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WHy YOU DON’T SEE Technology TOUCH Innovation BE Empowered FInD THIS BEAuTy In ™ ALBERTa IS a MYSTERY Sussex cattle are popular across the world but somehow didn’t make it here » PG 2 Don’t miss it! July 18-20, 2017 www.aginmotion.ca Publications Mail Agreement # 40069240 Volume 14, number 11 M ay 2 2 , 2 0 1 7 African farms are vastly different but share Corn slowly winning common bonds Subsistence farming is still the norm in Africa, converts in Alberta but agriculture is the key to changing its New shorter-season varieties are ‘night and day’ when economic fortunes compared to what was available a decade ago BY ALEXIS KIENLEN AF STAFF/ PreToriA, SouTh AFricA BY JENNIFER BLAIR AF STAFF frica is a world apart but as in canada, farming is orn has come a long way in Alberta A increasingly being recog- since Tony Schmidt started grow- nized as a key driver of economic C ing it in the early 2000s. growth. “early on, our corn would barely get a “There’s no other way to fight cob on it because it was such long-season poverty than to create wealth,” corn we were trying to grow here, and South African farmer Theo de now we’ve got it to where we can com- Jager told an international gath- bine physically matured corn,” said the Wetaskiwin-area farmer. SEE AFRICAN FARMS } page 7 “i think there’s huge potential for corn in Alberta.” The Schmidts have been growing corn as silage for their feedlot near Wetaskiwin since 2001, when they were looking for a crop that offered more tonnage than bar- ley silage. They haven’t looked back since. “There was one year where it yielded the same as barley silage. otherwise, it’s always yielded significantly better, at about 60 tonnes an acre better,” said Schmidt. “The inputs are probably 1-1/2 times more than barley silage, but you get quite a bit better returns per acre, and the feed value is quite a bit better.” Growing corn for silage or grazing is a “nice entry point” for producers who aren’t sure how corn will fit in their area, said Nicole rasmussen, an agronomist with DuPont Pioneer. “The biggest growth for corn in Alberta is grazing and silage. That’s where we’ve seen a tremendous boom in growth,” Jared Wever, pictured with wife Megan and their three children, sees a bright future SEE CORN CONVERTS } page 6 for corn in Alberta. PHOTO: Supplied T:10.25” Raise your expectations this season with the proven protection of ® Proline fungicide. T:3” When it comes to mastering sclerotinia, Proline is the number one brand choice of canola growers across Canada. No smoke and mirrors, no strings attached – just the straight-up sclerotinia protection that you’ve come to trust. cropscience.bayer.ca/Proline 1 888-283-6847 @Bayer4CropsCA #AskBayerCrop Always read and follow label directions. Proline® is a registered trademark of the Bayer Group. Bayer CropScience Inc. is a member of CropLife Canada. BCS10710540_Proline_Floating_Canola_204.indd None Insert April 24 Dinno Espiritu 10.25” x 3” None 1 10.25” x 3” None NEWSPAPER None None 100% None 2 Heather MacLeod Production:Studio:Bayer:10...oline_Floating_Canola_204.indd Bayer 10710540 Helvetica Neue LT Std, Gotham Alberta Farmer 4-12-2017 2:00 PM -- 4-12-2017 2:00 PM -- Henderson, Shane (CAL-MWG) -- Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black -- -- 2 news » inside this week mAy 22, 2017 • AlberTAfArmeXPRESs.cA inside » livestock crops columnists PROVINCE’S COWBOY NATIVE FORAGES DON’T MALT BARLEY GROWERS brenda schoepp LEGACY CONTINUES GET THE RESPECT THEY TOAST ‘DRINK LOCAL’ WHo Will take ouT the TrAsH AfTer We’ve finisHed urbAnizing TO FASCINATE DESERVE MOVEMENT the plAneT? 5 ‘History Wrangler’ has a million and one stories aLAN GUEBERT about Alberta’s past 22 ShirT-sleeve Weather brings A FORGOTTEN bAck memories of the bAd old dAys of fArming 4 CHAPTER IN HISTORY GIVEN ITS DUE John GreiG The black pioneer movement They may not look as lush, The explosion in craft giving AnimAl AcTivisTs A platform in Alberta produced but they’re nutritious and breweries has delivered was never going To Work ouT Well 4 a lasting legacy 23 very hardy 12 big benefits in Alberta 17 Reporter’s Notebook There’s a lot to love about Sussex cattle — but try finding any Sussex cattle thrive in countries as diverse as England, South Africa, and Australia, but haven’t made it to Canada BY ALEXIS KIENLEN AF STAFF recently toured a South Afri- can farm that is home to the I country’s most highly val- ued Sussex bull — a beautiful stud that recently appeared on the cover of one of the nation’s leading agricultural publica- tions. South Africa is in the worst drought in 100 years, so bad that cattle farmers in other provinces have had to sell some of their stock. But in the diverse agricultural region of the Western Cape, farmers graze on marginal lands, and cattle breeds such as Afrikan- ers, Angus, Nguni, and Sussex are thriving. Sussex do well in South Africa, both as purebred stock and crossbred. The cattle originated in Eng- land and can do well in Austra- lia, South Africa, and Namibia, flourishing in both hot and cold climates. But I’ve never seen a Sussex in Judging from the number of calls that one Alberta rancher receives about Sussex cattle, there a lot of producers who would like to have a purebred bull Canada. Why not? like the one reporter Alexis Kienlen saw in South Africa. pHoTos: ALEXIS KIENLEN I studied the cattle with the owners of the farm, father and sex on her farm anymore, but them to create an animal that Sussex cattle in England have son Nollie and Pieter Stofberg, still has them in her genetic line. thrives in her environment. all been bred for the show ring, along with my tour guide for the “Frankly, the characteristics Her cattle still have some of “Frankly, the and that wasn’t what Copi- day, Breyton Milford, the well- of Sussex — which are almost the Sussex traits, and are a dark, thorne-Barnes is looking for. travelled operations manager of identical to Angus — worked red wine colour with a white characteristics of Sussex, But while it appears no one South Africa’s version of North- really well,” she said. “But phe- muzzle and white tassel. She which are almost else has raised Sussex in North lands. None could say why there notypically, the cattle have hasn’t had purebred bulls for America, that doesn’t mean were no Sussex in Canada. been really tough to try and get two to three years, but Sussex identical to Angus, people aren’t interested. Copi- Back home, I did a quick through. I could have probably traits are still coming through. worked really well.” thorne-Barnes gets tons of Google search and discovered worked harder at producing a “We’ve never said that we’re phone calls looking for genet- the only Sussex-cross cattle in more purebred line of them.” going to be a breeder of any par- ics, even though she doesn’t Canada live at CL Ranches near The Sussex-cross cattle at ticular thing other than the ani- Cherie have any purebred Sussex genes Calgary, and so I called rancher Copithorne-Barnes’ place have mal itself as a whole,” she said. Copithorne- available. Cherie Copithorne-Barnes to long toes. The breed is capable “Granted, the Sussex, if you Barnes “It just takes someone who find out why. of foraging and walking long were going to produce a grass- has the ability to really hone in It turns out that her cattle distances to find water. foraged animal, they would be on wanting to bring in and go are a complete anomaly on the “Really, they’ve got that it.” through the rigamarole of the North American continent. instinctive survivor mentality Copithorne-Barnes also used ing to mature around 900 to purebred side of this,” she said. “We do have some Sussex in and the ability to create a good Sussex to bring down her cow 1,000 pounds. They were way She recommends that pro- our herd that we were able to get carcass out of not a whole lot, size. too small. ducers check out the website of from an Englishman who had a which I like,” she said. “We were having 1,500- to “It was just a matter of finding England’s Sussex Cattle Society ranch down in Wyoming,” said However, the cattle had prob- 1,600-pound cows and it was the balance. I never pursued it at www.sussexcattlesociety.org. Copithorne-Barnes. lems with their udders and legs, just too much for their envi- as hard as I should have. I never uk. For information about the That rancher has since passed and Copithorne-Barnes doesn’t ronment here,” she said. “They got the opportunity to travel to South African cattle I saw, go to away and his herd ceased use artificial insemination on did bring it down, but the (ani- South Africa or to Australia or to www.platdrifsussex.co.za. to exist. Copithorne-Barnes her ranch. Instead, she prefers mals) that were heavy on the any of the other places to find doesn’t have any purebred Sus- to take different traits and cross Sussex, those cows were start- them.” [email protected] ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • MAY 22, 2017 3 Raise a glass of banana beer — this popular fruit will endure U of A’s Stan Blade says the world’s most popular fruit will survive — in some form or another Cavendish invited a repeat of that sce- BY ALEXIS KIENLEN nario.

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