland’s bachelor of agriculture technology program offers real-world experience with the latest agricultural equipment, software, hardware and digital devices.
Starting in September 2021, the two-year, post-credential program consists of full-time studies at the Vermilion campus and experiential learning practicums off campus, all designed to bridge the gap between emerging technologies and agricultural management and production systems.
Students will delve into crop and livestock farming and smart agriculture as a management system, including data collection and analysis as well as the use of interpretative tools and programs such as robotics, geospatial tools, artificial intelligence and others. They’ll also learn how to analyze and troubleshoot industry-leading hardware, software and data platforms. Students will operate and adapt the technology and data systems on Lakeland’s Student-Managed Farm – Powered by New Holland.
Courses offered in the bachelor of agriculture technology program include emerging technologies in ag, economics of precision agriculture, precision farming global positioning essentials and GIS for agriculture decision making, as well as specific courses related to the integration and use of ag technology in crops and livestock systems, farms and ranches. The curriculum looks at all platforms and all equipment brands. Students will specialize in either crops or livestock technological applications.
Alltech E-CO2 Launches Feeds EA™ Model to Help Feed Manufacturers and Farmers Measure
and Lower Their
Feed Footprint
As the agriculture industry is moving towards more sustainable solutions and ingredients, Alltech E-CO2 has developed the Feeds EA™ model to help feed manufacturers and producers globally measure and lower the carbon footprint of their feed. Feeds EA™ measures the environmental impact of feed production at the feed mill level by assessing the impact of existing compounds or blends. This is determined by calculating greenhouse gas emissions from production, cultivation, processing, energy utilization and transportation in the manufacturing of the feed. Feeds EA™ can calculate emissions from a database of more than 300 ingredients, including raw materials, soya products, byproducts and additives.
Feed has the potential to influence up to 80% of a farm’s carbon footprint, considering the direct emissions from production, as well as the transportation of feed and indirect emissions that arise from the impact of that feed on the animal. However, the true impact depends on the species and the system of production. The Feeds EA™ model provides an opportunity to optimize a ration by demonstrating how formulation changes could reduce the carbon footprint of the feed. Some ingredients carry a higher carbon weight than others, so the substitution or replacement of specific ingredients with more sustainable options can have a major impact.
The Feeds EA™ model provides an opportunity to optimize a ration by demonstrating how formulation changes could reduce the carbon footprint of the feed. Some ingredients carry a higher carbon weight than others, so the substitution or replacement of specific ingredients with more sustainable options can have a major impact.
Feeds EA™ allows feed manufacturers to produce and market more sustainable feed, thereby enabling producers to choose diets with a lower environmental impact. This is particularly relevant in markets that have an environmental focus and where farm gate prices are linked to sustainability metrics.
For feed manufacturers or producers using Feeds EA™, a summary report is provided following the calculation of the feeds’ carbon footprint, allowing for a comparison of different compounds or blends. The report includes the number of ingredients involved in the feed, their inclusion percentage in the feed, their carbon footprint percentage and the percentage of kilograms of CO2e per tonne, which is derived from the disaggregated feed emissions of the different sourced categories. •
