September 2009 Hay crops vary across province How to stretch your hay supply If this year’s hay supply is not looking great, here’s some tips to manage your feed supply and maintain a healthy herd. / page 2 by: MAFRI Forage Specialists Depending on where you call home the hay situation ranges from slightly below average to down right appalling. The province experienced a slow cold spring and an unusually cool summer with some areas receiving extreme moisture and others almost none. What this adds up to is poor hay yields and a lot of low quality hay. The northwest Interlake area is about 30 to / more...page 3 Nitrates in feeds by: Pam Iwanchysko At this time of year producers should be cautious of the feeds that they are considering using for winter feed supplies, especially if they have been stressed by environmental factors such as drought or frost. Nitrates in grassy plants such as oats or barley can accumulate in the plants and may be potentially deadly if not fed with caution. How does nitrate get into the forage? Nitrate is the form of nitrogen that plant roots take up from the soil. It is transported to the leaves where it is eventually converted into protein. When plants are / more.... page 12 Dr. Fred Provenza Workshop November 3-5, 2009 AAFC - Brandon Research Centre, Brandon, MB Dr. Fred Provenza is a Professor at the Department of Wildland Resources at Utah State University. His research has focused on understanding animal behavioral processes and specifically how herbivores learn to select their food and habitat. Join the workshop to learn how you can adapt your livsetock to your land and reap the economic and environmental benefits. / page 10 Departments 4 5 6 Board News MFC Reports Ration planning to stretch hay supplies for cows and feeder calves by: John Popp, Farm Production Extension - Beef, MAFRI When hay supplies are low, differing options for wintering the cow herd need to be considered. Straw is usually the first thing to come to mind. Straw does not contain sufficient levels of nutrients and the use of grain, protein supplements and mineral/ vitamin premixes are needed to make straw-based wintering rations work well. It is critical to supply all the nutrients the animals need in order for them to maintain good health, body condition, high reproductive rates and desirable weaning weights. The nutritional requirements of the beef herd change as the animals move through different physiological stages. The general nutritional requirements of the breeding herd are listed in Table 1. Table 1: nutritional requirements of the breeding herd1 Events Review 10 12 How to stretch your hay supply 15 16 Coming Events Forage Bits Cclass TDN% Cp% Ca% P% Mid gestation 50-53 7 0.20 0.20 Late gestation 58 9 0.28 0.23 Lactating 60-65 11-12 0.30 0.26 Replacement heifers 60-65 8-10 0.30 0.22 Breeding bulls 48-50 7-8 0.26 0.20 Yearling bulls 55-60 7-8 0.23 0.23 Mature cows 1 Affiliated Member Reports Board of Directors Nutritional requirements vary with body weight, frame size, predicted ADG and stage of production. Contact your local Ag. Office for ration formulation services. All rations must be balanced for protein, energy, vitamins and minerals. Physical intake of a straw based ration will be restricted due to the fibrous nature of the feed. This can create problems, particularly when beef cows increase intake in response to cold temperatures. The tough and Rumen compaction may occur if straw is fed alone with no readily available energy and/or protein supply for critical question to the rumen microbes. During cold periods the energy ask yourself is – if component of the ration needs to increase approximately 15-20% as the ambient temperature drops to -20 to - 25 the cow is worth °C. In the last trimester of pregnancy the cow’s nutrient only 10 cents/lb requirements also increase significantly. Therefore, it is and she is old – is important to provide higher quality feed either in the it worth spending form of good quality alfalfa hay or increase protein and energy supplementation of straw diets. We have the money to feed received a good number of calls on ammoniating her through the lower quality roughages. It is an excellent way winter or do you to increase intake and digestibility of poor quality feeds. Ammoniation of straw would run move her out of approximately $20 to 25/ton, increasing protein your herd at a loss? to 6 to 7%. Table 2 (next page) shows differing winter feeding options for cows. 2 Table 2: Differing Wintering Ration Options for Beef Cows (1400-1450 Lbs)* Option Grass-legume hay (lbs) Barley straw (lbs) Ammoniated barley straw (lbs) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 *Add 5%- 10% for waste depending on feeding method 16 14 - 33 - - - 9 23 - 23 - - 22 23 18 - - - - 30 - - - Feed costs may vary depending on location within the province. In some locations there is also a fair amount of two year old hay available. Additional factors you need to consider are bedding, drug costs, financing costs, death 32-10 feedlot loss and yardage. If you find 0.5 1.5 0.5 1 supplement (lbs) yourself very short of roughage, we can develop cow rations Barley silage (lbs) 45 for you with only 14 to 15 Corn silage (lbs) 32 lbs of straw, some screenings and barley grain and still Liquid supplement make things work at a very (lbs) reasonable cost. The purpose of the above is to give you a rough 2:1 mineral 0.15 0.15 0.1 idea of the amount of feed you 20% screening will need to have on hand for 14 cows for the winter. Cull cows pellets and bulls in the wake of BSE Greenfeed 19 will not bear very much value. The tough and critical question to ask yourself is – if the cow is worth only 10 cents/lb and she is old – is it worth spending the money to feed her through the winter or do you move her out of your herd at a loss? Testing feed is critical in determining a suitable feeding program for you and Manitoba Agriculture and Food staff would be pleased to work with you on ration balancing. Barley grain (lbs) 1.5 - 10 - 7.5 - - - Hay quality and quantity - huge variation across province (from page 1) 40% below average and the northeast and central Interlake area is about 50 to 80% below average due to excessive rainfall. The south Interlake area is about average. ing cattle producers to consider downsizing their herds. Some higher priced hay is moving into the horse industry with lesser amounts being bought by the sheep and goat industries. In the central part of the province hay yields have been average to good while the far west was drought stricken and hay yields have been reported as 30 to 75% of normal. The drought area extended from the far southwest corner right up to the Russell area. The southwest is now experiencing high grasshopper infestations to make matters even worse. An early frost could exacerbate the situation considerably! If you have poor quality feed it is recommended that you have your feed tested and formulate a ration. If you are going to be short then it is important to work out a feed budget as you may find that it would be better to down-size your herd than buy expensive feed. MAFRI staff can assist you with this process. In the northwest, hay yields have been 30 to 50% of normal but silage yields are coming in quite good and a lot of silage is being made. At this time of the year we start getting a lot of calls on what hay is worth. We don’t set the prices, however we have heard that cow hay is ranging from 3.5 to 6 cents per pound and good quality hay 6 to 8 cents per pound. Alberta and Saskatchewan are reporting similar prices with some cow hay moving at the 3.5 cent range. The shortages and the poor quality hay are caus3 Wayne’s Clippings As I write this we are well into September and finally getting a few “summer like” days. It certainly has been a very challenging year for forage and grassland producers throughout Manitoba. In this issue we have tried to include some articles that will help producers deal with some of these challenges. Within the MFC we are also faced with a few challenges however many opportunities. The Manitoba Forage Council is one of the more active forage councils in Canada and as a result we are involved in a number national forage and grassland initiatives in addition to the many programs at the provincial level. Friends of Forage and Grassland One of the major challenges that we face is that of securing financial resources and other support to enable the MFC to develop and implement programs of benefit to the forage and grassland sector. Friends of Forage and Grassland is a special initiative designed to gather support from companies and individuals. See the last page of this newsletter for details about this special initiative. We welcome your comments and look forward to your support. opportunities in the Middle East for Canadian forage exporters, to share findings with Canadian exporters and producers, and to develop a long term international marketing strategy. This funding has been approved and we will now be moving forward with this initiative. If you are interested in further details please contact Glenn Friesen or myself. Provincial Forage and Grassland Strategy The development of the Provincial Forage and Grassland Strategy is progressing very well. Working with Kelwin Management Consultants we have had excellent input from most sectors of the forage and grassland industry. Over the next couple of months we hope to finalize the process of setting priorities and developing recommendations for action. These recommendations for action will then provide our forage and grassland industry with a number of “next steps” to move forward. If you have further thoughts or input please contact Randy Baldwin at [email protected]. The above mentioned initiatives are just a few of the many areas that MFC is involved in. Just recently we met with the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation to provide input on forage and pasture insurance programs. We will also be meeting with Minister Wowchuk to discuss a number of topics of mutual interest to MAFRI and MFC. If you have thoughts on these or any others topics related to forage and grassland production please let us know. We appreciate very much the input of Directors and MFC Members. All the best, Wayne Digby Executive Director [email protected] Canadian Forage and Grassland Association I mentioned in a previous newsletter that the MFC is very involved in helping to form a national forage organization that would bring a national voice to the many different aspects of the forage and grassland industry. This initiative is moving along very well with very good support from the many different sectors of the forage and grassland industry. Stay tuned for further developments. Middle East hay marketing mission and the development of a long term international marketing strategy for forages Board News In the June newsletter I indicated that the MFC on behalf of a national forage alliance had submitted an application for AgriMarketing Funding to assist with assessing emerging market 4 Grazing Clubs going strong By: Rodger Sheldon, Farm Production & Extension Pasture & Grasslands, Ste. Rose MAFRI There are 31 Grazing Clubs in Manitoba. Some clubs are very active with monthly meetings, some clubs have amalgamated, a few clubs are no longer active and some clubs host only one or two events per year. There are also 17 Holistic Management Groups, some of which are meeting regularly similar to provincial Grazing Clubs. Michael Thiele and Wayne Lenfesty are contracted by Ducks Unlimited to act as Grazing Club Coordinators in the South Parkland and Southwest areas of Manitoba in conjunction with MAFRI and PFRA staff. This area is focusing on farming practices that support the duck population. Some clubs are working with local Conservation Districts (CD’s) as well as MAFRI and PFRA staff to organize and hold field days and workshops. Funding for all events was provided through the federal Greencover Program coordinated by PFRA and MFC. MAFRI (in cooperation with DU, PFRA, MFC and local CD’s) took Northwest District Group Inglis/Roblin Alonsa Lawrence Cattlemen/ Meadow Hen Cattlemen Grand Plains Westlake Dauphin/Ethelbert Dauphin/Ethelbert Event Pasture Field Day Pasture Field Day Date June 16 June 23 Producers 13 21 Pasture Field Day Pasture Field Day Winter Nutrition Workshop Holistic Mgmt Workshop Holistic Mgmt Financial June 24 June 25 Nov 2 Nov 17-19 14 Nov 27-29 Nov 21 & 22 Dec 2 Dec 2 Dec 3 Dec 3 Dec 4 Dec 4 Dec 5 16 21 14 Jan 27 Jan 13-15 Feb 3-5 Feb 10 150 Alonsa Westlake Meadow Hen Cattlemen Lawrence Cattlemen Dauphin/Ethelbert Grand Plains Roblin/Inglis Alonsa/Westlake/Meadow Hen/ Lawrence Westlake Beef & Forage Workshop Beef & Forage Workshop Beef & Forage Workshop Beef & Forage Workshop Beef & Forage Workshop Beef & Forage Workshop Beef & Forage Workshop Lawrence/Meadow Hen Alonsa Roblin/Inglis Benchland Benchland Bale Grazing Field Day Bale Grazing/Corn Grazing Day Feb 11 Beef & Forage Workshop Benchland Annual Meeting Completing The Animal Health Cycle A Holistic Approach Building Soil Health with Cover Crops The Foundation of Health, Healthy Food, Healthy Stock, And Healthy Farms Parkland Rancher’s Seminar Holistic Mgmt Workshop Benchland Benchland/Minnedosa Interlake District Club SPADA Ashern Arborg South Interlake Agassiz/SPADA Agassiz/SPADA/Arborg Event Beef & Forage Workshop Beef & Forage Workshop Beef & Forage Workshop Beef & Forage Workshop Reduce Your Costs Tour of Extended Grazing Systems @ Gladstone Beef Week Arborg Holistic Mgmt SPADA Arborg 15 16 71 Feb 12 25 Feb 17 33 Mar 5 & 6 24 Date June 23 Dec 4 Dec 4 Dec 1 Oct 29 Producers 9 24 21 10 16 Dec 11 Jan 29 Feb 28 6 160 19 a lead role organizing and holding these events over 2008/2009. MF C Reports 5 20 15 Mar 5 Feb 11 More Grazing Clubs listed on page 6 Check out the past activities of clubs in your area and contact Michael Thiele at (204) 365-0328 or 759-3309 to find out more. All upcoming meetings are posted at www.mbforagecouncil.mb.ca 11 17 24 9 27 17 16 15 Grazing Clubs offer an inexpensive hands-on approach to learning new techniques for your cattle operation. Contact: Michael Thiele at (204) 365-0328 or 759-3309 Central Plains/South Parkland/Pembina/Southwest District Club Activity West Souris River Field Tour at Todd Daniels & Ted Art’s Farms Minto/Boissevain Field Tour at Don Armitage’s Farm Grand Valley Club Fencing Workshop Shoal Lake/Minnedosa/Minto MB Zero Till Farm Tour Shoal Lake Field Tour Darr Farm Greener Pastures/Club Native Range Health Workshops Woodsworth Field Tour of Logan/ McLeneham/Routledge/ Alexander Farms Minto/Boissevain/Deloraine/ Miniota/Border Neil Dennis Farm Tour Greener Pasture/Minto/ Boissevain/Miniota/ Shoal Lake/Border Bismark Cover Crop Tour Miniota Extended Grazing Field Tour Delta Forage & Beef Workshop Grand Valley Winter Backgrounding & Market Outlook NW/Central/SW/SP Clubs Redvers Beef & Forage Workshop Central/SW/SP/Pembina Clubs Soil Health Workshop SW Clubs Holistic Mgmt Workshop Greener Pastures Livestock Winter Cartwright Holistic Mgmt Workshop 1 day Delta Holistic Mgmt 1 day Workshop Woodsworth Beef & Forage Workshop West Souris Annual Winter Workshop Shoal Lake Ken Miller Workshop Cartwright Ken Miller Workshop Russell Ken Miller Workshop Shoal Lake Iain Deans Farm Tour Inglis/Roblin Livestock/Forage/ Conservation Workshop Central SW/South Parkland/ Pembina Soil Food Web Workshop Date Producers June 18 22 July 3 July 7 July 8 July 10 9 10 30 11 July 29 & 30 25 July 31 36 Aug 12 39 Sept 29/30 14 Dec 5 Dec 3 14 10 Dec 8 15 Jan 6 Jan 20 & 21 Feb 13 Feb 13 Feb 26 Feb 27 Feb 26 Feb 24 Feb 18 Feb 20 Feb 18 Mar 4 12 28 28 28 15 19 26 31 5 22 7 3 Mar 5 16 Mar 17 68 Interlake tour showcases unique businesses By: Pamela Iwanchysko, MAFRI The Provincial Pasture Tour was held in the Interlake area of the province on July 28th - hosting approximately 65 producers and industry representatives. Participants began the day at the Ashern Auction Mart where they learned about the Co-operative and viewed a live demonstration with a brush mulch chopper. The bus tour began with a stop at OTR Recyclers managed by Peter Schroedter just outside of Ashern. Peter spoke about how he uses mining tires for water and silage troughs. This unique business generated a lot of interest from many of the producers. Events Review The next tour stop was a drive to Jean Bolay Farms at Fairford. Jean is an immigrant to Manitoba who has set up one of the largest rotational grazing sheep and cattle operations OTR Recycling - owned by Peter Schroedter 6 in the North Interlake wilderness. He utilizes both guard and working dogs with his animals. Participants were also able to view the Deutz silage chopper/trailer which has a live floor semi for transporting bi-products for winter feed. Other stops included an annual forages for grazing demonstration which included millets, ryegrass, oats & turnips at TMJ CHAROLAIS in Ashern. This demonstration showed the effects annuals have on soil organic matter, fertility and improved feed values. Last but not least the tour looked at some past brush control methods including Grazon and Remedy treatments and glyphosate applied in 2006 for brush and poplar control. The tour ended the day with a steak BBQ hosted by Ashern Service (Diane and Mike Price) at the T-Bar Ranch. Jean Bolay speaking about his management practices. The Manitoba Provincial Grazing Tour was co-sponsored by: Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives, Manitoba Forage Council, Northstar Seed, Brett Young Seeds, Dow Agro Sciences, Gallagher Power Fencing, Kane Veterinary Supplies Ltd., Kelln Solar, Manitoba Cattle Producers Association, Native Pasture Improvement Project, Manitoba Cattle Enhancement Council, Central Testing Laboratory, Sun Dog Solar, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Prairies East Sustainable Agriculture Initiative, and the Western Farm Leadership Council. Thanks to all those who attended the day and made the tour a success once again this year. Investigating Florida and Kentucky Horse Hay Markets by Jane Thornton, MAFRI On March 23, 2009 Darren Chapman (Chapman Farms), Bill Drew and Darryl Balasko (Churchill Gateway Development Corporation), and Jane Thornton (MAFRI) flew to Florida and Kentucky to learn about the horse industry and its feed requirements. Funding for the week long tour was provided by Manitoba Agri-Ventures Initiatives, Churchill Gateway Development Corporation and the Manitoba Forage Council. It is probably pretty hard for most Manitoban’s to realize how important the equine industry is to Florida and Kentucky. Kentucky is number one in the thoroughbred (TB) industry and has built a huge tourist industry that revolves around horses. The Kentucky Horse Park; part tourist attraction, part horse show facilities, brings in $240 million a year. Kentucky has five racetracks and there is a thoroughbred race every week of the year. In Kentucky horses have surpassed all other forms of agriculture in cash receipts. There is no doubt that this is a big money business, farm land sells for about 7 $20,000 per acre and the board fencing, which everyone has, is $16,000 to $20,000 per mile. Many horse farms were 400 acres to 4000 acres in size and they have not just one of these fences but two; one four board fence surrounds the entire property and then another three or four board fence makes up the numerous interior paddocks. Florida is second in the thoroughbred industry and as a result is very focused on breeding, training and racing. They have many horse hay brokers/ feed stores, however, their hot and humid climate prevents them from putting up quality hay. A Bermuda grass called ‘coastal hay’ is produced and sold into the horse industry but it’s only a small portion of the total hay sales. The ‘coastal hay’ that we saw appeared to be of medium quality and has the reputation of causing impaction colic in horses. Also very problematic is hay storage; no matter how well you store hay in Florida, the hot, humid climate causes deterioration in about three months making it unsuitable as horse feed. Kentucky has better hay making conditions than Florida but by our standards they would still prove challenging. Kentucky receives about 46 inches of precipitation per year; distributed evenly throughout the year. Both Florida and Kentucky have quite acidic soils, pH 5.5, so you do not see a lot of alfalfa being grown. All of the hay brokers/feed stores that we visited talked about timothy, alfalfa and orchard grass. Timothy is almost exclusively sold in pure form to the TB industry when horses are in training. Some pure alfalfa is sold but not much and the rest is alfalfa/orchard grass mixtures. We wondered, why these forages? We were told, ‘tradition’. The University of Kentucky now has an equine program and in that state more alfalfa/orchard grass is being sold to horse owners, perhaps because of the nutritional training at the university, but this is just speculation and I’d say that anyone wanting to move forage into either state should stick with what they want. What kind of quality are they looking for? Green. Green. Green. This leads into the question on bale size. While more medium squares are being sold the greatest demand is still for small squares. Bales in the 50 to 70 lb range are most popular, three string bales that weight 120 to 130 lbs are also sold and then comes the medium square and compacted products. Compacted products are not really favored; this may be because some companies are compacting alfalfa making it stemmy and dusty from leaf shatter. Some of the breeding farms are able to handle medium squares and are using them to a certain degree. The current recession has prompted many farms to look for cheaper options for feeding their stock and medium squares fed in covered feeders is being adopted. What kind of quality are they looking for? Green. Green. Green. It cannot be overstated that hay going into this market must be very pretty, and mold and dust free. Some, but most do not require a feed test they just want beautiful hay and consistency. You cannot ship bottom bales or moldy bales. It will be the last load they buy from you and possibility the last load from Manitoba. Competition amongst the broker/feed stores is very strong and many have been in the business for over 25 years. They seem to have many contacts and your hay had better be what you say it is from the first load to the last load or they will drop you like a hot potato. Events Review It is not enough to have one beautiful load to send to Florida or 8 Kentucky, they want large lots of hay so that their customer can buy the same hay throughout the season. Because of the short period of time hay can be stored, particularly in Florida, hay is bought in smaller quantities but frequently. They do not buy their winters supply all at once but once they find a hay that they like they want to buy it every time they order hay. Interestingly timothy fetches a better price than alfalfa and orchard grass. Earlier in my research, hay had been selling for as much as $500 per ton but when we arrived their top product was selling for around $365 per ton. This price drop reflects the end of the busy season and perhaps the effects of the recession. Where do they buy hay? The entire eastern seaboard is too hot and humid to put up the amount of quality hay required to meet this market. Brokers buy what they call western hay and northern hay. We found that hay was coming from as far away as Oregon, Idaho, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. I was surprised that I didn’t really hear of hay coming out of Nebraska and Wyoming, although I’m sure some must. It is possible that their large irrigated farms are not targeting the horse industry and for the most part primarily offer medium and large square bales. It would be interesting to find out more. Hay among the stores was priced very closely for a similar product. This means that freight and hay costs have to be watched very closely for the brokers/stores to remain competitive. Certainly each broker/store that we visited had made a conscious or unconscious decision about who their client was. Some brokers/ stores were definitely working on the prestige of their product and the prestige of their client in the industry. Others met the demand of the many other horse fractions which may or may not have had the same level of income to back their hobby. While each store had clients coming and picking up product the bulk of the hay is delivered to farms and this is a full service delivery with hay stacked into the clients facilities. So while our eyes may gloss over when we hear $500/ton the brokers/feed stores in Florida and Kentucky work very hard to provide a top quality product and top quality service. While in Florida we visited Jacksonville Port to look at the possibility of shipping hay and/or grains from Churchill to Florida. Their facilities are certainly impressive and could easily handle our containers. Logistically hay may arrive into Florida at the wrong time of year since Churchill is only open through the summer when Florida’s hay demand is at its lowest. However, it might provide opportunity for Manitoba’s more northwestern hay growers to get their product to market at a competitive price. This will take some long-term planning with many aspects to consider, but possibilities do exist. To find out more about how you might participate in the Florida and Kentucky hay markets contact the Manitoba Forage Council. 9 Join the Manitoba Forage Council now! For only $40 per year members receive: - significant discounts to events - four 16 page newsletters per year - invitations to all upcoming events - lobbying power - research and communication of results that benefit the forage and grassland industry Send your $40 cheque to: MFC 125 Patterson Crescent Brandon, MB R7A 6T7 or pay on-line at www.mbforagecouncil.mb.ca Membership period is August 1, 2009 to July 31, 010 Western Canadian Holistic February 8-10, 2010 Russell, MB Management Conference Darci Lang - Darci started speaking when people wanted to hear about her “focus on the 90%” philosophy and how it shaped her life. She believes we hold a magnifying glass out in front of us in our lives and only we can choose where we focus it, on the 90% or the 10%. During motivational sessions we hear great messages and we are totally motivated until at least...the car ride home. How can we carry that message forward? Focus on the 90% is one simple idea and how it applies to all areas of our lives. One idea, not 19 ways or 27 ideas, just one. Focus on the 90%. No matter if this is your first holistic management conference or your second or third – this conference will give you ideas on how you can re-work your business and develop a healthy sustainable business and lifestyle. Guests from Missouri, Ontario, Nebraska and Manitoba will lead sessions on a number of topics: Here’s just a few to wet your appetite. For a full agenda or to register go to www.mbforagecouncil.mb.ca or call Dauphin MAFRI at (204) 622-2006. Ann Adams - Ann is the Director of Educational Products & Outreach at Holistic Management International. She has created a workbook that helps individuals and families easily understand Holistic Management and put it into practice. Rolande Kirouak – “Disaster Proof ” Find out the tools for managing life’s ups and downs. When was the last time you did something just for you? If you are going to do great things, you have to feel good. Make yourself disaster proof and you will successfully manage the ups and downs of your life with efficiency and joy. You’ll be energized, rejuvenated, ready to take on the world! Watch for our December newsletter for more details or check out www.mbforagecouncil.mb.ca A Dr. Fred Provenza Workshop “Using Animal Behaviour to Improve Production and Landscape Health” November 3-5th, 2009 - AAFC Brandon Research Centre, Brandon, MB Dr. Fred Provenza is a Professor at the Department of Wildland Resources at Utah State University. His research has focused on understanding animal behavioral processes and specifically how herbivores learn to select their food and habitat. Throughout this 2 ½ day workshop, Dr. Provenza will discuss principles and processes of plant and animal behavior as they pertain to food and habitat selection. This information can be used for enhancing livestock distribution which can change traditional foraging patterns and improve management of riparian areas, control weeds, and minimizing damage to economically valuable crops by wild and domestic herbivores. More generally he will explore what it means economically, ecologically, and culturally for people and their livestock to be adapted to the local landscape. Once understood, behavioral principles can be translated into practices that provide solutions to managing and making a living from the land. Unlike ranch infrastructure (corrals, fences, and water development), behavioral solutions cost little to implement, they are not fossil-fuel intensive, and they are easily transferred from one situation to the next. In the case of grazing, for instance, behavioral solutions are increasingly attractive given current economic and environmental concerns. Register online at www.mbforagecouncil.mb.ca or call Souris MAFRI (204) 483-2153 with your credit card. Coming Events 10 “On the Cutting Edge?” Attend Manitoba Grazing School December 1st & 2nd, 2009 Victoria Inn, Brandon, MB. Once again the Grazing School Committee has recruited some excellent speakers to vault you to the top with your agriculture production. Over the past 11 years the Manitoba Grazing School has become a recognizable tool for those interested in discovering innovative ways to manage your business. This has stemmed from the high calibre speakers, challenging topics and the 300 plus like-minded individuals who attend each year who are more than willing to discuss methods that have succeeded or failed on their farm. Another way to stay on the cutting edge is to visit the 25 display booth representatives who are showcasing their latest products and are ready to answer any questions you may have. Pam Iwanchysko, Grazing School Chair and Farm Production Extension – Forage Specialist with MAFRI is looking forward to another great year at grazing school. “Our featured keynotes Bruno Wiskel and Dick Wittman promise to be entertaining and thought provoking. Bruno has become well known for his sense of humor and his innovation and Dick has a very high reputation of developing farms with good book keeping skills and economic common sense.” Bruno Wiskel will launch the first day opening session with his amusing presentation on “The Prosperous Farmer – The Joy of Farming”. Bruno has turned his real life knowledge as an agricultural entrepreneur into four books and hundreds of newspaper articles and technical papers. He has lived up to his credo of “helping people in agriculture become outstanding in their field,” by hosting a series of seminars that illustrate how he has been able to increase his farm income ten fold. The second day’s opening session features Dick Wittman who questions, “Are you getting a Passing Grade in Farm Management?” Dick manages a large-scale dry land crop, range cattle and timber operation in Idaho and also provides workshops and private consulting services to lenders, agribusiness and ranchers on farm business transition and farm management for family run businesses. This seminar combines serious and humorous discussions on basic principles, actual farm problems and practical, successful solutions. Some other topics included this year are: Selecting the Right Forages for your Beef Operation, Extending the Grazing Season for Backgrounding Calves, Winter Site Management, Diversifying your Operation, Preserving the Grasslands and Separating the Wheat from the Chaff in the Sustainability Debate, featuring speakers such as Laura Rance, Editor of Manitoba Cooperator, Duane McCartney, Devesh Sing, Director of Research for Barenbrug USA and more. Graziers of the Year Nominations Now is also the time to nominate someone you feel is an outstanding grazier in Manitoba. The Graziers of the Year are chosen for their innovative style of management and their competency. Please contact your MAFRI office and put forth a candidate name today. The 2009 Grazing School has moved from the Keystone Centre to the Victoria Inn in Brandon, therefore space will be limited. Please reserve your spot now. For more information or to register go to: www.mbforagecouncil.mb.ca or call Dauphin MAFRI at (204) 622-2006. 11 Nitrates in feed (continued from page 1) stressed or injured this process is interrupted and excess nitrates accumulate. Drought, hot dry winds, hail or frost can result in high nitrate levels. Even cool, cloudy weather can cause the problem. What other factors will affect plant nitrate level? Large applications of nitrogen fertilizer or manure increase soil nitrate and thus the nitrate available to the plant. Herbicides that disrupt or interfere with normal plant function may also result in nitrate accumulation. Is there a stage of plant growth that is more prone to nitrate accumulation? Immature plants will usually have higher nitrate levels. In cereal forage crops, nitrate levels can start to decline from the milk stage onward. However, never assume that a crop will be safe. Oats can still have relatively high nitrate levels even at the milk stage. Always test to be sure. Are some plants more prone to accumulate nitrates? Annual forage crops tend to accumulate greater amounts of nitrates than perennial forages. Oats and millet and can be particularly troublesome. Several weedy species will also accumulate nitrate if appropriate conditions exist. Never assume a particular crop will be safe. If there has been a stress and soil nitrate is expected to be high, have a nitrate test conducted by a lab. When is the best time to cut injured or damaged crops? Nitrates accumulate over time in an injured or damaged crop. Typically, the highest accumulations will occur 2-3 days after the injury or stress. It is best to cut or harvest the crop within 1 day of the damage. Nitrate levels will gradually decline 10 to 14 days after the injury if the plant resumes growth and repairs itself. Plants killed by the injury or stress will not be able to decrease their nitrate levels. Does baling or ensiling reduce nitrate levels in feeds? Ensiling may reduce nitrate concentrations under some conditions. However, this cannot be relied upon to always ensure lower nitrate levels. Crops ensiled with a high soluble sugar content (e.g. cereal grains) have a rapid fermentation process. This rapid fermentation does not promote degradation of nitrate during the ensiling. Checking silage nitrate levels when the pit is being filled usually provides an accurate indication of what the nitrate level will be later on. Curing and baling will not reduce nitrate levels. In fact, if round bale greenfeed is baled too moist (18-20% moisture) and heats the problem can become worse. The nitrate present in the feed may be converted to nitrites by the microbial action that causes heating. Nitrites in a feed are ten times more toxic than nitrates. What levels of nitrate are safe to feed to cattle? Nitrate levels may be reported in three different ways depending on the analytical procedure used. The results may be reported as nitrate (N03), nitrate nitrogen (N03-N) or potassium nitrate (KN03). Be sure you know which method was used before trying to interpret the results. Refer to the table on the next page* Forage Bits 12 Category 1 % NO3 <0.5 %NO3-N <0.12 % KNO3 <0.81 Remarks Generally safe for beef cattle and sheep 2 0.5 - 1.0 0.12 - 0.23 0.81 - 1.63 Caution - some subclinical symptoms may appear in pregnant horses, sheep and beef cattle 3 1.0 0.23 1.63 High nitrate problems - death losses and abortions can occur in beef cattle and sheep 4 <1.23 <0.28 <2.00 Maximum safe level for horses. Do not feed high nitrate forages to pregnant mares. *The values quoted above are on a dry (moisture free) basis. Deadstock disposal by: John Popp, MAFRI One of the realities that we are faced with much more often in the fall and winter is deadstock disposal. Rothesay no longer does pickup on farms and you need to be aware that disposal and storage should be done in accordance with Manitoba Livestock Manure and Mortalities regulations. Approved methods are rendering, composting, burial and incineration. Some of the local landfill sites are prepared to take livestock and it is worth the time and effort to investigate these…we don’t need a bad image right now as we try to regain further markets. Don’t think that the back “40” – coyotes and crow disposal method is the way to go. It can land you some fairly hefty fines. Western Canadian Holistic Management Conference “Healthy People, Healthy Land & Healthy Profits” February 8 - 10th, 2010 Russell, MB Register NOW! www.mbforagecouncil.mb.ca or call Dauphin MAFRI at (204) 622-2006 13 U.S. pastures rated best in the decade Daily Livestock Report by: Steve Meyer & Steiner Consulting Group Sept 3, 2009 CME Group A CME/Chicago Board of Trade/NYMEX Company US beef cow slaughter seasonally increases into the fall as individual producers make an economic decision as to which animals they will carry over the winter months in order to have a calf the following spring. The decision is in part informed by the current profitability of the operation, expectations for calf prices in the future, as well as expectations for input costs and therefore future expected margins. In the last two years, this last point has been an especially important component of this overall equation. Hay shortages and skyrocketing costs significantly impacted producer profitability and were part of the reason why we saw an acceleration in US beef cow slaughter and a larger than normal fall cow run. This year, however, promises to provide cow-calf operators with some relief. Hay prices are some 25% lower from their peak and are currently below both 2008 and 2007 August levels. Poor pasture conditions cause producers to run through their hay stocks quicker and face the winter with an insufficient supply. In some cases, producers faced the option of buying hay in the open market at staggering costs. This year, however, promises to provide cow-calf operators with some relief. Hay prices are some 25% lower from their peak and are currently below both 2008 and 2007 August levels. Pasture conditions this year have held up much better than in recent years and the latest report from USDA indicated that 52% of all pastures were rated to be in good or excellent condition, compared to 39% the year before and 37% average for the last week of August in the past five years. This is the best pasture condition rating in more than a decade, surpassing even the conditions we saw back in 2004. Good pasture conditions and, even more importantly, lower grain prices have pressured the cost of hay lower. Current expectations are for the US corn harvest be the best one on record, with all time record yields (based on recent private estimates). If that is the case, we could see hay prices drop further and likely remove some of the incentive to continue to liquidate the beef cow herd. To be sure, producers still are far from an environment that would be conducive to a full herd rebuilding but we should continue to see lower beef cow slaughter than in recent years. For the week ending August 22, US beef cow slaughter is down 9.8% lower than a year ago but still some 11% higher than the five year average. Dairy cow slaughter, on the other hand, remains above year ago levels, in large part due to the second round of the dairy herd retirement program. The program is expected to end soon but there is already talk of a third round. Manitoba Cattle Enhancement Council Producer Forum (Prelude to 2009 Grazing School) We’ve come a long way since the BSE crisis shut the U.S. border to Canadian cattle in 2003, but we still have a long way to go. This fall, the Manitoba Cattle Enhancement Council (MCEC) will ask the province’s cattle producers and other industry stakeholders to help it identify the key sector challenges it should address in the years ahead as it works to bring federally-certified slaughtering and processing capacity back to the province. MCEC is hosting the special half day forum for producers on November 30 at the Victoria Inn in Brandon, just prior to Grazing School. This free event will feature some speakers who will address domestic and international value chain and trade initiatives. But primarily, the forum is an opportunity for producers to participate in workshops that will help guide MCEC’s strategic planning. MCEC thanks its sponsors for helping to defray the cost of the forum, including Grazing School for providing the meeting space. November 30, 1:30 to 6:00 p.m., Victoria Inn, Brandon, Manitoba Register: (204) 452-6353 or [email protected] 14 Elkhorn Farm has largest DUÇ wetland restoration project in Manitoba we are working hard to ensure there is a viable cattle industry in Manitoba,” Rick Andrews, Head of Wetland Restoration for DUC in Manitoba said. 2004 was the last year the Kliever family put up hay up on their southwest Manitoba farm. 2004 was also the last year they bought fertilizer. By the end of 2003, the Klievers had all their land (including grain land) sown down to grass. They restored 118 wetland basins on their farm – making it the largest Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) wetland restoration project of its kind in Manitoba. Part of the process involved using 93 earthen plugs to dam the ditches and utilize the already present water. The wetland restoration project wrapped up this spring and the Klievers are seeing the benefits. “The more diverse the plants and animals, the healthier everything is and we see it more and more. Our restored wetlands add to that,” Kliever said. “Now that we’ve done it, I look at everyone else’s fields and wonder why they don’t do it themselves.” Today, the Klievers intensively graze all their land, custom grazing 500 head of cattle in the summer on 44 paddocks. Their practice of moving the cattle every day and sometimes twice a day rejuvenates the paddocks and the forage that much more. The cattle don’t graze forage to the ground which lends itself to healthier more productive plants. Restored wetlands not only provide feeding and nesting sites for waterfowl and many other species, they also reduce the impacts of floods and droughts, cleanse the water and store greenhouse gases that could otherwise add to climate change. What changed the family’s outlook on conservation and what may have shaped a plan for the future can probably be credited to a Holistic Management course the Klievers took with Don Campbell from Meadow Lake, SK. Holistic management practices promote healthier and more sustainable landscapes using animals as management tools and fertilizer producers. In additional to the wetland restoration, the Klievers also signed a Conservation Agreement with DUC, which means they cannot break or drain the land forever, protecting the farm for future generations. For more information on other DUC programs visit yourland. ducks.ca or call Ducks in Brandon at 1-866-251-DUCK. farm funnies The Klievers worked with DUC on the project. “We have programs to help cattle producers like the Klievers remain sustainable in the long term. Sustainability and good stewardship is the key to keep rural families on the farm and Affiliated Members 15 2009/2010 Directors Jim Lintott, Dugald - Chair Don Green, Fisher Branch - Vice Chair Nevin Bachmeier, Kleefeld - Director Russel Chapman, Virden - Director Clark Combs, Deloraine - Director Ken Harms, Snowflake - Director Chris Kletke, Brunkild - Director Fraser Stewart, Selkirk - Director Michael Thiele, Shoal Lake - Director Lorne Rossnagel, Plumas - Director Glenn Friesen, Carman - MAFRI Rep Greg Johnson, Baldur - MCPA Rep Ken Gross, Brandon - Industry Rep - Ducks Unlimited Canada Gary Halwas, Russell - Processor Rep Heinz Nolting, Rosser - MB Forage Seed Association Rep J.C. (Kees) Plazier, Winnipeg - U of M Animal Science Rep Shannon Scott, Brandon - AAFC Brandon Research Centre Rep Eric Thornhill, Dugald - MB Sheep Association Larry Black, Deloraine - MB Dairy Farmers Rep Wayne Digby, Brandon, Executive Director The Forage Focus is the quarterly newsletter for the Manitoba Forage Council. Writer/Design/Layout: Corie Arbuckle Masthead: Denice Girdner Editors: Wayne Digby, Glenn Friesen, Pam Iwanchysko Manitoba Forage Council 125 Patterson Crescent Brandon, MB R7A 6T7 Phone: 204.726.9393 Fax: 204.726.9703 [email protected] www.mbforagecouncil.mb.ca Friends of Forage & Grasslands Launched To aid in the sustainabilty of the Council, we are encouraging our members, associates & sponsors to support the council by purchasing space on the home page of our soon to be launched new website. For $250 per year your logo or name will be prominently featured on our home page and linked to a website of your choice. We will also have a sponsor page listing all of our supporters. Our website usage has been increasing yearly, from 14,000 visitors at our first revision to nearly 27,000 visitors yearly from across the world. Our viewers include producers, marketers, government and industry representatives - all valued supporters. Directors Jim Lintott, Chair, Manitoba Forage Council. �� Please support the council in this endeavour. Contact us at (204) 726-9393. Sincerely, ��