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CFGA Quarterly Newsletter
Spring 2018
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Greetings from CFGA Chairperson, Ray Robertson
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Spring has sprung and as we gear up for a new season, our CFGA board wants you to know the association is active and open for business. Building on the momentum of the 2017 conference, plans are well underway for the 9th Annual CFGA Conference in Calgary Nov. 14 to 15.
Bringing the forage industry together, the annual conference is a great opportunity to showcase the forage sector across Canada and provide attendees with the latest in research, production practices and marketing. This year's theme is Foundation Forage: Built from the Ground Up, and it is the place to be - so be sure to save the date.
The CFGA is committed to working as a team to bring our industry together, and this shows in the number of programs we are involved with. Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of attending the well-attended Canadian Dairy XPO in Stratford Ontario. The CFGA has once again, applied for the AgriMarketing Program (AMP), which will hopefully result in additional funding to support hay marketing across Canada. The Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Program (AGGP) project is also underway and is an exciting program that can put CFGA on the map, as well as provide us with the perfect opportunity to engage all regions across the country and work as a team.
I wish you all a safe and productive spring.
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A message from New Holland
Advantages of flail tine conditioning
Many grass-hay producers choose flail tine conditioning for fast drying. Other operations that harvest legume crops as high-moisture and haylage also choose flail tine systems. Grasses are difficult to condition with rolls because it is almost impossible to achieve a small enough roll clearance to crush the fine stems and leaves of most grasses.
The flail tine design delivers more effective conditioning of difficult-to-crimp grass crops by stripping wax from the plant's cuticle layer. It also works well in high-moisture and silage applications.
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Provincial organization update
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British Columbia Forage Council
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The British Columbia Forage Council (BCFC) is working to start several new projects to support and expand the forage industry throughout the province. As 2018 is the BCFC's 30th anniversary, it's time to reflect on what we've worked on in the past and how we should move forward.
Just as it is in the field, timing is everything.
The BCFC board of directors want to build on recent successes, including the new BC Forage Action Plan, the potential of a forage specialist position through the Ministry of Agriculture and the work recently completed by the BCFC. One example of that work is the Guide to On-Farm Demonstration Research available for free on the BCFC website
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In a nutshell, the BCFC is working on four major ideas to begin this year:
- Train the trainers and growing the next generation
- Assessment of B.C. forage quality, soil health and the impact of management practices
- Development of long-term variety trials
- Increasing resources for weed management in forage systems
In addition to the project development, the BCFC is also excited to organize a forage field day for Aug. 25. Sessions will include cover crops, variety trials, management intensive grazing, soil health and more - all at one location: Roddie Creek Ranch, in Quesnel.
For more information on these projects or the BCFC, check out the council's new website
, follow on Facebook, or email manager Serena Black, or contact her by phon
e at 250-564-4115, loc 233.
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Establishing and maintaining forage legumes focus of Nova Scotia research
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by John Duynisveld, Yousef Papadopoulos and Kathleen Glover
In the ruminant feeding world we spend a lot of time talking about forage legumes and how important they are to ruminant production. In Canada, alfalfa, red and white clover, and birdsfoot trefoil are the main forage legumes grown. The benefits of these forage legumes are many, including nitrogen fixation, high animal intakes and productivity due to palatability and low NDF levels, and high levels of protein, which is an expensive additive to cattle and sheep diets.
Animal preference research has demonstrated that in all common domestic ruminants, if given a choice, they will choose a diet somewhere between 60 and 90 per cent legume. Despite the many good reasons to feed lots of legumes to our livestock, it can be a struggle to maintain significant levels of legumes in forage mixtures, especially on pasture.
It has been well documented that a complex mixture of legumes and grasses produces a greater potential yield that is more resilient to variations in weather and other factors. Given the benefits of legumes to grazing animals and to the grasses that are part of this sward, it is generally recommended to strive to maintain a legume content of at least 25 per cent. This usually means planting for a higher level and renovating the pasture when productivity drops below acceptable levels.
The longevity of pasture legumes is affected by the environment, management, the genetics of the legumes themselves and interactions between these factors. Legumes are particularly susceptible to winterkill from freeze/thaw cycles and they require a period of non-grazing or harvest in the critical fall rest period to allow them to prepare for winter. Since animals prefer legumes over grasses, they often overgraze legumes before grazing grasses, reducing the legumes' competitiveness with grasses in the pasture ecosystem.
Imbalances in soil fertility can also reduce survival rates of legumes, as can the presence of forage pathogens such as root rot and parasitic nematodes. We also know there are differences both between legume species in how well they will persist in pastures and within the cultivars of legume species available to grow. Recent research on complex pasture mixtures shows that three years after establishment legume levels drop below 10 per cent under standard rotational grazing methods.
The Nova Scotia research team is looking at improving their understanding of the factors that influence both the survival of established legumes and also the establishing legume seedling. They are pursuing six main areas of research:
- developing improved practices to establish legumes into existing pastures using different no-till methods and forage sward managements strategies
- developing new technologies to increase seedling growth and survival that include novel application of growth promotants and fertilizer
- varying grazing management and studying the impact on the survival and persistence of different legume species and cultivars
- enhancing cultivar development by determining genetic factors affecting legume establishment and persistence under sub-optimal growing conditions
- assessing the impact of abiotic stresses on legume longevity in the forage stand and evaluating novel biologicals to enhance resistance to the environmental stresses that are anticipated to increase with climate change
- evaluating legume species/cultivars suitable for fall grazing
John Duynisveld, Yousef Papadopoulos and Kathleen Glover conduct research at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada - Kentville Research and Development Centre in Nova Scotia.
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Keep it covered, green and growing is Soil Champion's motto
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By Lilian Schaer, for the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association
For Dan Breen, soil is a living, active bio-system that needs protecting. It's like the "skin" of the earth, he believes, and much like people cover their bare skin when going outside in the winter, fields too need covering to protect them from the elements.
The third generation Middlesex County dairy farmer, who farms with his wife, daughter and son-inlaw near Putnam, has been named the 2018 Soil Champion by the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association (OSCIA). The award is handed out annually to recognize leaders in sustainable soil management.
Breen had just bought the 100-acre family farm from his parents in late 1989 when he faced a major decision: replace the operation's worn-out tillage equipment or come up with a different strategy.
A chance encounter introduced him to an emerging new cropping system-and in spring 1990, Breen made his first attempt at no-till, planting 40 acres of corn with a used two-row planter he'd modified. He's been gradually growing his farming business ever since, today farming 300 owned and 500 rented acres.
"I treat the rented acres like the ones I own and that's crucial. It's all about stewardship so whether you own or rent, you have the responsibility to do the best things you can," he says. "Nature is in balance and we mess up that balance with excessive tillage, taking out too many nutrients, or not providing biodiversity, so we need to provide a stable environment as we go about our farming practices."
His typical rotation involves corn, soybeans, wheat, and cover crops, which he started planting 12 years ago. About 100 acres are rotated through alfalfa and manure is spread between crops when favourable soil and weather conditions allow.
"The only acreage that doesn't have year-round living and growing crop is grain corn ground. I try to keep everything green and growing all the time and never have bare ground," he says, following the motto, keep it covered, keep it green, keep it growing.
According to Breen, no single activity will result in healthy soil and there's no set recipe for farmers to follow due to the variability of soil type, topography and climate. Instead, it's important to consider what crop is being grown, what it needs, and what the nutrient levels and biological activity of the soil are.
"A true no-till system is more than just not tilling, it is biodiversity, water retention, and nutrient cycling," he says. "When I first started no-till, it was just to eliminate tillage, now it is to build a whole nutrient system-cover crops weren't even on the radar when I started farming."
One of the pillars of his soil success over the years has been a willingness to try new things-as long as they support the goal of building stronger, more stable soil-and adapting to what a growing season brings.
To other farmers considering a switch to no-till, Breen recommends perseverance to keep going when success looks doubtful, strength to resist naysayers, and starting the transition gradually, such as with no-till soybeans after corn, and then no-till wheat after soybeans.
"It's a considerable honour and it's humbling to win this award. It's not something I was looking to achieve-I do what I do because I love it," he says. "As a farmer, I've had an opportunity to be a caretaker of this land, but I only have tenure for a blip in history. I hope I leave it in better shape than when I found it-and I hope my daughter and son-in-law will do the same thing."
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2018 Farmer-Rancher Pollinator Conservation Award
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Nominations are open for the 2018 Farmer-Rancher Pollinator Conservation Award, sponsored by the CFGA, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) and Pollinator Partnership (P2). The award recognizes an individual or family in the farm and ranch community in Canada who contributed significantly to pollinator species protection and conservation.
With pollinators providing one of three bites of food that we eat and nearly $2-billion to the Canadian agricultural economy, care and concern for their survival is essential to our own survival. Pollinator Conservation Award winners support pollinators on their lands, engage in research and experimentation to increase our understanding of pollinator management techniques, work with community and government groups and serve as advocates for these little, but hard-working, species that maintain our agricultural and natural landscapes.
The recipients of the 2018 award will be recognized during an evening reception that opens the 18th Annual North American Pollinator Protection Campaign Conference, Oct. 16, 2018 in Washington, DC, or in their hometown if they are unable to attend.
Previous award winners include Antony John of Soiled Reputation of Sebringville, Ont., Marc and Chantal Bercier of Ferme Agriber Inc in St-Isidore, Ont., and the Coen Family of Grass Roots Family Farm from
Ferintosh, Alta. Through recognition and appreciation of these individuals and organizations, the CFGA, CFA and P2 hope to encourage their conservation stewardship and catalyze future actions on behalf of pollinators.
To complete a nomination form and for full instructions, visit the P2 website
and click on Canadian Farmer-Rancher Nominator Award to download the document. Nomination deadline is Friday, July 6.
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May 30-31:
CRAAQ annual forage field days. Region of Mauricie, Que.
Nov. 27, 28
: MFGA Regenerative Agriculture
Conference
. Brandon, Man.
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