聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 The 16th Annual Moose Mountain Ag Day was hosted on Tuesday, March 1st, to a large crowd of 103 attendees who enjoyed presentations and networking opportunities revolving around the agriculture industry.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淏etween attendees, people with booths there, speakers, and committee members we had an attendance of 103,鈥� Lorne Klein, one of the members of the planning committee, explained. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 around the number we target each year鈥� It鈥檚 a measurement of if we鈥檙e engaging people and if people are interested in the topics we鈥檝e chosen.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚n November we convene and brainstorm. What are the latest topics that are getting people excited? What do people want to know, what are the latest trends and developments in agriculture? From there we contact speakers to see who is available and go from there.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 This year speakers and topics included Allan Mitchell on 鈥淢ost Common Overlooked Agronomic Practices for Grain Production,鈥� Jay Fuhrer with 鈥淚t鈥檚 Not Just Dirt Anymore!鈥� and 鈥淎re those Cows on your Cropland?鈥� David Pattyson spoke on 鈥淏enefits of Wetland Restoration,鈥� Ken Evans spoke about 鈥淭ransitioning the Farm to the Next Generation,鈥� and Craig Klemmer spoke on 鈥淕lobal Trends and the Effects on Agriculture.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 If people are interested in suggesting topics or speakers to the planning committee for next year, Klein says they are very happy to have others offer ideas.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e鈥檙e always looking for input and other people鈥檚 opinions or suggestions of topics for next year,鈥� Klein explained as they want the day to reflect what local people want to know.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Contact Klein or any other of the committee members to discuss topics for next year.
Allan Mitchell
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Mitchell, with AgraTactics Agronomy, addressed the importance of 1,000 kernel weight, seeding rates, proper seeding depth, fertility, and fertilizer placement.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 聽鈥淲e can do things to trick a plant. You can鈥檛 make it rain, I can鈥檛 make it rain, however, you can do things to your plants or your crops that will influence how they will react to stressful situations,鈥� he explained. 鈥淚f you have more root mass, it鈥檚 not always going to correspond to yield, however, if you put both crops [one with an extensive root mass and with very little root mass] through a dry spell the one with the larger root mass will produce higher yields every time. More roots means more access to water and more access to soil nutrients.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Mitchell also stressed the importance of fertilizer placement and knowing that a test taking samples from across the field as soil although in the same field is not of the exact same makeup. By applying a flat rate across the field it means certain areas will not receive as much as it may need, some areas may take in the right amount, while other areas will be too high to be effective.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 This led Mitchell to state, 鈥淪ectional control is one of the sole things you can do to improve bottom lines.鈥�
Jay Fuhrer
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Jay Fuhrer with the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Bismark, North Dakota spoke next about the importance of building soils from the ground up by leaving surface cover on the ground, minimizing soil disturbance, using a diverse crop rotation including cover crops, while also integrating livestock with annual crops.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭he soil food web needs carbon, it鈥檚 how the soil biology builds soil aggregates and moves carbon into the soil,鈥� Fuhrer said. 鈥淐arbon is then respired into the atmosphere again and that鈥檚 the cycle.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淪o, we wanted to increase the organic matter and have resiliency in our soils, but an added benefit is that it鈥檚 helping with global warming which is good, but it was by accident, we were just trying to improve the soil food web.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Fuhrer also spoke later in the day about how cover crops, which assist in harvesting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and introduce carbon to the soil food web and adding ground cover is beneficial, especially when integrating livestock into annual cropping systems.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 By adding a variety of seeds to the mixture being planted in a field the annual crop can be cut, while fall cover crops such as turnips will continue harvesting sunlight and carbon adding to the soil food web. In the winter months livestock can then forage the fall plants for food, which comes with the added benefits of natural fertilizer in the form of manure for the soil.
David Pattyson
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The third speaker attending was David Pattyson with the Upper Souris Watershed Association, who spoke on the importance of restoring wetlands.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淪oil and water are the foundations of civilization,鈥� Pattyson said. 鈥淐ivilizations fail when these two resources become degraded.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲e鈥檝e seen in the 1980s that our soil health has declined, then there has been the development of climate change and increased greenhouse gas emissions, as well as flooding events in recent years which we are looking at how much altered drainage systems are contributing to the problem or if they were just excessive flooding events.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲hat we do on the landscape impacts the watershed and small wetlands have two major functions which are important. They act as a natural filter before that water reaches larger water bodies and they are important for biodiversity.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Pattyson stressed the importance of leaving wetlands on land and restoring wetlands where they have previously been drained in order to combat the destruction of habitats and regain the natural filtration system of those wetlands to stop water erosion and surface water contamination.
Ken Evans
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 A topic which has grown in importance with the aging Baby Boomer population is the transitioning of the farm to the next generation. Ken Evans with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture and a Farm Management Specialist spoke about the importance of setting up a succession or transition plan sooner rather than later.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭he need to do this is now,鈥� Evans said. 鈥淚f it is left in a will, it may not always turn out the way you intended because something might not be clear.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 By involving the current owners of the farm and both the farming children and non-farming children in the discussion of how to best transition the farm it gives everyone a voice, which will make the smoothest succession plan.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Evans explained that a good farm succession plan would have five main focuses including an executive summary or an overview of the plan for succession, goals and objectives of everyone involved regarding the farm, financial analysis, the details regarding the transfer of ownership and management, as well as the implementation plan which should include a variety of contingencies - if this should happen then how will it be handled. Being prepared and including everyone鈥檚 perspectives is important when looking to transition the farm or ranch.
Craig Klemmer
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The final speaker for the day was Craig Klemmer, a Senior Economist, with Farm Credit Canada (FCC) spoke on 鈥淕lobal Trends and the Effects on Agriculture.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Overall Klemmer explained the economic growth of Canada isn鈥檛 looking promising when compared to places like China and India, however, despite the country鈥檚 economics as a whole, farming and ranching are expected to hold opportunities other industries are not currently experiencing. Farmers are going to be cautious moving forward, but FCC is optimistic about the industry with cattle and grain prices expected to remain relatively strong with the exception of the hog industry according to Klemmer.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 think if you compare your operations to 2007 and compare the times asking, would you be successful if you were there again?鈥� Klemmer explained of the global trends.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Interest rates will remain low in banks, the Loonie is expected to remain above 70 cents in 2016, while it will become quintessential to have good management skills as the world will be working with tighter margins.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Yet, Klemmer stated, 鈥淣ever has Canadian agriculture mattered more to Canada and the world.鈥�
