SAVE BIG! SEE INSIDE! WIN 1 OF 2 Arctic Cat Prowler DEER MICE CARRY DEADLY Side by Sides UFA.com HANTAVIRUS » PAGE 50 For complete contest details, rules and regulations, visit UFA.com. Publications Mail Agreement # 40069240 18423_UFA Earlug_3.083x1.833.indd 1 12-04-02 4:12 PM VOLUME 9, NUMBER 8 APRIL 9, 2012 Richardson International to share top spot in Canada’s grain industry STAYING POWER The patient 155-year-old firm outlasted the Pools, UGG and the wheat board BY ALLAN DAWSON STAFF he pending multibillion- dollar sale of Viterra demon- Tstrates the value of patient capital and private ownership, says Richardson International president Curt Vossen. Last month, publicly traded Viterra, Canada’s largest grain company, announced it was sell- ing to the world’s No. 1 diversified commodities trader, Swiss-based Glencore, for $16.1 billion. But in a move believed aimed at getting government approval, Glencore will sell some of Viterra’s assets to Winnipeg-based Richardson and fertilizer giant Agrium, headquar- tered in Calgary. Richardson’s market share will jump to 34 per cent from around 24 currently. Richardson will buy 19 Viterra elevators, 13 attached retail farm input outlets, Viterra’s smaller 231,000-tonne capacity “C” termi- nal at Thunder Bay, one-quarter of Viterra’s 282,830-tonne Cas- cadia terminal at Vancouver and Can-Oat milling, which includes a wheat mill in Texas and an oat plant in Nebraska. Calgary-based Agrium will buy 90 per cent of Viterra’s 258 input RICHARDSON’S page 6 The Pioneer elevator at Olds. Family-owned James Richardson International is now tied for No. 1 in grain handling on the Prairies. SUPPLIED PHOTO INSIDE: Q & A - PARTY LEADERS ADDRESS FARM AND RURAL ISSUES PAGE 46 It’s time. Prices in effect from March 26 to April 30, 2012 18311_07 UFA LubeFilter_Banner_10.25x3.indd 1 3/14/12 2:29 PM 2 NEWS » INSIDE THIS WEEK APRIL 9, 2012 • ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA inside » livestock crops columnists GRAIN COMMISSION TWO-LEGGED PRECISION DAVID DROZD TURNS 100 JAPANESE “CANDLESTICKS” RANCHING ag is fine… ALERT OF CHANGE IN HOG PRICES 11 A special feature on a century of service BERNIE PEET 13 TIME TO START THINKING ABOUT GROUP SOW HOUSING 28 CUTE BUT DEADLY ROY LEWIS Deer mice carry TIPS ON PRACTICAL potentially fatal Poultry can also be But there’s no substitute 50 raised “on the range” for soil sampling HEAT DETECTION hantavirus 27 33 30 NEWS Anti-waste groups “buy the farm” Five U.S. organizations that lobby for government spending restraint say they’ve come up with a new fundraising scheme — buy- ing farmland. “This will give a whole new meaning to ‘buying the farm,’” said Citizens Against Government Waste president Tom Schatz. The Heartland Institute, Citizens Against Govern- ment Waste, National Tax- payers Union, Americans for Tax Reform and Taxpay- ers for Common Sense will jointly own and operate “Greenback Acres,” a farm in Illinois. “Instead of aiming to produce any food or fibre, the farm will turn profits entirely by taking advan- tage of federal agricultural subsidies,” the groups said in a release. “Unlike the overwhelm- ing majority of family farm- ers, who actually hew to the outdated notion that they should make money by A parasitic wasp heading for its next meal. growing things, caring for their land, and selling their products at market prices, we plan to take advantage of every loophole, subsidy, absurdity, and program in Trials start of GM wheat existence,” said Greenback Acres general manager Lirpa Sloof. Sloof says the farm pro- vides a variety of surefire that terrifies aphids money-making strategies such as enrolling land in AROMA } The gene comes from peppermint, the Conservation Reserve, planting highly specula- but the smell is like Granny Smith apples tive crops in erosion-prone areas to take advantage of crop insurance and collect- inside out so it takes out the in Britain although there are ing direct payments based LONDON/REUTERS population on the crop,” Pick- two involving GM potatoes. on crops it no longer pro- ett said. Pete Riley, campaign direc- The wheat emits a duces. ield trials are underway in “We are providing a totally tor for campaign group GM “I can’t wait to be guaran- England of a genetically new way of controlling the Freeze, which opposes use of pheromone which teed an annual salary that’s F modified (GM) wheat pests that doesn’t rely on toxic genetically modified organisms aphids release when twice that of the average that strikes fear into aphids modes of action,” he told a (GMOs), said he had several American family thanks and attracts a deadly predator media briefing. concerns and believed there they are under attack to price controls and sub- to devour them, providing an The wheat has been modified were better alternatives for sidies,” said Kelly William alternative to the insecticides using a gene found in pepper- controlling aphids. to create panic and Cobb, government affairs now used to control the crop mint plants, he added, although “There are natural alterna- prompt the insects to manager at Americans for pest. the smell was more like Granny tives with which, if you design Tax Reform. “Plus, taxpay- The wheat emits a phero- Smith apples and too faint to be your farm right with plenty of flee. ers are going to pay us not mone which aphids release detected by humans. cover and food for predators to farm on half of our land!” when they are under attack to Pickett said the field trials, at and parasitic wasps, you can “When we looked at the create panic and prompt the Rothamsted’s research facility control aphids pretty effectively astonishing range of guar- insects to flee, John Pickett, sci- in Hertfordshire, used a spring- and that has been demon- wheat was produced com- anteed-money programs entific leader of chemical ecol- planted variety of the wheat strated in the U.K.,” he said. mercially it could contaminate available to farms, we real- ogy at Rothamsted Research in cultivar Cadenza. “We don’t see any need for non-GMO varieties. He also ized it was such a good deal eastern England, said. He said the approach could this technology other than it is questioned its effectiveness. we couldn’t afford not to It also attracts tiny parasitoid eventually be used to protect potentially more profitable to “We feel it is likely, if it is used take advantage,” said Eli wasps to provide a second line other crops and flowers from do GM than to tell farmers how very widely, that aphids would Lehrer, vice-president of of defence for crops by laying aphids. to create the right habitats on eventually get habituated to The Heartland Institute. eggs in the aphids. There are no other GM wheat their farms,” he added. the chemical and not take any “(It) eats the aphids from the trials currently being conducted Riley said that if the new notice of it,” he said. ALBERTAFARMEXPRESS.CA • APRIL 9, 2012 3 Super-size surveys show consumer landscape is changing REALITY BITES } Consumers today want their Big Mac, but they want hormone- and antibiotic-free meat too BY SHERI MONK AF STAFF | EDMONTON cDonald’s is an iconic brand which has tran- M scended its all-American heritage to become the world’s most renowned fast-food brand leader. Yet to stay at the top, McDonald’s must change some of the same practices that got it there, says a senior company official. “As the face of Canada truly changes, so does its eating habits,” Jeff Kroll, senior vice-president, supply chain management for McDonald’s Canada told a Cattle- men’s Young Leaders (CYL) semi- nar hosted by the Alberta Live- stock and Meat Agency (ALMA) last month. Kroll, an ALMA board member, said McDonald’s, like other suc- cessful enterprises, must change with its customers. “The Canadian consumer land- scape is changing. Canada’s demo- graphic environment is changing, driven by two things. One is an aging population, and population growth fuelled by immigration.” Members of those groups are less interested in what propelled McDonald’s to the top — burg- ers and french fries. Kroll said an aging population is increasingly Asians like McDonald’s too, but Canada’s growing Asian population prefers fish and chicken. ©ThInkSToCk concerned about health and wants more fruits and vegetables. in what they want,” said Kroll. And While most people still associ- what they want, he says, is taste. The new face of ate beef with burgers, that trend “But in addition to taste, they want McDonald’s. The “Managing desires is slowly changing, in part due to to be educated about the food they McBistro grilled for natural and fresh immigration. Kroll says two-thirds are eating. They want to learn chicken sandwich of Canada’s visible minorities are about the food, they want to know has 460 calories products needs to be of Asian descent, and cultural where it comes from and that the versus 540 in a preferences are shaping buying company they are buying from is Big Mac, and balanced with the ability decisions. concerned about societal issues.” 780 for an to offer those options at “When selecting meats, Asians Kroll said three of five consum- Angus bacon are more likely to choose pork, ers say it is very important that the with cheese affordable prices.” poultry and fish and the over- meat used to make their burger is burger, and you all decline in beef consumption sourced from animals that were can order it suggests that Canada’s changing raised without the use of steroids.