The 16th Annual Moose Mountain Ag Day was hosted on Tuesday, March 1st, to a large crowd of 103 attendees who enjoyed presentations and networking opportunities revolving around the agriculture industry.
“Between attendees, people with booths there, speakers, and committee members we had an attendance of 103,” Lorne Klein, one of the members of the planning committee, explained. “That’s around the number we target each year… It’s a measurement of if we’re engaging people and if people are interested in the topics we’ve chosen.”
“In November we convene and brainstorm. What are the latest topics that are getting people excited? What do people want to know, what are the latest trends and developments in agriculture? From there we contact speakers to see who is available and go from there.”
This year speakers and topics included Allan Mitchell on “Most Common Overlooked Agronomic Practices for Grain Production,” Jay Fuhrer with “It’s Not Just Dirt Anymore!” and “Are those Cows on your Cropland?” David Pattyson spoke on “Benefits of Wetland Restoration,” Ken Evans spoke about “Transitioning the Farm to the Next Generation,” and Craig Klemmer spoke on “Global Trends and the Effects on Agriculture.”
If people are interested in suggesting topics or speakers to the planning committee for next year, Klein says they are very happy to have others offer ideas.
“We’re always looking for input and other people’s opinions or suggestions of topics for next year,” Klein explained as they want the day to reflect what local people want to know.
Contact Klein or any other of the committee members to discuss topics for next year.
Allan Mitchell
Mitchell, with AgraTactics Agronomy, addressed the importance of 1,000 kernel weight, seeding rates, proper seeding depth, fertility, and fertilizer placement.
“We can do things to trick a plant. You can’t make it rain, I can’t make it rain, however, you can do things to your plants or your crops that will influence how they will react to stressful situations,” he explained. “If you have more root mass, it’s not always going to correspond to yield, however, if you put both crops [one with an extensive root mass and with very little root mass] through a dry spell the one with the larger root mass will produce higher yields every time. More roots means more access to water and more access to soil nutrients.”
Mitchell also stressed the importance of fertilizer placement and knowing that a test taking samples from across the field as soil although in the same field is not of the exact same makeup. By applying a flat rate across the field it means certain areas will not receive as much as it may need, some areas may take in the right amount, while other areas will be too high to be effective.
This led Mitchell to state, “Sectional control is one of the sole things you can do to improve bottom lines.”
Jay Fuhrer
Jay Fuhrer with the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Bismark, North Dakota spoke next about the importance of building soils from the ground up by leaving surface cover on the ground, minimizing soil disturbance, using a diverse crop rotation including cover crops, while also integrating livestock with annual crops.
“The soil food web needs carbon, it’s how the soil biology builds soil aggregates and moves carbon into the soil,” Fuhrer said. “Carbon is then respired into the atmosphere again and that’s the cycle.”
“So, we wanted to increase the organic matter and have resiliency in our soils, but an added benefit is that it’s helping with global warming which is good, but it was by accident, we were just trying to improve the soil food web.”
Fuhrer also spoke later in the day about how cover crops, which assist in harvesting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and introduce carbon to the soil food web and adding ground cover is beneficial, especially when integrating livestock into annual cropping systems.
By adding a variety of seeds to the mixture being planted in a field the annual crop can be cut, while fall cover crops such as turnips will continue harvesting sunlight and carbon adding to the soil food web. In the winter months livestock can then forage the fall plants for food, which comes with the added benefits of natural fertilizer in the form of manure for the soil.
David Pattyson
The third speaker attending was David Pattyson with the Upper Souris Watershed Association, who spoke on the importance of restoring wetlands.
“Soil and water are the foundations of civilization,” Pattyson said. “Civilizations fail when these two resources become degraded.”
“We’ve seen in the 1980s that our soil health has declined, then there has been the development of climate change and increased greenhouse gas emissions, as well as flooding events in recent years which we are looking at how much altered drainage systems are contributing to the problem or if they were just excessive flooding events.”
“What we do on the landscape impacts the watershed and small wetlands have two major functions which are important. They act as a natural filter before that water reaches larger water bodies and they are important for biodiversity.”
Pattyson stressed the importance of leaving wetlands on land and restoring wetlands where they have previously been drained in order to combat the destruction of habitats and regain the natural filtration system of those wetlands to stop water erosion and surface water contamination.
Ken Evans
A topic which has grown in importance with the aging Baby Boomer population is the transitioning of the farm to the next generation. Ken Evans with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture and a Farm Management Specialist spoke about the importance of setting up a succession or transition plan sooner rather than later.
“The need to do this is now,” Evans said. “If it is left in a will, it may not always turn out the way you intended because something might not be clear.”
By involving the current owners of the farm and both the farming children and non-farming children in the discussion of how to best transition the farm it gives everyone a voice, which will make the smoothest succession plan.
Evans explained that a good farm succession plan would have five main focuses including an executive summary or an overview of the plan for succession, goals and objectives of everyone involved regarding the farm, financial analysis, the details regarding the transfer of ownership and management, as well as the implementation plan which should include a variety of contingencies - if this should happen then how will it be handled. Being prepared and including everyone’s perspectives is important when looking to transition the farm or ranch.
Craig Klemmer
The final speaker for the day was Craig Klemmer, a Senior Economist, with Farm Credit Canada (FCC) spoke on “Global Trends and the Effects on Agriculture.”
Overall Klemmer explained the economic growth of Canada isn’t looking promising when compared to places like China and India, however, despite the country’s economics as a whole, farming and ranching are expected to hold opportunities other industries are not currently experiencing. Farmers are going to be cautious moving forward, but FCC is optimistic about the industry with cattle and grain prices expected to remain relatively strong with the exception of the hog industry according to Klemmer.
“I think if you compare your operations to 2007 and compare the times asking, would you be successful if you were there again?” Klemmer explained of the global trends.
Interest rates will remain low in banks, the Loonie is expected to remain above 70 cents in 2016, while it will become quintessential to have good management skills as the world will be working with tighter margins.
Yet, Klemmer stated, “Never has Canadian agriculture mattered more to Canada and the world.”
