Does NFU represent the average farmer? Some interesting characters on their board.

[farmaholic]

Painted Lady Butterfly(thistle caterpillar?).
Probably never control thistle.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

I take it personally when you spread lies about friends of mine that happen to be board members of an organisation I belong to. The three Alberta board members are a multi-generational grain and oilseed farmer whose family have been on that land since 1908.
Another has been farming 40 years in Alberta and has a knowledge and understanding of soils which is rare in North America. As a result his organic wheat crops regularly yield 20% above the conventional crops grown in his locality, verified by crop insurance records.
The third is also a well established farmer with extensive experience of crops and livestock and decades long public service in property rights issues.

I'm proud to have people like these representing farmers in Alberta.

What organization to represent farmers do you serve with AF5 and what are your qualifications to serve?
A keyboard warrior with limited agricultural experience, hanging out in the boonies?

Can you please point out what lies I am spreading by copying and pasting verbatim biographies which people have voluntarily released into the public domain, and acrediting the source of those quotes? Perhaps the people you know haven't posted their bio's?

But, the more important issue, is why are you attacking the messenger, when you have the ability to change the message? If you believe that those people do not represent the average NFU member, and that those press releases do not reflect their true priorities, then you, as a member, have the power to do something about it. Perhaps let them know that, at least according to most respondents to this thread, they seem to have an image and a credibility problem. Perhaps it is an issue of a few bad (and very vocal) apples, ruining the reputation of an organisation which is otherwise reputable and has honourable intentions. You could bring up some of the press releases and inquire what they possibly have to do with Canadian farmers, or how they will help Canadian farmers, ask publicly if the average member actually supports such initiatives, or is the narrative being framed by a handful on the periphery with agenda's?
Perhaps encourage the more moderate board members, such as the ones you know, to fill in their bio's as a counter to the extremists who do have information posted. You might even suggest that maybe some of these messages might require some editing before releasing into the www for all to see.

But, by just attacking me for pointing out that some members( and perhaps the minority?) in the NFU seem to have an agenda which runs counter to a healthy profitable agricultural sector( and every other industry), and ignoring all of the other posters here who are suggesting that the NFU's credibility is negligible due to these same members, you leave the impression that their extremist viewpoints are the real NFU. You have the opportunity to frame this debate differently, positively, but instead only attack, while leaving us to assume that you must share those same views that are presented in the press releases.

[GDR]

Serious comment.

Tillage: Seems I remember the Thistles can't see the light of day and effectively have to starve the roots to gain some control. How can we do that without extensive cultivation?

Rodweeders or cultivator mounted deadrods(want to buy one?) help to maintain trash cover and uproot lots of roots. We used a deadrod and it helped reduce tillage passes...especially in hot dry conditions so what ever the deadroad layed on top would quickly die.

In continuous cropping I've seen Thistles that looked like they had leaf diseases. Maybe a "natural" biological control agent might be on the horizon. Think outside box----outside the chemical box for you Hobby!

My grandmother believed if you cut a thistle in the rain they would die. She said if the stem you cut off got wet before thet sealed themselves they drowned. I figured I'd try the theory a couple times, wait for rain clouds then get to work but everytime i went out the clouds parted and i got skunked on rain. Anyone else hear that idea?

I had an infested field, put it into hay, first year was bad but after the first 2 years of hay there weren't any thistles in the hay, its back to annual crop now and thisltes are no longer an issue. Not sure if it was just chance or if i could replicate that.

[grassfarmer]

Might be something to that GDR. In Scotland we used to cut them in July (earlier didn't work) and somehow the water getting down into the stalks killed them. When everyone moved from haybine to discbine type cutters it stopped working - something to do with the way the flail action mashed up and sealed over the ends of the stalks.

Adult weevils will overwinter in the soil Farma, says so right in the article!

[shtferbrains]

My grandmother believed if you cut a thistle in the rain they would die. She said if the stem you cut off got wet before thet sealed themselves they drowned. I figured I'd try the theory a couple times, wait for rain clouds then get to work but everytime i went out the clouds parted and i got skunked on rain. Anyone else hear that idea?

I had an infested field, put it into hay, first year was bad but after the first 2 years of hay there weren't any thistles in the hay, its back to annual crop now and thisltes are no longer an issue. Not sure if it was just chance or if i could replicate that.

Used to be a lot of Dehy Alfalfa around here. Probably 130000 acres at it's peak.

Part of the reason it was attractive was the thistle control it provided.

Very few thistles after the first year.

Helped with annuals like wild oats.

Paid pretty good in a CWB environment as it helped with quota acres.

$7 gig gas, crow pay out and better shipping\quotas and better herbicides/higher fertilizer rates were some of the reasons we no longer see much. Also seed alfalfa.

Caseih and seldomseen probably were closer to it.

It was a good way for grain guys to take advantage of forage .

[Guest]

Painted Lady Butterfly(thistle caterpillar?).
Probably never control thistle.

yes they will and very hard on borage , cleaned us right out one year.chop down a stawk the size of your finger

[AlbertaFarmer5]

Pouring boiling water into a freshly cut thistle stem is supposed to be an effective means of controlling the root system. It may just be feasible on field scale if you coupled that with the new plant identification technologies. Not much else looks like a thistle stem.

[jamesb]

He has done. You should attend a meeting he is presenting at. This guy has it figured out - of course he's not a crop only farmer he integrates livestock and alfalfa into his rotations. Very, very smart guy.

Who is this farmer? I have several organic farming neighbours, some of them successful, most seemingly mining the soil with very poor farming practices. The organic industry needs more champions that can be looked upon by more farmers (organic and conventional) favorably.

[sumdumguy]

Wild food gatherers love thistle puree. If they take away the Round Up, we may have to eat our way out of this one. 🍵 Canada’s Native Soup

[grassfarmer]

Who is this farmer?

Peter Eggers, LaGlace Alberta.

[Oliver88]

And thank you for posting the link too, chuck. This way anyone else can check the bio's and press releases and verify what I posted is accurate.

It is Noteworthy that none of the three supporters made any attempt to defend, or refute any of the claims, but instead only attacked the messenger .

AF5, have any NFU members contacted you to inform you that the listed priorities on their website are a mistake?

There are some very scary anti-agriculture items that they are supporting including the LEAP MANIFESTO.

[AlbertaFarmer5]

AF5, have any NFU members contacted you to inform you that the listed priorities on their website are a mistake?

There are some very scary anti-agriculture items that they are supporting including the LEAP MANIFESTO.

No, and the member(s) on Agriville have made no attempt to distance themselves or defend them either, although, at least one does sound surprised at the policies they are supporting. Perhaps that is because they are busy doing their own homework, doing some soul searching and discovering who they are actually in bed with, or else it is because they really do support such self destructive rhetoric. I made some polite suggestions to Grassfarmer that perhaps he could use his position from within to bring these outrageous policy positions to the attention of the actual farming members who he states are many. Have not seen any response from him on the subject. Just attacking me for pointing it out for public consumption.

Not sure if this is good or bad. Good because by taking such an extreme anti-everything stance, they become completely marginalized and lose all credibility, or bad because there are those in government who may not be aware that this organization has been taken over by the anti-everything crowd, and may still use their support to justify the latest attack on our livelihoods. Personally, I would rather they take a more moderate stance, which would entice more farmers to get involved, and we could offer a united voice, instead they are causing even more division, allowing us to be divided and conquered.

Still waiting for Grassfarmer to point out to me where I was lying, when I quoted from their website?

Edit to add that if any members do want to reach out to me and either justify their policy stance, and defend their membership, or claim that all of those press releases were mistakenly sent out, or prove that I have somehow misunderstood all of those press releases, please feel free, I respond to private messages on Agriville.