ON-FARM THOUGHTS: Planning Season is Always Busy
by Larry Wegner, MFGA Producer Relations
It is planning season, and I must admit as I write this, it is a cold one outside again today, the kind of crisp, brisk Prairie day that takes your breath away. However, we all know, the stock must be fed and cared for, there is grain to deliver to the grain terminals and seed to buy or get cleaned for the new crop year.
Between all of that, the planning season is a time of blitz and clutter. We at the Wegner house still manage to find time to meet with fellow producers, to learn what is new and exciting in agriculture on and off the farm. Our thoughts are many and often common to the coffee-shop, AGM, social network that we tend to grab our anecdotes from. Some of us want to hear how the government programs are aiding farm business. Others want to learn what the new crop variety is and will it work for us on our farm. In our mailboxes, social media and mainstream media, new pieces of farm equipment are being promoted that promise to solve all our farm issues. I look at those shiny equipment pieces and their shiny price tags and wonder how many years do I have to wait for that shiny piece to be used enough that I can afford to buy it used.
Many of our producer groups are having their Annual General Meeting (AGM) at this time of year as well. This is the meeting where the producers can see and look inside the organization to better understand how and what the group are working on. New directors are nominated and a new board executive is selected to guide the organization forward for the year or specified term. The directors are the ones who bring their experience, vison and the desire to make things better in the industry. Most of this is done by the directors for a catered lunch, mileage or per diem reimbursement or by in-person or zoom calls to share expertise. On the other hand, the staff are the ones that work the board’s ideas into projects and programs. When board and staff are in harmony, great things can happen. If you don’t like what they are doing, don’t complain: Get involved.
One of the new changes coming down for 2023 are expected registration changes to Ag chemicals that make them fine for human consumption, but the crop residues are not allowed for animal consumption. This will affect livestock feed and bedding come fall.
For me, I have been in Ag research in all parts of the process, working on plots, processing samples, sitting as a producer adviser locally, provincially and nationally. I have also put ideas down on paper on what I thought was important for our industry. I have asked fellow producers as to what they need from research. Inevitably, they usually reply "more" and when I ask what in, most do not know, some have questions but do not know how to access the project results. I was once asked what research results have I used in the last year. I had an answer. But when I asked the same question back, they did not have answer. Most producers use the salesperson information to base their decisions on. Many do not know that research was proposed, paid for and results achieved by the company doing, paying and promoting the produce. Be diligent and look at the results and see who else has verified the work done. The project’s integrity is probably highest when independently done and verified. One sure-fire quick check is where and when the worlds align, to cross-reference the work done at your home farm to see if the results are the same on your operation as done by the researchers. This can be very enlightening as what worked for me this year may not work the same for the next producer. We need to ask why and what is different? Maybe that’s the outcome, that every farm and every field is different; there is no cookie cutter approach. One thing I do believe is that we should all be doing some trials on our own farms to try out what could make us more profitable.
I have spent a lot of time this winter reading and listening to presentations trying to get a handle on carbon markets and understanding what is a carbon footprint, and more so, what is net zero by 2050? Here are a few of my takeaways. I’m sure you are aware of more than a few of these:
- All life on Earth is carbon based.
- There is no new carbon on the plant from what was there was 100,000 years ago, no more no less; it is in different forms and locations.
- We have changed forms and locations over the last 1000 years and yes, we can change it back to a stable form. It may take 1000 years to do it, but it can be done.
- In the spring of 2020, as Covid shut the world down, the northern hemisphere where the majority of the world’s plants are rapidly growing was pulling carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air and putting carbon into the plant and soils.
- The CO2 level has been monitored on top of a mountain in Hawaii for the last 60 years and the level has steadily been going up. Looking back over the Covid shut down time period it was determined there was no difference.
- It has been said that methane (CH4) is more damaging than CO2 but there has been little work done on how much methane is broke down by metatrope bacteria in the soil.
When I did the Adaptive Management Paddock trials on our pastures, we found out that our style of grazing had positive results on the methane break down. It takes 10 years for methane to break down in the atmosphere, CO2 takes anywhere from one up to 200 years to break down. Our federal government has called for proposals around carbon storage, including the storage capacity of carbonate reservoirs, with the aim of opening up new potential storage sites in Canada. This will require large storage capacity as CO2 is a bulky gas. These systems have potential to cost billions of dollars to build and operate the CO2 capture system on an ongoing basis. If only this process could be done cheaper and with less constructed infrastructure. Plant growth will do that as part of their life cycle and with deep roots the carbon is stored in a stable form. As a bonus we have oxygen to survive. A few weeks ago, I joined a zoom call organized by MFGA with a Saskatchewan-based beef producer who for the last five years has recorded benchmarks of his soil. The producer has been doing planned grazing of pastures over the time period and has increased the soil organic matter from 2.5 per cent to 5.5 per cent. That is an amazing result. The farmer then calculated the amount of carbon he has captured in the soil: giving him a carbon negative footprint. That's not only on his property but also for the feed yard to feed and fatten the calf crop. It also includes processing the fats and all the trucking, including to the retailer.
All in all, it was a great call to open my mind as to what can be done with a few basic numbers, key soil health practices and a calculator. This one call reinforced the positive work we are doing working with regen Ag on our farm and what we can do for a positive carbon soil outcome. The carbon built has added resilience to his ranch. For every unit of carbon he has in the soil he now has storage for seven units of water, and four units of nutrients stored for crop production. He has a natural buffer for drought, wind and floods by having healthy soil and healthy roots in the soil that provide structure and water infiltration abilities. The ranch production has also gone up via days grazed and harvest animal units per acre.
I have seen the same increase in soil organic matter on our farm, but I have taken longer to get there, about 15 years. I felt I had not been as good of a manager as the speaker was. Talking to another producer he laughed at me when I explained that I was not as productive as I thought I had been. My colleague kindly pointed out that I am working with a very poor soil and we have done great with what we started with. Sometimes we need to be less self-absorbed and need to stand back and look at our little piece of Earth. We can live a life where we do everything in a positive light and make a difference at home. If we do not share what we have learned and share experiences with family, friends and other producers, have we really made a difference?
Best regards,
