SoybeanS n ew aRe Safe School A frost won’t Young graziers shake affect yield » PG 18 things up » PG 13 September 15, 2016 SerVinG manitoba FarmerS Since 1925 | Vol. 74, no. 37 | $1.75 manitobacooperator.ca Canadian farm balance sheets strong Tragedy brings out the FCC says the industry is doing well, but there are potential headwinds looming best in farm community Within hours of learning their 76-year-old neighbour had been killed in a car BY D allan awSon accident, farm neighbours began organizing to help harvest the family’s crops Co-operator staff anadian agriculture is on a sound financial footing, Cwith record farm income and land values peaking, while the increase in farm debt — also a record — is slowing. Those are the major conclu- sions of the Farm Credit Cana- da (FCC) Outlook for Farm As- sets and Debt 2016-17 report, published Sept. 7. “The balance sheet of agri- See STRONG FARMS on page 7 » Rolf Penner’s neighbours have put in long hours on the family’s farm this fall helping take the harvest off after Penner’s father was killed in a highway accident. PHOTO: ROLF PENNER each other,” he said. And they’d always injury to her neck, but survived the BYo l RRaIne STeVenSon get the work done. crash. Co-operator staff That relationship ended tragically Rolf was notified immediately and and suddenly July 31. he rushed to the scene. So did numer- t his father’s funeral this sum- That morning Udo Penner, 76, ous farm neighbours, as word quickly mer, Rolf Penner spoke of how and his wife Charlotte were driving spread. A working alongside him on the to church when their car was struck And in the excruciating hours that farm was a bit like being ‘like an old at the junction of Hwys. 23 and 200. followed, Penner had to come to terms married couple.’ The other driver slammed into the not only with this sudden loss of his “We would bicker and fight and ar- driver’s side of the Penners’ vehicle. dad, but the secondary blow all farm gue over things, but when it came Udo was killed instantly. Charlotte down to it we were always there for suffered multiple cracked ribs and an See FARM COMMUNITY on page 6 » Publication Mail Agreement 40069240 TMF8106RA SILAGE CORN OUR PROMISE, Introducing an important new silage corn hybrid for Manitoba. Designed for variable soil types, its advanced genetics produce consistent ear fill, very good YOUR PERFORMANCE. digestibility and starch scores, and flexibility across variable plant densities. SILAGE CORN FOR YOUR CONDITIONS. Talk to your Dow Seeds Seed Partner. ® TM Trademark of The Dow Chemical Company (“Dow”) or an affiliated company of Dow. dowseeds.ca 0716-51004-02 51004-02 Dow Seeds fall banner Corn Silage 10-25X3_a3.indd 1 2016-08-31 11:06 AM 2 The Manitoba Co-operator | September 15, 2016 INE SiD Di D you know? L iVESToCk Study says CO2 benefit of global warming overestimated Parasite costs While higher CO2 levels can mean greater growth it appears they also Even healthy-looking set plants up to be more susceptible to drought losses cattle could be suffering 12 STAFF n eight-year study suggests talk of higher yields under a global warming CRoPS A scenario may be overly optimistic. University of Illinois researchers grew soybeans in a carbon dioxide-rich atmo- sphere and they say their findings are wor- Fusarium risome. Under ideal growing conditions damage higher CO2 will boost plant growth, but an article in the journal Nature Plants suggests Early harvest samples drought, which is also expected to increase, are showing fusarium will more than offset those gains. Research at the University of Illinois simulates future damage 17 Lead researcher Andrew Leakey is warn- atmospheric conditions to determine their effects ing yield losses could come much earlier on plants. Here, Professor Andrew Leakey (r), works than anticipated, even though initially with research assistants Lindsey Heady and David they saw yield gains under good moisture Marshak. PHOTO: DON HAMERMAN/SUBMITTED conditions. “But when the growing seasons were hot FEATuRE and dry, that pattern broke down,” Leakey CO2, the plants in the experiments used said. more, not less, water than those grown Leakey and his colleagues relied on an under current atmospheric conditions, the African unusual technology that enables them researchers found. to simulate future climate conditions in “What we think is happening is that early investments actual farm fields. The Soybean Free Air in the growing season, when the plant has A bid to build a green Concentration Enrichment (SoyFACE) facil- enough water, it’s able to photosynthesize ity uses high-tech sensors to determine more as a result of the higher CO2 levels. revolution in Africa is wind speed and direction, and a computer It’s got more sugars to play with, it grows showing promise 33 to regulate the release of gases to expose more, it creates all this extra leaf area,” the crop plants to a given set of climate Leakey said. “But when it gets dry, the plant conditions. has overextended itself, so later in the sea- Under hot and dry conditions at elevated son it’s now using more water.” CRoSSRoADS Farm fun READER’S PHOTO Agriculture education can benefit rural students too 40 Editorials 4 Grain Markets 11 Comments 5 Weather Vane 16 What’s Up 8 Classifieds 25 Livestock Markets 10 Sudoku 30 ONn Li E & MoBiLE Visit www.manitobacooperator.ca for daily news and features and our digital edition. 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R3H 0H1 The Manitoba Co-operator | September 15, 2016 3 KAP submission says producer car facilities need not be licensed Requirement for official scales is also an unnecessary burden that could limit loading options less than $5 million worth of grain to BY ALLAN DAWSON “In particular, we oppose the requirement that these continue without the undue burden of Co-operator staff licensing requirements, fees, and tying facilities install Measurement Canada-approved scales, as operational dollars up in securities. he Keystone Agricultural the associated costs of such a requirement could result in a Moderately sized operations would be Producers is calling for a middle reduction of loading sites made available to producers.” required, under a ‘feed mill’ licence, to T ground on licensing producer post security but have fewer reporting car loading facilities. requirements. Larger operations would In a submission to the Canadian be bound to all the requirements of a Grain Commission, KAP is calling for KAP ‘process elevator’ licence.” no licence requirement for facilities KAP says producer car loading facili- that strictly load producer cars, but ties don’t need to be licensed by the licensing for facilities that add dealer CGC “because we do not believe there cars into the mix. lion annually. Feed mills in this cat- after Puratone went into creditor is sufficient risk to farmers using the Historically ‘dealer car’ had a dif- egory would have “reduced reporting protection. site for grain delivery to justify the bur- ferent meaning, but today it’s any car requirements,” easing their regulatory “This left several KAP members with den and costs associated with a CGC ordered by a grain company to ship burden. as much as $300,000 in losses due to licence.” grain.