published by manitoba beef producers ......published by manitoba beef producers september 2019...
TRANSCRIPT
PUBLISHED BY MANITOBA BEEF PRODUCERS
SEPTEMBER 2019
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Denise Rollin on Mental Health Project
Page 3
President's Column
Page 9
Spice Up Your Meals
Page 11
BY RON FRIESEN
Manitoba cattle producers are fac-ing the prospect of a major feed shortage for the second straight winter, follow-ing a severe drought across much of the province this summer.
Dry weather has reduced forage yields to a fraction of normal and hay supplies will be extremely tight this win-ter, producers say.
The Manitoba hay crop this year is “extremely, extremely diminished to incredibly poor,” said Tom Teichroeb, Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP) presi-dent, who raises cattle near Langruth.
The worst affected region is the In-terlake where forage yields are coming in at 20 to 60 per cent of average produc-tion, Manitoba Agriculture said in its August 6 weekly crop report.
Also hard hit is the northwest region where average hay yields are reported at 30 to 50 per cent of normal. Half of the region’s pastures are in either poor or very poor condition, according to the re-port. Surface water sources on pastures (dugouts and creeks) are low or very low.
The situation is somewhat better in southern regions around Deloraine, Killarney and Winkler, which experi-enced some good rains this summer.
But Teichroeb said most areas north of Highway No. 1 are in an extreme con-dition and it gets worse the farther north you go.
Many producers have little or no carryover of hay from last year, which was also dry and left them scrambling to feed their cows during a long winter.
The question now is how many pro-ducers will be forced to reduce or liqui-date their herds because they can’t feed their cattle.
That may already be starting to hap-pen.
“We’ve been seeing a constant sup-ply of cows over the summertime com-ing to the slaughter markets,” said Rick Wright, Manitoba Livestock Marketing Association administrator. “Deliveries are above normal. And we are getting indications from a large number of pro-ducers that they are seriously consider-ing either liquidating or reducing their herds this fall.”
It’s hard to say how much actual sell-off there will be. Teichroeb said an-ecdotal conversations with fellow pro-ducers suggest liquidation rates could run between 15 and 18 per cent of herds, although so far that’s just talk. Wright said last year’s dry weather removed 15 per cent of Manitoba’s beef cows through sell-offs and the figure could be similar
this year.Historically, the average annual cull
rate in Manitoba is around nine to 10 per cent with a third of those animals usually replaced with bred heifers. But “we cer-tainly didn’t see that last year and I don’t think we’re going to see that this year ei-ther,” Wright said.
Page 2
(Joint News Release) Keystone Agricultural Pro-ducers (KAP) and Manito-ba Beef Producers (MBP), two farm groups represent-ing Manitoba beef and grain farmers, are urging farmers across the province to list available hay, straw and al-ternative feeds for use. This call comes amid reports from across the province that hay and forage yields are far below expected.
“Many beef producers have been hard hit by back-to-back dry conditions that have led to diminished pasture and forage yields and depleted their hay and straw reserves,” explained MBP President Tom Tei-chroeb. “Faced with these conditions, they are looking to source both traditional
and alternative sources of feed and bedding. We are encouraging producers with these kinds of resourc-es available to consider list-ing them for sale. ”
“Given dry conditions reported across much of the province, we feel that it is important to ensure producers know what their options are when it comes to both buying and selling available hay and straw,” KAP president Bill Campbell said. “As a grain farmer and a beef pro-ducer, I must utilize every option available to ensure the long-term viability of my operation.”
KAP and MBP have developed a fact sheet out-lining several different op-tions farmers have for sell-
ing and purchasing feed. Both organizations are en-couraging producers to use any and all means available to list available feed for pur-chase.
Keystone Agricultural Producers is Manitoba’s general farm policy organi-zation and takes direction from its members across the province – including farm-ers and 25 farm commod-ity organizations. Keystone Agricultural Producers has a 19-member board, repre-senting both producers and commodity groups.
Manitoba Beef Pro-ducers is the exclusive voice of the beef industry in Manitoba, representing 6,500 producers around the province. Its mission is to represent beef producers
through communication, advocacy, research, and education—within the in-dustry and to governments, consumers and others, to improve prosperity and en-sure a sustainable future.
Hay and Straw Listing Fact Sheet
Farmers and producers in Manitoba have numer-ous options when it comes to listing available hay and straw, and for buying hay, straw and alternative feeds. By no means is this list ex-haustive and we encourage you to share other avenues for listing and buying with both Manitoba Beef Pro-ducers and Keystone Agri-cultural Producers.
Manitoba AgricultureManitoba Agriculture
can assist farmers and pro-
ducers with questions on where to source hay, straw and alternative feed. Call 1-844-769-6224 or visit your local Ag Office. The Manitoba Agriculture Live-stock page also has tools and resources for dry con-ditions.
Manitoba Government Hay Listing ServiceThe Manitoba gov-
ernment has a hay listing service that includes hay, pasture land, and alterna-tive feeds available. There are also options to select certified organic and certi-fied weed free feed. To learn more, click here.
Social MediaThere are two dedi-
cated groups on Facebook for buying/selling hay and straw.
Manitoba Hay and Feed for Buy/Sell
Hay/Feed for sale in Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba
Other social media av-enues including Twitter also feature hay for sale across the province, however that exchange needs to occur on a user to user basis.
Hay ExchangeThe internet Hay Ex-
change is a free hay listing and hay locator website. It includes listings from all 50 states and all Canadian provinces. For more infor-mation, click here.
OthersBuy and sell websites
like Kijiji and eBrandon will occasionally have listings for hay and straw. For more information.
Drought produces critical feed shortage
Cattle on pasture near St. Ambroise. Photo by Maureen Cousins
Manitoba farmers urged to list hay, straw and alternative feeds
September 2019CATTLE COUNTRY2
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DISTRICT 13MARY PAZIUK R.M. of Shell River, Shellmouth,Hillsburg, Boulton, Grandview, Gilbert Plains, Ethelbert, Mossey River, Dauphin, LGD Park
COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATORVacant
OFFICE ASSISTANTTanya Michalsky
DESIGNED BYTrinda Jocelyn
CATTLE COUNTRY EDITORMaureen Cousins
BEEF PRODUCTION SPECIALISTVacant
FINANCEDeb Walger
DISTRICT 14JADE DELAURIER R.M. of Minitonas, Swan River, Mountain, The Pas
MANITOBA BEEF PRODUCERS
Ph: 1-800-772-0458
Unit 220, 530 Century StreetWinnipeg, MB R3H 0Y4
PH - (204) 772-4542FX - (204) 774-3264
Maureen Cousins
Carson CallumGENERAL MANAGER
DISTRICT 1 GORD ADAMS R.M. of Albert, Cameron, Whitewater, Edward, Brenda, Winchester, Morton
DISTRICT 2 NANCY HOWATT R.M. of Riverside, Strathcona, Argyle, Lorne, Turtle Mountain, Roblin, Louise, Pembina
DISTRICT 3 PETER PENNER - TREASURER R.M. of Portage la Prairie, Cartier, Grey, MacDonald, Dufferin, Thompson, Roland, Morris, Stanley, Rhineland, Montcalm
DISTRICT 4 ROB KERDA R.M. of Richot, Ste. Anne, Hanover, De Salaberry, La Broquerie, Franklin, Stuartburn, Piney, LGD Reynolds
DISTRICT 5 STEVEN MANNS R.M. of Elton, North Cypress, North Norfolk, Cornwallis, Oakland, South Cypress, Victoria, South Norfolk
DISTRICT 6 LARRY WEGNER R.M. of Wallace, Woodworth, Daly, Pipestone, Sifton, Whitehead, Glenwood
DISTRICT 7 TYLER FULTON R.M. of Russell, Silver Creek, Rossburn, Ellice, Birtle, Shoal Lake, Strathclair, Archie, Miniota, Hamiota, Blanshard
DISTRICT 8 TOM TEICHROEB - PRESIDENT R.M. of Harrison, Clanwilliam, Rosedale, Glenella, Saskatchewan, Odanah, Minto, Langford, Lansdowne, Westbourne, LGD Park
DISTRICT 9 DIANNE RIDING - 2ND VICE-PRESIDENT R.M. of Woodlands, Rockwood, St. Andrews, Rosser, St. Francis Xavier, Springfield, Tache, Whitemouth, Lac du Bonnet, Brokenhead, St. Clements, LGD of Alexander, Pinawa
DISTRICT 10 MIKE DUGUID - SECRETARY R.M. of Bifrost, Gimli, Fisher, Armstrong
DISTRICT 11 ROBERT METNER R.M. of Siglunes, Grahamdale, Eriksdale, Coldwell, St. Laurent
DISTRICT 12 VACANT R.M. of Lawrence, Ochre River, Ste. Rose, McCreary, Alonsa
POLICY ANALYST
Page 1Herd dispersals and
liquidations are not unusu-al in Manitoba. The differ-ence this time is that those dispersals will be forced business decisions, not planned ones, Teichroeb said.
It all depends on the availability of feed and how much it costs, he said.
“You’re looking at two options. Can you source feed and what is the price of that feed? When you com-
bine that with the trans-portation to get it there, you have to make a busi-ness choice. And in some cases the business choice is, I can’t afford to keep those cows in the herd this year.”
Both the provincial and federal governments this summer announced measures to help producers affected by hay shortages.
In July, Manitoba Ag-riculture invited applica-tions from producers to temporarily cut hay and let
animals graze on Crown land not normally desig-nated for agricultural use, such as wildlife manage-ment areas. As of August 8, 98 clients had requested ac-cess and 196 parcels of land were approved, Manitoba Agriculture reported.
Carson Callum, MBP general manager, said the move is welcome but it won’t benefit producers who are located long dis-tances from those areas.
“It’s helped some pro-ducers but they’re scattered around the province,” Cal-lum said. “Some guys won’t have one of these areas anywhere near them, so it won’t help them. But peo-ple that do have them have taken advantage.”
Also in July, Ottawa granted livestock income tax deferrals to producers experiencing major forage shortages due to drought.
“The livestock tax deferral provision allows livestock producers in pre-scribed drought, flood or excess moisture regions to defer a portion of their 2019 sale proceeds of breeding livestock until 2020 to help replenish the herd. The cost of replacing the animals in 2020 will offset the deferred income, thereby reducing the tax burden associated with the original sale,” Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada said in a news release.
The Canadian Cattle-men’s Association noted that in years of consecutive drought (such as 2018 and 2019), “producers may de-fer sales income to the first year in which the area is no longer designated,” thus stretching out tax relief.
Teichroeb said these actions are fine but what’s really needed is for govern-
ments to trigger Agri-Re-covery, a federal-provincial emergency plan to help cover producers’ income and production losses re-sulting from natural disas-ters.
“I would suggest that it is completely justifiable to absolutely consider and perhaps activate AgriRe-covery.”
In the meantime, Teichroeb encouraged producers to use any busi-ness risk management (BRM) tools available, such as forage insurance, crop insurance, livestock price insurance and even AgriStability despite its unpopularity with many farmers.
MBP and Keystone Agricultural Producers are encouraging farmers to list available hay, straw and feed supplies online, including the Manitoba
Government Hay Listing Service.
Producers can also use social media to con-nect with other farmers for informal feeding arrange-ments, such as letting cattle graze hail-damaged crops or accessing straw from harvested cereal crops.
Despite the serious sit-uation, Teichroeb encour-aged producers to hang in there as much as possible, saying cattle farmers are resilient and have survived tough events before, such as BSE and COOL.
But for some produc-ers, after experiencing two consecutive years of drought, severe feed short-ages and extreme stress, the writing could be on the wall.
“Some people across the province are going to be in really dire straits,” Callum said.
Livestock tax deferral provision triggered
BY RON FRIESEN
Audrey and Larry Schweitzer were sure they had a winner when they fi-nally got a qualified employee from Mexico for their feedlot near Hamiota through the federal Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
It hadn’t been easy. Audrey and Larry had spent six months and over $10,000 dealing with the government to attract the worker. They had to provide housing, furnishings and amenities, all of which needed to be inspected and approved first. They had lost two other candidates from Alberta in the pro-cess because of time delays. Frustration wasn’t half the word to describe what Audrey and Larry felt as their applica-tion snaked through the federal bureau-cracy.
But it was worth it, or so they thought. Audrey says the worker turned out to be “absolutely fantastic” and “a wonderful person” -- gifted, experi-enced and good with other staff.
What they didn’t know was that, under the rules, he was allowed to break his two-year contract unilaterally and take off for greener pastures in Alber-ta. Which he did after only 18 months, leaving the Schweitzers holding the bag.
Audrey says she couldn’t entirely blame the guy. Feeding cattle can be hard work, especially for a person new-
ly arrived from Mexico during a harsh Manitoba winter. It’s not surprising he took advantage of a loophole in the rules to pursue similar employment in the slightly more hospitable climate of Alberta.
Still, Audrey and Larry today con-tinue struggling to fill staff vacancies while feeling victimized by two prob-lems in the feeding sector: a chronic shortage of skilled labour and a govern-ment program which, in their opinion, failed them.
“They say it’s there for us but it seems to me it’s set up very much to make sure it doesn’t work,” says Audrey, who co-owns Hamiota Feedlot Ltd. with her husband.
The Schweitzers are not alone. Throughout the industry, complaints are frequently heard from cattle feeders about their inability to find somebody – anybody – to work for them.
“A lot of our feedlot members across the country the country are saying, we’re having trouble finding workers – everything from general farm labour-ers to those with a more specific skill set, like pen checkers or even veterinary technicians,” says Casey Vander Ploeg, vice-president of both the Alberta Cat-tle Feeders Association (ACFA) and the National Cattle Feeders Association.
Two years ago, ACFA ran a recruit-ment program trying to stimulate ap-
plications to work in feedlots. Vander Ploeg says it was only “moderately suc-cessful” at best.
Some blame the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, accusing it of being slow, cumbersome, bureaucratic and in-sensitive to the needs of producers.
But the overarching issue, accord-ing to Vander Ploeg, is that often people willing to work on farms and in feedlots are simply not available.
“I think the most important part of it is that they’re just not there.”
That’s also the conclusion of a re-cent labour market forecast from the Canadian Agricultural Human Re-source Council. It says Canada’s agricul-ture sector in 2017 saw 16,500 jobs go unfilled, costing the sector $2.9 billion in lost revenues, or 4.7 per cent of prod-uct sales.
The report says beef, grain and hor-ticulture producers will be the hardest hit over the next 10 years. And it pre-dicts the situation will only get worse.
“Labour shortages don’t just impact the sector today; they also limit future growth by preventing or delaying,” says the report. “Canada’s agriculture sector faces significant labour challenges that put its viability and growth potential at risk.”
To deal with the threat, the report recommends improving access to for-eign workers, attracting more domestic
workers, enhancing training resources and increasing public awareness of ca-reers in agriculture.
The recommendations echo those made by a 2015 labour task force report by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s 12 Value Chain Round Tables.
Vander Ploeg says the recommen-dations are all very well but they don’t solve the problem of a growing rural-ur-ban divide in Canada and a lack of un-derstanding between the two solitudes.
Vander Ploeg notes that rural de-population has been occurring in Can-ada for the last 50 years, despite the fact that much of the country’s economic engine -- agriculture, forestry, mining, fishing, oil and gas – still exists in the country. Increasingly, the population base needed to sustain those industries is shrinking fast.
Action is urgently needed to deal with the situation because Canada faces a major demographic crunch in a few years, Vander Ploeg says.
“Policy makers need to understand this is really the first nip of the wringer here. We’ve got a baby boom retirement wave coming through the economy in the next 10 to 20 years in a very big way. Agriculture has a chronic shortage of workers right now and it won’t be long before other industries are in the same position. I would dare to say even the public sector itself Page 3
Labour shortages hobble cattle feeders
September 2019 CATTLE COUNTRY 3
www.mbbeef.ca
SAVETHE
DATEMBP’s 41st Annual General Meeting takes place Feb. 6 & 7, 2020 at the Victoria Inn in Brandon, MB. PLAN TO ATTEND!Email [email protected] for details.
Feb 6 & 7
BY ANGELA LOVELL
Manitoba Beef Pro-ducers ( MBP) is among a number of stakehold-ers contributing to a new project launched recent-ly by Farm Management Canada (FMC) that is exploring the connec-tion between mental health and farm business management.
The project coincides with the release in May of the federal govern-ment’s Standing Com-mittee on Agriculture and Agri-Food report entitled Mental Heath: A priority for our farmers. After conducting inter-views with mental health professionals and people involved in all aspects of the agricultural indus-try, the report outlines a number of recommenda-tions for improving the mental health of Canada’s farmers.
“It’s good timing for this project because it demonstrates that a Na-tional Agricultural or-ganization is taking re-search on to see if there is a connection between the mental health of farmers and management prac-tices, and whether or not there are tools and resources that we can provide from a business management perspec-
tive that can help address some of those mental health challenges,” says Denise Rollin, who is leading the project for FMC.
A high stress businessWith the complexity
of farm businesses today, there are multiple stress-ors for farmers, with un-predictability topping the list.
“Almost every aspect of our livelihood is out-side our direct control,” says Adelle Stewart, Ex-ecutive Director of The Do More Agriculture Foundation, which is one of the project part-ners participating in the advisory committee for the project. “Weather, policy, animal health, to even misunderstand-ing of the uses of some common farm practices that lead to campaigns and marketing against farming; even if we have smart business plans and goals, and can execute on implementing the impor-tance of the business side, the fact of the matter is that it can be hard to rally through your plans and stay resilient. When our resiliency starts to wane, our mental health can be-come affected.”
Even though farm-ers are used to making difficult decisions and
understand that farming is an unpredictable busi-ness, farming has become riskier and more com-plex, says Janet Smith, Manager of the Manitoba Farm, Rural and North-ern Support Services that answers around 200 calls or online chats a month from farmers, and other rural and northern Mani-toba residents.
“The stakes have never been higher within today’s volatile geopo-litical, economic, social and environmental cli-mate,” says Smith. “For example, over the past few months our coun-sellors have heard from both pork producers and canola farmers who are worried about the impact of recent trade disputes with China. We are also hearing from cattle pro-ducers impacted by feed shortages. Then there are the young farmers trying to make sound business decisions when a farm succession plan has not yet been resolved. The list goes on and on.”
Developing concrete tools for farmersThe project, partially
funded through Agri-culture and Agri-Food Canada’s Canadian Agri-cultural Partnership, has many partners including Manitoba Beef Producers,
The Do More Agriculture Foundation, Keystone Agricultural Producers, Manitoba Canola Grow-ers Association, Grain Farmers of Ontario and the Canadian Seed Trade Association. Wilton Con-sulting Group based in Guelph, Ontario is con-ducting the research un-der the supervision of Bronwynne Wilton. Dr. Andria Jones-Bitton of the University of Guelph has joined forces with Wilton Consulting Group to conduct the research. She has been leading re-search into mental health in agriculture for many years.
The one-year project will include an environ-mental scan of all current research available on the topic, a National Survey, focus groups and one-on-one interviews. The over-all research will seek to determine to what extent mental health impacts farm business decision-making, and influences farmers’ management practices, and conversely how business practices impact farmers’ mental health. The aim is to de-velop some targeted risk management tools to help farmers prepare for some of the unknowns that ex-ert so much stress in their personal and business
lives.“We’ve heard from a
lot of farmers that when they are looking for re-sources, they are not finding resources specific to them, and farmers’ unique challenges,” says Rollin. “They are sur-rounded by stresses and worries every day, their whole life, so it’s impor-tant to not only provide spaces for farmers and people in agriculture to talk about it, but also offer some concrete practices that they can implement in their day-to-day lives that will help them in the long run. We think that business management tools and practices can help prepare them better for these unknowns.”
Understanding the root cause, or the “why” of a situation is the very foundation of an ability to change, says Stewart. “It places a rationality on an otherwise emotional context,” she says. “Rea-son allows us to increase our self-talk, it provides a context to sometimes unexplainable emotions. These can be used as self-check points in states of stress, and assists people in knowing they are not alone. I am confident that more projects and studies including this one, that are focused on produc-
ers’ mental health, will go a long way in broadening our resiliency, resources and long-standing posi-tive impacts on our im-portant demographic.”
Healthy farms start with
healthy farmersHealthy farms start
with healthy farmers, and Smith says she is confident that this proj-ect will enhance some of the tools and resources that are already available to help farmers look af-ter their physical, mental and emotional health, such as the new ‘Root-ed In Strength’ booklet launched by Farm Credit Canada and The Do More Agriculture Foundation, Manitoba Farm, Rural and Northern Support Services and other mental health organizations.
“If farmers begin to build mental wellness into their overall business plan, they will quickly see the paybacks in terms of productivity, reduced ab-senteeism, overall job sat-isfaction and the sustain-ability of the farm itself,” says Smith.
For information about Manitoba Farm, Rural and Northern Sup-port Services visit their website https://support-line.ca/ or call them toll free at 1-866-367-3276.
New project looks at the link between mental health and farm management
Labour supply issues
FIND US ONLINE: Facebook.com @ManitobaBeef mbbeef.ca
Page 2is going to be affected.”
Vander Ploeg admits money is one reason why people may be unwilling to relocate from the city to the country, where wages are often lower. But he says the salary gap be-tween agriculture and the broader economy has narrowed over the last 10 years. And there’s one thing people often forget: the cost of living in rural areas can be significantly lower.
But that may still not be enough to entice people to leave the city to pursue a career, Vander Ploeg admits.
“It would take more than incremental increases in wages to convince a person born and raised in Calgary or Winnipeg and who have lived there all their lives to pull up stakes and pick a rural lifestyle,” he says. “That’s asking quite a bit.”
Meanwhile, a desperate shortage of workers in the beef packing industry only adds to the strain on labour demand. As an example, Vander Ploeg says the Cargill Foods plant at High River, Alberta, is short 200 to 300 workers on any
given day. The shortfall, which prevents packers from run-ning at capacity and maximizing carcass cutout, ripples down through the supply chain, affecting feedlots, auction markets and cow-calf producers.
There have been some positive developments lately. In July, Ottawa launched the Agri-Food Immigration Pilot Project, which will increase the number of foreign workers on Canadian farms and in meat packing plants. Starting in 2020, the three-year pilot will include spots for 2,750 full-time non-seasonal agriculture and agri-food workers.
The government also announced $8.3 million in fund-ing for six projects to help support the beef industry. Of this, $5.3 million will go toward increasing beef sales in interna-tional markets.
But Vander Ploeg says the programs, while welcome, will not solve the labour shortage problem for producers, feeders and packers.
“We need to do more than simply look for short-term fixes. We really need to get our minds around a long-term strategy to deal with this in a very practical way.”
September 2019CATTLE COUNTRY4
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MANITOBA ANGUSupcoming eventsMAA FALL GOLD SHOW WITH AG EX October 24, 2019
Brandon,MB - Entry deadline is October 1
MANITOBA ANGUS ASSOCIATION AGM December 7, 2019 Brandon, MB - in conjunction with the Keystone Klassic
Manitoba Angus AssociationP: 1-888-622-6487
Thank you to Mar Mac Farms and McRae Land & Livestock for hosting a very successful pasture tour!
And Thank You to Harding Fair for hosting our MAA Summer Gold show and Jr. Show this summer!
BY DUNCAN MORRISON
It looks like a camper. It definitely hooks up and pulls like a camper. People cook, eat and sleep in it like a camper. But the only people inside it are researchers and that makes Manitoba Beef and Forage Initiatives’ (MBFI) Mobile Lab a really unique asset to have.
“The research capacity building of the MBFI Mobile Lab is a valuable step in the MBFI’s ambitions to be a centre of innovation and position Manitoba’s beef and forage sec-tors as leaders in the nation,” says Mary-Jane Orr, MBFI’s general manager.
MBFI is a not for profit organization focused on en-gaging in science-based research to benefit valuable eco-systems, improve producer profitability and build social awareness around the beef and forage industry. In collabo-ration with four core partners: Manitoba Beef Producers, Manitoba Forage & Grassland Association, Ducks Unlim-ited Canada and Manitoba Agriculture, MBFI continues to expand on the uniqueness and vast potential it represents.
In the early days of MBFI, consultation with the University of Manitoba, Manitoba Beef Producers and Manitoba Agriculture identified the back and forth dis-tance to remote research sites as a potential challenge for field research in Manitoba. The MBFI Mobile Lab was purchased and designed to build on Manitoba’s on-farm research capacity by providing a customized, mobile labo-ratory accessible to multiple research sites. The key factor was being able to put MBFI-affiliated researchers onto remote locations.
“MBFI works to facilitate primary research within but not limited to the priorities of increased productivity, prof-itability, environmental sustainability, industry resilience within climate change and other production risks, and animal welfare and health,” says Orr, who took the helm of MBFI in the fall of 2018. “The MBFI Mobile Lab is a vital element in creating opportunities for foundational research to advance the long-term profitability and sustainability of beef producers. Not only does it provide a safe space for researchers, graduate and summer students to live while conducting their field studies, it also helps ensure the qual-ity of the samples collected and stored for further analysis.”
Equipped like the most modern of hard-cover camper trailers, the MBFI Mobile Lab is fully functional off the grid. The unit has plug-in electrical and remote-power sources, water and septic tanks, and a cellular booster tower for con-nectivity. The MBFI lab is also fully-insulated and heated to help researchers work in the harsh winter prairie climate. Living space amenities accommodate the basic needs of visiting researchers while also providing work benches
and laboratory equipment for evaluating and processing samples.
“The MBFI Mobile Lab is a leading-edge piece of equipment for researchers on remote sites,” says Glenn Fri-esen, a Manitoba Agriculture Industry Development lead who was part of the original team responsible for brain-storming the mobile lab. Friesen oversaw the building and acquiring the Mobile Lab for MBFI. “To ensure and follow strict biosecurity protocols, the trailer comes equipped with a hot water pressure washer to clean the trailer as necessary after each stop. It’s been uniquely designed to separate liv-ing and laboratory space.”
Customized and built to the MBFI-provided speci-fications by Conquest Manufacturing Ltd in Altona, the unique research design includes areas and equipment for collecting and processing animal, plant and soil samples, Centrifuge, refrigerators, freezers, scales, glassware lab sup-plies, and liquid nitrogen storage. It also has plenty of stor-age for additional research equipment.
According to Friesen, the concept of the mobile lab took big steps forward as MBFI moved toward reality with two research-orientated farm sites located on the outskirts of Brandon at First Street Pasture and Johnson Farm and a third site traditionally focused more on demonstration
and research farther north on Highway 10 at Brookdale. The biggest push for the MBFI Mobile Lab was to attract and equip researchers with the ability to conduct intensive sampling at MBFI-related sites and other remote locations.
“We recognized that agriculture research often needs to be on the farm,” says Friesen. “The lack of remote sample processing capacity on the farm limited our research abili-ties and the range of things we could study. We needed to find a tool that would expand the abilities and scope of our current research programs.”
Along with Friesen, Ramona Blyth of MBP and Me-linda German (MBP general manager at the time), Kim Ominski, Emma McGeough and Deanne Fulawka from the University of Manitoba were part of that small group of MBFI leaders that saw the need for the mobile lab. Ominski has since utilized the MBFI Mobile Lab to conduct a spring grazing trial at the MBFI Johnson Farm.
“Access to the MBFI Mobile Lab allowed us to conduct trials which require intensive sample collection and animal management over multiple days/weeks at MBFI or other remote locations,” says Ominski. “The unique facility is es-pecially well-suited for summer and winter grazing trials as it also allows for processing of both forage and animals samples on site.”
A look at the MBFI Mobile Lab
MBFI staff Jordan Dahmer (right) and summer student Alice Rooke working in the lab. Photo credit: Emily Pearson
September 2019 CATTLE COUNTRY 5
www.mbbeef.ca
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As most members will have seen, my name is Car-son Callum, newly-appointed General Manager at Man-itoba Beef Producers. As this will be my first stab at the GM column in Cattle Country, I thought it would be a great opportunity to introduce myself to you. Hopefully you see why this role, for me, is a great fit.
I grew up on beef farm south of the booming me-tropolis of Miami, Manitoba. After graduating high school in Miami, I moved in to the big city to attend post-secondary education at the University of Manitoba. At the U of M, I completed my Bachelor of Science in Agriculture. Following that, I had the opportunity to travel to New Zealand and Australia to gain some per-spective outside of Canada. I tell you, seeing an Austra-lian cattle farm which grazes on over one million acres was quite something.
After my short stint out of the country, I decided to continue my education in agriculture, and started my Master’s program at the University of Manitoba Animal Science department under the direction of Dr. Kim Ominski, Dr. Gary Crow, and Dr. John Ba-sarab (University of Alberta). My project looked at the effects of feed efficiency on reproductive traits in replacement heifers and mature cows. This project improved my knowledge of the beef industry and how hard the research community works to develop inno-vative solutions for producers.
Following the completion of my MSc. in Animal Science, I landed a job at the Canola Council of Canada. My role was marketing and advocating for canola meal nationally and internationally. This role gave me strong experience in trade and policy issues within the agri-culture and agri-food sector. At the Canola Council is where I made my connections for my next roles, Animal Nutrition Lead and then Grains & Oils Market Manager at Dow AgroSciences (now Corteva Agriscience). These roles were in a unique area of the business that focuses on output traits that would benefit the value chain on the food production end, as well as the animal feed sector. This focus on output traits has allowed me to understand what is important for a producer and downstream for a consumer. Both of these learnings, in policy and con-sumer perception, will be key for my role at MBP.
Overall, my education/professional experience makes this role an excellent fit for me, but when I think back, it is being raised on the farm that really gave me the foundation I need for a role as important as this. Growing up on a beef farm provides one with a variety of life skills that have been essential in my ever-evolving career. It teaches you responsibility, especially when you are responsible for the late-night calving check at -40 C. It allows you to develop creative thinking skills. There are definitely a variety of ways to warm up a cold calf or to build a ‘unique’ handling facility. One thing for cer-tain, it teaches you resilience. In an industry that has so many ebbs and flows, producers must remain resilient and optimistic to continue to raise these animals in the best way they can. I hope I can pass these skills on to my newly-born son, even if we are away from the farm.
I greatly admire MBP’s mission of supporting pro-ducers at a provincial and national scale. There are many challenges in the industry right now, such as public per-ception of beef cattle operations and changing weather patterns. Manitoba Beef Producers is always looking for strong and creative solutions, and I am so happy to be part of a team that drives strategic decisions to tackle issues like these. In the short term, I want all of our members to know, we will be continuing to advocate to government as best we can for relief in this difficult back-to-back years of extremely dry conditions.
Before I let you get back to your herd, or hopefully some valuable time with your family, I want to say I real-ly look forward to meeting you at the upcoming district meetings this fall. This being my first set of district meet-ings, I know I will gain an incredible amount of valuable insight from producers on opportunities and challenges in this great industry.
CARSON CALLUMGeneral Manager’s Column
Who am I?DR. TANYA ANDERSON, DVMThe Vet Corner
With the drought in many areas of the province and the anticipated short supply of forage, many pro-ducers have been forced to downsize their herds and to change their winter feed-ing programs. Favourable pricing for feed grains has sparked interest in grain-based rations but misman-agement of these feeds will result in acute rumen aci-dosis (commonly termed “grain overload”). Around 42 days of age, the rumen begins to mature and de-velop the musculature and absorptive capacity to uti-lize nutrients released from the fermentation of fibrous feedstuffs. Overfeeding of fermentable carbohydrate disrupts the microflora that ferment the feed, resulting in a decrease of the rumen pH (acidosis) and a die-off of the “good” bugs in the rumen. This is catastrophic for animal health, both im-mediate and long-term.
While the vast major-ity of cattle producers know that sudden feeding of a higher grain-based ration will result in grain overload, I still see cases of grain over-load where the producer is surprised that illness hap-pened in the first place or has no idea that overload occurred until sequelae lat-er develop. This article will review some of those case scenarios.
Barley is not the only feed that causes grain over-load. Any rapidly ferment-able carbohydrate can cause overload – wheat, oats, corn, potatoes, standing corn, green feed. In other regions with access to dif-ferent feedstuffs, overload
can occur following the feeding of apples or other fruits, incompletely fer-mented brewery products, or bakery and food process-ing waste products.
The same grain is not always the same. Changing bins, suppliers or fields (or even areas within the same field) can mean differences in digestibility and starch levels. This is one reason why nutritionists recom-mend multiple feed tests when harvesting different fields, procuring feed from regions with differing grow-ing conditions or feeding screening pellets.
Even cattle used to grain can get grain overload. Most everyone knows that newly-arrived feedlot calves need to be started on a step-up program to introduce them to a primarily concen-trate-based ration. It takes time for their rumen mi-croflora to adapt to this diet change. The same is true of adult cattle that, though fed grain in the past, have more recently been on a primarily forage-based diet. Remem-ber too that cattle on feed can also get grain overload if they receive more con-centrate than their rumen microbiome can digest. This happens following a feeding error, over process-ing of grain (ground more finely), a change in ration moisture, or when there is excessive competition for feed within the group (lack of bunk space or irregular feeding intervals). Feed ad-ditives such as ionophores, bicarbonate and limestone can reduce disease severity and incidence when used appropriately.
Higher incidences of hoof quality issues such as sandcracks, “slipper foot” and hardship grooves are proof of past laminitis epi-sodes triggered by rumen acidosis. Sickness such as chronic or intermittent bloat, nosebleeds, fever, in-appetance and poor weight gain or milk production can be symptoms of liver abces-sation, a common sequela of past severe grain overload. Multiple cases of downers with neurological symp-toms may be due to polio-encephalomalacia (PEM) which is caused by thiamine deficiency – the result of rumen microflora disrup-tion. Any unexplained or unexpected deaths should be necropsied. You cannot manage what you do not measure. Herds with these conditions being regularly diagnosed need to have an analysis of their feeding program done.
Treatment of grain overload can be frustrating as cases are frequently ad-vanced when first detected. The diagnostic problem is to properly assess which animals require vigor-ous therapy (or slaughter), which require supportive therapy, which have only a mild indigestion that will correct itself with water and grain restriction/provision of hay/forced exercise, and which need nothing be-yond their routine care and ration. The degree of diar-rhea and animal attitude can often guide the decision making process. Your vet-erinarian can assist you in
this classification and pro-vide treatment protocols.
Cattle that may not need treatment other than water restriction and qual-ity grass hay are those that are still bright and alert, moving around and active-ly manuring. Any animals that eat hay should not re-quire additional treatment though the group should continue to be periodically forced to walk and observed for worsening of clinical signs over the following 24-48 hours.
Cattle that are recum-bent, staggering, severely dehydrated or those with heart rates >120 have a poor prognosis. Salvage slaughter should be consid-ered or, if highly valuable, a rumenotomy with rumen lavage and intravenous flu-ids must be immediately instituted. Rumen transfau-nation should also be done following stabilization. Keep in mind that these animals commonly develop laminitis, liver abscesses, PEM and fungal infection of the rumen with resultant peritonitis. Medications to combat these sequela must be administered. In pregnant cattle that survive a severe case of overload, abortion may occur 10-14 days later.
Grain overload is a perfect example of mis-management. Recognizing and avoiding the risk fac-tors and promptly dealing with a feeding mishap will greatly reduce the negative animal health and econom-ic outcomes.
Grain overload management
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September 2019CATTLE COUNTRY6
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Make your voices heard this fall in the upcoming elections
(VBP+ News Re-lease) The Verified Beef Production Plus (VBP+) program, under the um-
brella of the Beef Cattle Research Council, a di-vision of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association
(CCA), welcomes the investment of $602,250 from the Canadian Ag-riculture Partnership (CAP) Agri-Assurance program, announced July 10 by Minister of Agri-culture and Agri-Food Canada Marie-Claude Bibeau.
These funds will be directed to multiple VBP+ activities, includ-ing• training platform
modifications to meet educational demands by producers for con-tinuous improvement in sustainability,
• increased database ca-pacity and functional-ity by automating pro-
cesses where practical and ensuring growing demand is met while adding value and min-imizing the cost of the verification process for producers,
• advancing assessments of equivalency with existing industry pro-grams to provide more value to producers who move through the verification process, and
• developing a system to determine the impact of training on changes in sustainable produc-tion practices.
“By advancing the development of our train-ing resources for cattle
producers, enhancing our database capabilities and establishing equivalency with similar quality as-surance programs and training platforms, Veri-fied Beef Production Plus (VBP+) services will be cost-efficient while deliv-ering the greatest value to all Canadian beef produc-ers,” said Cecilie Fleming, Chair of the VBP+ Man-agement Committee and a cattle producer near Granum, Alberta.
The expansion of the VBP+ program to meet growing demands and continue advancing sus-tainability efforts by the industry are expected to increase market demand
and consumer confidence in the beef sector.
This funding is part of a recent announce-ment by Minister Bibeau at the Calgary Stampede of an $8.3 million in-vestment for six projects in Canada’s beef value chain. Of that, a total of $1.7 million is directed to two of the CCA’s operat-ing divisions: $602,250 in funding for VBP+ and $1.1 million for the Cana-dian Roundtable for Sus-tainable Beef.
For more informa-tion contact Shannon Argent, VBP+ Business Manager at [email protected] or call 403-818-7415.
VBP+ welcomes CAP funding for program advancement
LIVE CHAT:supportline.ca
CALL TOLL FREE:
204-571-41801-866-367-3276
The Manitoba Farm, Rural & Northern Support Services provides free, confidential telephone and online counselling to farmers, rural and northern Manitobans. Our counsellors are here to listen and to help you work through any issue you may be struggling with: farm, family, financial and other. Call 1-866-367-3276 or chat with us online at www.supportline.ca.
With both provincial and federal elec-tions pending, Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP) has identified a number of priority areas on which it will advocate on behalf of the province’s cattle industry.
“It is important that there is a policy and regulatory environment in which the Manitoba cattle industry can thrive and we want to ensure candidates are aware of the perspectives of beef producers on different matters,” explained MBP President Tom Teichroeb.
Some of the topics about which MBP will be advocating with both provincial and federal candidates include: the need for equitable and effective business risk management programs; the importance of sound water management strategies, both for times of drought or excess moisture conditions; recognition of the ecosystem services provided by managing grasslands, such as carbon sequestration and preserv-ing habitat for many different species; ex-ploring new trade opportunities and full optimizing existing trade deals; strategies
to tackle labor shortages; and, the benefits provided to the sector through investments in beef and forage research and innovation. Other topics people may wish to explore with candidates could include everything from education taxes to rural cell phone coverage to infrastructure issues.
“As the two election campaigns unfold in the weeks ahead we strongly encourage our members to talk to their candidates about the value of the beef industry to Manitoba and to ask the candidates about their priorities when it comes to the cattle sector,” added Teichroeb. “It is important our voices are heard by the people who could be shaping policies and programs af-fecting agriculture for years to come.”
The provincial election is September 10 and the federal election is October 21. Don’t be afraid to reach out to the can-didates on the topics that matter to you. Those who are elected as Members of the Legislature or Members of Parliament will go on to represent their constituents and it is important that they have a good under-
standing of both the challenges and the op-portunities facing the beef sector.
Once the elections are over, be sure to continue that dialogue with your MLA and MP on a regular basis so they are aware of how government policies are affecting the beef sector and what actions they can take to help the industry. With people becom-ing increasingly removed from farming, it’s more important than ever that elected of-ficials are aware of the cattle industry and that they are comfortable reaching out to talk to beef producers if they have ques-tions about it.
Manitoba’s four main political parties have started rolling out their election plat-forms in advance of the provincial election. For example, the Green Party of Manitoba has promised to “encourage the use of re-generative farming practices to reduce greenhouse gases, increase plant growth, and increase species diversity on pastures.”
The Manitoba Liberal Party has promised to restore grasslands as part of its climate change action plan, including
converting the Red River Floodway into grasslands.
The New Democratic Party has prom-ised to reduce carbon emissions by 45% of 2010 levels by 2030 and to become carbon neutral by 2050.
The Progressive Conservative Party has outlined promises related to reducing taxes and is touting achievements from its first mandate, such as the creation of the Conservation Trust.
Additional commitments will be roll-ing out in the days leading up to the elec-tion. More information about the party platforms can be found at the following links:
https://www.mbndp.ca/https://www.manitobaliberals.ca/https://greenparty.mb.ca/platform/https://www.pcmanitoba.com/Have specific questions related to the
elections process, such as how to register to vote or the revised electoral boundar-ies? Visit the Elections Manitoba website at https://www.electionsmanitoba.ca.
September 2019 CATTLE COUNTRY 7
www.mbbeef.ca
Reproduction is 5X more important than growth rate, and 10X more important than carcass quality when it comes to profit.
Every missed breeding cycle represents a 42 lb loss in weaning weight.
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This year our main cowherd will only see an Angus bull for 30 days, then their chance to produce PB stock is over. Last cycle will be Fleckvieh Bulls.
Steers graze extensively year-round & are direct marketed as Grass Finished Beef.
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BY KATE CUMMINGS
Drought conditions across Manitoba have created forage shortages for many producers. Feed is the largest unit level input cost in a cow-calf operation regard-less of whether you’re talking about pas-ture, forage or supplementation. Although many cow-calf producers rely on hay as their primary feed source over winter there are a variety of feedstuffs that can be used as an alternative to meet cattle’s nu-tritional requirements. It’s always a chal-lenge to feed cows in a way that meets the
varying nutritional requirements through stages of pregnancy, lactation and rebreed-ing and during a drought this presents even more of a challenge. Feed is ex-pensive and availability is limited but the management decisions made now will affect both economic and repro-ductive performance for a minimum of two years.
Regardless of whether feed qual-ity or quantity has been compromised, when implementing a supplementation program that is cost effective you need to identify the limiting nutrient. For
example, if protein is deficient compare the cost per pound of protein in vari-ous supplements. If energy is deficient compare supplements based on the cost per pound of total digestible nutrients (TDN).
As forages mature the nutritional value decreases. A forage protein con-tent of 7% or less will limit intake and reduce digestion, which inhibits per-formance. Rumen microorganisms use protein nitrogen to proliferate and break down feed. Supplementing pro-tein can help reduce the negative effects of deficiencies and maximize the use of forage supply. If protein supplementa-tion is required, consider using com-mercially available processed supple-ments such as blocks, tubs and pellets that are nutrient balanced and easy to implement.
However, this convenience comes at a higher cost than traditional pro-tein supplements such as canola meal or distillers grains. These supplements are approximately 38% crude protein (CP) and 27% CP respectively and are more cost effective options to increase the protein content of rations. It’s also important to consider feed wastage. If fed on the ground, some 10-25% waste should be compensated for.
Supplementing with urea or non-protein nitrogen (NPN) sources can re-duce protein costs even further. Urea is less costly than plant sourced proteins. However, excessive amounts can have negative impacts on performance so it
should be incorporated into a properly-balanced ration. Protein can be catego-rized as rumen degradable or rumen bypass. Urea is rumen degradable and is used by the microbes. If you’re feed-ing about three times per week or less, 20% rumen degradable protein is ex-pected to reduce feed costs without af-fecting performance. Higher NPN rates of 20%-50% can be safe if fed frequently and in small concentrations, approxi-mately one or two pounds per day. Sup-plement feeding frequency affects ani-mal performance and this is especially true for energy supplements. Feeding smaller amounts more frequently can reduce the potential for negative ef-fects on forage intake. However when talking about protein supplementa-tion, feeding once a week has no nega-tive impact on performance or intake. In addition this reduces labour and transportation costs.
Having a plan in place for an-other potential year of drought condi-tions and instability is important to remain in the driver’s seat rather than having the tough decisions made for you. Drought management revolves around three pillars: cattle inventory, existing forage supplies and supple-menting limiting nutrients. Learning how drought affects pastures, forages and the health and productivity of the livestock that consumes them can al-low producers to develop and imple-ment strategies to mitigate the negative effects of drought.
Supplementation program considerations
(August 8 Canadian Cattlemen’s Association statement) The United Na-tion’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) today released a special report, ‘Climate Change and Land, an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food se-curity, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosys-tems.’ The report suggests: “Balanced diets, featuring plant-based foods, such as those based on coarse grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, and animal-sourced food produced in resilient, sus-tainable and low-GHG emission systems, present major opportunities for adaption and mitigation while generating significant co-benefits in terms of hu-man health.”
Canada’s beef produc-tion system is an excellent example of an “…animal-sourced food produced in [a] resilient, sustainable and low-GHG emission system.” Research shows Canadian beef has one of the lowest greenhouse gas (GHG) footprints in the world, accounting for only 0.04 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In Canada, the beef industry attributes just 2.4 per cent of the country's total GHG footprint while contributing $33 billion to the Canadian economy. Furthermore, substantial amounts of carbon are stored in Canadian range-lands managed by the beef industry.
Cows are part of the climate change solution. Canadian beef cattle help to preserve one of the world’s most endangered ecosys-tems. Canada’s beef pro-duction is centered on the Northern Great Plains, one of four temperate grasslands remaining on the planet. According to the World
Wildlife Fund, half of the Northern Great Plains have already been lost to cultivated agriculture. This action threatens wildlife habitats that the beef sec-tor preserves through well-managed grazing. These grasslands are home to at risk species like the swift fox, sage grouse, and mon-arch butterfly. They are among the 579 birds, mam-mals, reptiles and amphib-ians that need uncultivated land for feeding, breeding, and shelter. Grazing cattle is also a recognized practice to help mitigate the risk of wildfires.
Land managed by beef producers provides habitat capacity for 68 per cent of wildlife on only 33 per cent of total agricultural land in Canada. As noted in the State of Canada’s Birds 2019 report, ‘beneficial grazing on public and private lands is critical for the creation and maintenance of grass-land bird habitat.' Further, the report recommends conservation actions in-cluding protecting the few remaining grasslands, in-cluding grazed public lands, from crop agriculture and restoring native grasslands
to provide habitat and in-crease carbon storage. It also recommends citizens do their part by purchasing from sustainable farms and range-fed beef.
Canada is a world lead-er in sustainable beef pro-duction. Industry’s focus on innovation and technology will continue to reduce the environmental ‘hoofprint’ of Canadian beef, which will preserve grasslands for beef production and protect endangered ecosystems.
Consumers certainly have the right to choose the food they eat. However, re-ducing meat consumption is not a solution to climate change. Research contin-ues to show that reducing food waste will have a far larger impact on mitigating climate change. In Canada, the estimate is that consum-ers waste 40 per cent of their food, much of which has been refrigerated and trans-ported for great distances to get here.
Through continued responsible stewardship of Canada’s natural resources, the Canadian beef industry will continue to contribute to the growth of the green economy in Canada.
CCA Statement on UN IPCC report, ‘Climate Change and Land’
September 2019CATTLE COUNTRY8
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BY CHRISTINE RAWLUKNational Centre for Livestock and the Environment, University of Manitoba
Many cattle producers in Manitoba and elsewhere on the prairies are familiar with the American dog tick and the Rocky Mountain wood tick. While these ticks are often just considered a pest, they can infect cattle with Anaplasma margi-nale, the bacterium that causes bovine anaplas-mosis, a blood-borne dis-ease that can have serious impacts on animal health and production.
According to the Ca-nadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), cattle of all ages can become infected with anaplasmosis. Fatali-ties are more common in cattle over two years old, reported as high as 49% by CFIA. Cattle younger than two years of age generally recover from the disease. There is no vaccine and no treatment for eliminat-ing the pathogen from in-fected animals. Cattle that recover from the disease remain infected and are lifelong carriers.
Bovine anaplasmosis does not pose a risk to hu-man health or food safety, so carrier cattle can safely enter the food chain. If left in the herd, these carrier animals act as disease res-ervoirs, greatly increasing the risk for further spread of the disease within the herd by ticks, biting insects or through blood-contami-nated instruments. Having the disease within the herd can be costly. Research in the United States calculated the cost of a clinical case of anaplasmosis at over $400 USD per animal. Intro-ducing infected or carrier cattle to a herd can result in mortality losses of 30%, a 30% increase in cull rate and a drop in the calf crop of more than 3%.
Although this disease is not common in Canada, there have been incidences reported in Manitoba. A series of outbreaks between 2008 and 2011 in south-ern Manitoba resulted in the culling of several hun-dred cattle. An additional four cases were reported in the same region in 2017 and 2018.
As of 2014 the CFIA ceased monitoring for the
disease or managing out-breaks. This change means producers are now respon-sible for controlling any infections that might occur within their cattle herds along with the associated economic costs. The CFIA also no longer requires that cattle entering Canada from the US be tested for the dis-ease. As such, new cases are anticipated to appear in
Canadian cattle herds since the disease has been detect-ed in all US states. Mapping Ticks That Can Transmit Anaplasmosis
Across The PrairiesUniversity of Mani-
toba livestock entomolo-gist Kateryn Rochon is the Manitoba lead on a prairie-wide tick research program led by Shaun Dergousoff at AAFC-Lethbridge. To-gether with colleagues Tim Lysyk and Neil Chilton they have spent three years tracking the abundance, geographic range and ge-netic diversity of American dog and Rocky Mountain
wood ticks. More than 35 students and researchers surveyed across 1,800 km from western BC to the Manitoba-Ontario border, and in Manitoba alone cov-ered 760 km from the 49th to the 60th parallel. They collected nearly 21,800 ticks from 201 sites. In one of the 2 km sample sites in Manitoba they collected 1,870 ticks!
“Our results show the range of Rocky Moun-tain wood ticks - western BC, southern Alberta and south-western Saskatche-wan - hasn’t changed much, but American dog ticks have expanded their range considerably over the last 50 years,” says Rochon. “We found dog ticks 350 km north and 300 km west of the previously reported dis-tribution areas in southern Saskatchewan and Mani-toba.” In their most recent on-the-ground survey con-ducted in 2019, Rochon’s
team found dog ticks as far north as Flin Flon in Mani-toba. Only two years earlier, the most northerly loca-tion where they were found was Grass River Provincial Park, approximately 55 km south-east of Flin Flon.
Prior to the 1960s, the geographic distributions of these tick species did not overlap and there was a gap of approximately 80 km in south-central Saskatch-ewan between the eastern limit of Rocky Mountain wood ticks and the western limit of American dog ticks. That is no longer the case due to the westward spread of dog ticks into the wood tick range.
Predicting Tick Appearance - Where, When and How Many
Using their field data, the team developed statis-tical models to predict the distribution and abundance of both tick species as a tool to identify zones of elevated risk and to improve their understanding of tick habi-tat. “From our initial three years of surveying, along with precipitation, temper-ature, winter conditions, soil type, and vegetation data, we have come up with a model that predicts the presence or absence of ticks in an area,” says Rochon.
They are using the model to characterize the preferred habitat and cli-mate for the ticks. “There is a strong association be-tween tick presence and environmental conditions, but it’s different for the two tick species. For ex-ample, American dog ticks fare better in colder winter temperatures than their western counterpart, but they also need more snow to survive.” The models will also allow them to look at the influence of climate change on tick abundance and location, such as the implications for warmer winters, or less snow.
The tick data collected in 2018 and 2019 is being used to validate and fur-ther refine their models. Accurate predictive maps can indicate areas of future establishment and areas with emergent risk. “This model shows us there may be further expansion of American dog ticks, espe-cially in Manitoba,” says Rochon. “These areas are where we should focus surveillance to detect new introductions.”
Adding Cattle Into The Risk Equation
New research Rochon is proposing will use the information gained in the previous two studies to look specifically at what this means for ticks on cat-tle and how this translates to risk of bovine anaplas-mosis occurring in a herd. “With this model we now have an idea of environ-mental risk - where we can expect ticks to be and when - but we don’t have a good idea of how that translates to the animal,” says Ro-chon. “Most of the data we have about ticks on cattle is from the US, but the tick species and growing envi-ronment are different here in the prairies so we need our own data.”
The additional infor-mation from this new study, together with the model, can be used to develop a decision making tool for producers regarding graz-ing management and other preventative management strategies. Manitoba Beef Producers are supportive of the research Rochon is proposing, committing funding towards this new project.
This prairie-wide re-search has been funded by the Beef Cattle Research Council and by Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. Contact Kateryn Rochon ([email protected]) to learn more.
Ticks and bovine anaplasmosis – mapping the risk
American dog tick questing on grass. Photo credit: J. Bannerman.
September 2019 CATTLE COUNTRY 9
www.mbbeef.ca
I am pleased to announce that Manitoba Beef Produc-ers (MBP) has a new General Manager, Carson Callum. For those of you who aren’t aware, Mr. Callum grew up in southern Manitoba, near Miami, on a mixed cattle and grain farm. After completing his Bachelor of Science De-gree in Agriculture at the University of Manitoba (U of M), Mr. Callum completed a Master’s of Science, also at the U of M, majoring in Animal Science. On behalf of MBP, I am excited to have Mr. Callum as our new General Manager. I know that Mr. Callum is looking forward to the oppor-tunity to meet you at our district meetings this fall. Please consider this an invitation to introduce yourself and help us once again make the district meetings a success.
On a different note, it has been a year since I wrote my first column for Cattle Country. At that particular time, many parts of Manitoba were dry and producers were strug-gling to find adequate feed and water supplies for the winter months. Pasture conditions were a challenge for the entire growing season. As pastures dried up, stockpiled feed was quickly used as supplemental feed. This was most prevalent in the Interlake region but occurred in many other parts of Manitoba as well. It doesn’t seem that long ago but here we are a year later in 2019 and Mother Nature has dealt us a difficult hand once again. From all indications, feed sources have become even more difficult to find this year. This is especially challenging for those who must transport feed over large distances. Along with feed and pasture shortages, many producers are having significant challenges finding adequate surface water supplies.
Planning is always critical but this year will no doubt prove it. Planning will be a difficult exercise for those of us dealing with drought conditions but it will certainly help us through the coming months. In some instances, plans will have to change and that is certainly the case for my operation as well as many of my neighbours. In my area, near Langruth, forage production in 2018 was less than 50 per cent of the historical averages. After harvesting our hay
crop this year, forage yields are approximately one quarter of what we typically expect. The producer who normally backgrounds our annual calf crop will not have enough feed resources for his own herd. After considering alterna-tive feed options, we most likely will be selling the 2019 calf crop this fall instead of in March of 2020 as planned. There is no doubt that this will impact the potential to convert feed stuffs into increased net earnings and it is crucial that the suite of Business Risk Management (BRM) options re-spond appropriately to protect my investments.
I have always promoted planning and the consideration of investing in BRM tools as critical for most operations. I consider risk management essential for my operation. This proved to be a wise choice in 2018 and I am certainly count-ing on BRMs to respond in 2019. A well-developed plan can easily be sidetracked when Mother Nature does not cooperate. When feed stuffs are unavailable or too costly, other options need to be considered. It may be impossible to exercise other options without participating in BRMs. Whether it is forage insurance, AgriStability, Western Live-stock Price Insurance Program (WLPIP), hail insurance or all of the above, they provide peace of mind knowing that you have protected your financial investments. I believe it is important to control what we can, especially as it pertains to Mother Nature.
No one is obligated to participate in BRM programs and some producers choose not to. MBP directors and staff have fielded many calls over the last two years regard-ing this most unfortunate drought situation. Many of the questions we receive pertain to government programming and the possibility of announcements that would or could assist producers during these challenging times. As an or-ganization we take pride in lobbying on your behalf and we certainly have ongoing conversations regarding any and all options with the Manitoba government and the Minister of Agriculture, the Honourable Ralph Eichler. MBP strives to voice all of the members concerns. In these conversations however, we are always reminded that it is in the best inter-est of the industry to encourage producers to participate in both federal and provincial BRM programs. I share those sentiments. As difficult as times like these are, we need to strive for self reliance where possible. The days of ad hoc programs and responding to challenging situations in an unplanned way are no longer supported.
It is true that the current BRM tools are a long way from perfect. The federal government is currently review-ing the entire suite of BRM tools. AgriStability remains as
one of the very complex programs on the top of the list. Not only is it a program that is less than timely, it also has sig-nificant flaws and inconsistencies. The National Program Advisory Committee (NPAC) consists of a panel of pro-ducers, government staff and other experts that continue to identify the shortfalls of AgriStability. Some of the more significant and complicated flaws centre around the Ref-erence Margin Limit (RML), trigger points and a host of other complex calculations.
As well, there is no doubt we also need to review Manitoba’s forage insurance program. There are parts of the program, like the premium coverage option (Select Hay Insurance), that respond adequately. Clearly the Basic Hay Insurance option, as well as some of the other options, cer-tainly need to be reviewed based on their limited response. WLPIP has proven to be a very effective tool and one that I continue to use. WLPIP has made changes and hopefully the changes will make that insurance even more affordable.
As mentioned, there is clearly work to be done to make the BRM tools more responsive, timely and equitable. Al-though many of these programs have their imperfections, I feel fortunate to have BRM options available. At one time we had very few options and navigating through challeng-ing times like these was certainly more difficult. It is my belief that as an industry, as well as individual producers, it our responsibility to use BRM options and to provide input to policy makers about how to improve them.
Once again, I would like to remind you that MBP dis-trict meetings are just around the corner. Not only is this an opportunity to meet our new general manager Carson Callum, but it is chance to catch up on another year of MBP business. It is also an excellent opportunity to consider resolutions that will help improve our BRM options as well as the rest of our industry. Please remember that it is your voices and support that have helped build MBP into a ca-pable and credible organization.
I am convinced that we will endure this drought and become stronger as individuals as well as an industry. It seems like only yesterday that we dealt with unimaginable flooding and a sustained wet cycle. Intuition and history tells me that those wet cycles will come again. Until then, I would like to encourage each of you start planning for next year. Build those important relationships with your neigh-bours, your various insurance agents that offer BRMs, as well as your financial institutions. It may give you peace of mind to know that you negotiated straw and feed options from a mutual business arrangement. You may also find comfort in knowing that all of your feed stuffs are insured and how that may benefit your relationship with your fi-nancial institution.
Finally, I would like to thank all of you your support and dedication. Please know that I will continue to rep-resent all of you to the best of my ability. Until next time, please take care.
Kind Regards, Tom
ATTEND YOUR MBP DISTRICT MEETINGMeet with MBP representatives and fellow beef producers to discuss the timely beef issues affecting your district and industry. Elections will be held in even-numbered
districts. All meetings will begin at 6 p.m. with beef on a bun being served.
CALL 1-800-772-0458 OR [email protected] FOR FULL DETAILS
*Director Retiring
DISTRICT DIRECTOR DATE LOCATION ADDRESS
District 9 Dianne Riding Oct-22 South Interlake Rockwood Ag Society (Red Barn) PR #236 & Rockwood Road, Stonewall
District 4 Robert Kerda Oct-23 Grunthal Livestock Auction Mart 28121 PR #205, Grunthal
District 11 Robert Metner Oct-24 Ashern Legion 3 Main St. East, Ashern
District 10 Mike Duguid Oct-28 Arborg-Bifrost Community Centre 409 Recreation Centre, Arborg
District 3 Peter Penner Oct-29 Carman Legion Auxiliary Hall 28 – 1st St. NW, Carman
District 2 Nancy Howatt Oct-30 Baldur Memorial Hall 142 First St., Baldur
District 5 Steven Manns Nov-01 Austin Community Hall 44 – 2nd Ave., Austin
District 14 Jade Delaurier Nov-04 Swan River Elks Hall 112 – 5th Ave. South, Swan River
District 12 Vacant Nov-05 Ste. Rose Jolly Club 638 – 1st Ave. SW, Ste. Rose du Lac
District 13 Mary Paziuk Nov-06 Grandview Legion 476 Main Street, Grandview
District 7 Tyler Fulton Nov-07 Miniota Community Centre 568 Miniota Rd, Miniota
District 1 Gord Adams Nov-12 Mountview Centre 111 South Railway Ave., Deloraine
District 8 Tom Teichroeb* Nov-13 Arden Community Hall 411 Saskatchewan Ave., Arden
District 6 Larry Wegner* Nov-14 Oak Lake Community Hall 474 Cameron Street West, Oak Lake
BRM programs and the cattle sector
Manitoba Beef Pro-ducers is accepting ap-plications for Manitoba’s Environmental Steward-ship Award (TESA) until December 6.
Since 1996, the Ca-nadian Cattlemen As-sociation’s (CCA) TESA has recognized producers who go above and beyond standard industry conser-vation practices, setting positive examples for other cattle producers and the general public.
At the provincial level, the winning operation re-ceives recognition for its outstanding contributions, which in MBP’s case oc-curs in conjunction with its annual general meeting in February. All provin-cial award recipients then move forward to compete at the national level.
The national TESA recipient is announced during the Canadian Beef Industry Conference and CCA Semi-Annual Meet-ing in August. All provin-cial recipients are awarded an all-expense paid trip for two to attend this meeting.
Each TESA nominee exemplifies significant in-novation and attention to a wide range of environmen-tal stewardship aspects of
their farm operation. Such innovations extend benefi-cially to areas far beyond their land, including water, wildlife and air.
All beef cattle opera-tions in Canada may apply. Producers can either be nominated by an individu-al or organization, or apply themselves. Nominees and applicants compete for one of the provincial awards based on their province of residence.
For more informa-tion and to access the ap-plication go to http://www.cattle.ca/sustainability/the-environmental-stew-ardship-award/, or contact MBP for a copy.
The form, along with all supporting documen-tation (such as letters of support, photos and/or videos), is to be submitted to Manitoba Beef Produc-ers c/o 220-530 Century Street, Winnipeg, MB R3H 0Y4 by December 6, 2019. The application can be emailed to [email protected] .
The 2018 national level TESA winners was Manitoba’s Circle H Farms, a purebred cow-calf opera-tion owned and operated by Brian and Sonja Harper and family.
TESA applications due to MBP by Dec. 6
TOM TEICHROEBPresident's Column
September 2019CATTLE COUNTRY10
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Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP) is very pleased to announce the six recipi-ents the MBP bursaries for 2019.
Each year MBP offers six $500 bur-saries to members, or the children of members, who are attending univer-sity, college or other post-secondary in-stitutions or pursuing trades training. Applicants are asked to submit a 600 word essay on what the beef industry means to them, their family, commu-nity and Manitoba at large. They are also asked to include the reasons they enjoy being involved in agriculture. The six recipients of the MBP bursaries
for 2019 are:• Makayla Murray, District 1• Gracie Gervin, District 1• Jennifer Jermey, District 11 • Alice Rooke, District 6• Joshua Gerelus, District 7• Christopher Jermey, District 11 “These deserving recipients were
chosen from a field of nearly 30 strong candidates,” MBP President Tom Tei-chroeb said. “On behalf of MBP I wish the students all the best in their studies in the upcoming school year.
The winning essays will be published in the October issue of Cattle Country.
MBP announces 2019 bursary recipients
As I sit down to compose this edition of The Bottom Line, it is early August, and the fall yearling cattle market has hit full stride. Dry weather conditions are bringing the cattle off the grass earlier than normal, which creates a domino effect on the marketing decisions for those who kept confinement cattle over the summer. The number of yearlings on the grass for the summer has been decreasing for a number of years. There are many factors that have contributed to the decline of grass yearlings on offer for sale in the fall direct off the pasture.
First off, large cattle feeders own most of the big strings of yearlings. Those operations opt to retain ownership and finish the cattle rather than sell them as feed-ers. The cost of running
yearlings on the grass has become more expensive and in some areas, cost prohibitive. Competition for pasture from cow-calf operators has increased with the cow-calf op-erations outbidding the yearling operators for pasture. Grain farmers are purchasing pasture-land in some areas and transforming the land into cropland. The last factor has been the risk and reward ratio. The profits per head on the grass cattle have been less than favourable for a number of years. When I first started in the busi-ness 40 years ago, if we made less than $100 per head over the grassing season, it was consid-ered a poor year. Now the calves cost over twice as much, and with the un-predictable gains on the grass and the fall market, many grass landers are
working for $25.00 per head or less. To combat the uncertain factors on the grass cattle, feeders have turned to forward contracting if the con-tracts are favourable, or to owning confinement cattle instead.
One advantage of the confinement cattle is that you can control the gain by managing the feed ra-tion. The second advan-tage is that you have ac-cess to the cattle and can market them anytime that an opportunity pres-ents itself. The demand for the confinement cat-tle drops as soon as the grass cattle start to move, so those sellers with con-finement cattle usually want to get them priced prior to the start of the grass cattle. The differ-ence in the costs of grass-ing cattle versus confine-ment feeding over the summer, based on a cost of gain formula, has been getting closer and closer over the past few years. We are seeing more and more confinement cattle on offer and fewer cash grass cattle available.
The first week of
August saw price deter-mination on the first big strings of yearlings off the grass. That caused a flurry of willing sellers of confinement cattle trying to get ahead of the rush. Prices for confinement cattle with light to me-dium flesh were higher than expected; sellers took small profits and cashed out. The grass market opened lower than expected on private treaty sales, but the cattle sold by public auction at the markets or on the electronic sales opened much stronger than the previous week’s trade, in some cases, $90-$120 per head higher. Once again the price determination by public auction set the real market value and the benchmark for future sales. In the second week of August, there were over 35,000 yearlings sold by public auction in western Canada. The fol-lowing week, sales were steady on the grass cattle with the confinement cattle of equal quality selling at a five to 10 cent discount on the steers and an eight to 15 cent discount on the heifers.
The live cattle fu-tures do not support the current cash prices for the yearlings, but the small supply available has not been able to meet the demand. I do think that the grass cattle have peaked, but I do not ex-pect any significant drop in the current yearling prices.
As for the calf mar-ket in the fall, unless we get some rain very soon, dry pastures could mean an early calf run. If that happens, pen space could be a problem. Local back-grounding lots will need to get their corn silage off before they can receive
calves. Wet weather con-ditions in Ontario and Quebec could make for a later than normal harvest and influence their pur-chasing decisions. The majority of Manitoba fall calves end up in a back-grounding lot or in East-ern Canada. Alberta and the US are never very
keen about taking wet-nosed calves from Mani-toba in the fall.
There are two schools of thought on the fall calf prices. Some of the industry experts feel that higher feeding costs, trade uncertainty and two years of losses on fall to spring calves will cre-ate a lower calf market on the steers this fall. The spread between the steers and heifers last fall was so wide that they expect the spread to tighten this fall. On the other hand, there are some who are predicting that this fall’s
prices will be very close to last year’s. Early sales of calves have been stron-ger than predicted. De-spite higher grain prices, they think that there will be lots of lightweight bar-ley, green feed and com-promised grain available to keep the feed costs lower than predicted.
One thing for sure is that there are a larger than usual number of producers in Manitoba considering exiting the cow-calf business this fall. If the calf market is any lower than last year, that factor alone could be key to making the final decision. Dry pastures, higher hay costs, higher operating costs, more regulations and erod-ing profits are weighing heavily on the minds of all cattle producers.
Here is hoping for a profitable fall calf market. Until next time, Rick
Dry pastures could mean an early calf run
Wet weather conditions in Ontario
and Quebec could make for a later
than normal harvest and influence their
purchasing decisions. The majority of
Manitoba fall calves end up in a
backgrounding lot or in Eastern Canada.
RICK WRIGHTThe Bottom Line
September 2019 CATTLE COUNTRY 11
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BY ELISABETH HARMS
September always feels more like the start of a new year than January. There is the return to a rou-tine of busyness, including the addition of new extra-curricular activities. There is an excitement and antici-pation to this, even though it means the end of summer vacation.
With these new extra-curricular activities, it can be difficult to ensure our families are getting enough nutrients. Canadian beef is a great source of nutrients and energy for your family,
providing iron, zinc, and potassium. These nutrients are especially important for providing our bodies with energy to be active.
After a long day of work, school and other activities, the question “What’s for dinner?” al-ways needs to be an-swered. The answer is never easy and if you work full time and have kids go-ing in every direction, it just gets harder. Typically, you want something that’s easy and fast to prepare. In an ideal world, you’ll make something that everyone
is going to eat and enjoy. You want something that’s versatile and, if necessary, something that can easily be reheated.
Below, you’ll find a recipe for a spice mix that is perfect for weeknight meals. It is easy to make and can be used in many different ways. It uses spices already in your pan-try, which will help you to eliminate any added salt or sugar in store-bought products.
Once it’s made, it can be used as taco seasoning, which is quick and easy to
prepare. Tacos are also the perfect kind of blank slate that can be customized for any particular taste. The options for taco top-pings are endless, and if you have fussy eaters who don’t like to get their hands dirty, you can build a taco salad on a plate instead. Tacos are a great meal to have if everyone is coming and going throughout an evening. Because they are both easy to prepare and easy to put together, it is a great choice.
This spice mixture presents you with many
options. It can flavour your burgers, you can make fa-jitas, or it could be used as a spice rub on your favou-rite kind of beef. If you are someone who meal plans and prepares in advance, browning a big batch of ground beef with the spice mixture and freezing it is another great option. The recipe below is easy to scale up if you are hosting a party or feeding a crowd. Having some ground beef
already prepared makes entertaining easy. Use the ground beef for nachos or reheat on the stove for a taco party.
When you’re ready to have a taco party, be pre-pared for the ultimate taco question: hard or soft shell tacos. The debate is real.
Visit www.great-tastesmb.ca or www.can-adabeef.ca for more op-tions and ideas for your spice mixture.
Weeknight spice mixture for your beef
Weeknight Spice Mixture (makes about 1/3 cup)
3 tbsp chili powder2 tbsp cumin1 tsp garlic powder1 tsp onion powder¾ tsp paprika¾ tsp oregano½ tsp cayenne pepper½ tsp salt½ tsp ground pepper*Note: If you feel adventurous and you like spicy food, adjust the spice mixture to your taste, by in-creasing the amount of cayenne pepper.
Weeknight Tacos2/3 cup water1 lb. (500 g) ground beef2 1/2 tbsp spice mixtureDirections:Make your spice mixture: combine all spices in a bowl. Set aside.Place ground beef in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Brown until no pink remains, about 10 minutes.Drain the meat and wipe out the pan, if there is excess fat. Return the meat to the pan, add the water and the seasoning. Cook until it thickens, about 5 minutes.When creating your tacos, your options are endless. Cut fresh vegetables like tomatoes, green onions, and red peppers. Grate some cheddar cheese and serve with either green or red salsa on the side. Also have plenty of both hard and soft shell tacos and don’t forget to be adventurous with your taco toppings! Dez Daniels (left) and Elisabeth Harms filming Great Tastes of Manitoba Season 30.
September 2019CATTLE COUNTRY12
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