9550 canola

[ProFarmer]

has any body have poor performance from roundup tolerant 9550 canola sold by agricore mine seemed to be set back from the first .5 liter application then with the rain. Yield was only 15 bushels with nearby fields of RR 3455 going in 50 yields.

[wd9]

Which province are you from?

[rook]

We've grown it for two years with very good luck. We're north/central Alberta. No injury and good yields.

[parsley]

Talk to somebody that has applied for a permit for a feedlot or hog operation lately. They will tell you that neighbours that don't understand how the livestock industry functions are their biggest problem. People want assurance that their little corner of the world will not be affected by what happens down on the farm. You said a it yourself, there are hundreds of people living in rural areas that are not involved in the agricultural industry, and they have a huge voice when it comes to how we are going to operate our farms in the future whether we like it or not. I agree with you that it should be our business, but the day will come when we have to operate the way urban folks think we should because they outnumber us by far.

[PureCountry]

I believe in giving the customer what they want - to a point. I don't want to be involved in anything where someone says,"Here's your protocol for beef production. Read it, learn it, or stuff it."

[murgen]

Why is it politically correct to move the city to the Country, to gain the "peace and quiet" and outdoor air, and then complain that the country is encroaching on their "lifestyle"

[WoolyBear]

I am for the record one of those farmers that doesn't not deliver much grain on CWB contracts..... for several reasons.

I have converted about 1/2 of my 1000 cultivated acres to forages. I've added sheep and increased my cattle herd in the last 10 years.

Most of my remaining acres are seeded to canola, barley and feed whts. Canola is not under the control of the CWB and the feed wht is either sold to my neighbors hogs for a fair price or sold for a better price to an ethanol plant. The malt barley is usually fed to my livestock as it seems nearly impossible to ever get malting barley accepted.

I am NOT a Wheat Grower that sits back and ******* about everything CWB. I don't own thousands of acres and I don't have a huge staff that does my farming for me.

I take out a CWB permit book for the sole reason of having continuity of that document should the government ever decide to base any acreage payments for WHATEVER reason. The elimination of the Crow Rate, and the resulting acreage payment was based on our CWB information and that payment was put to good use seeding acres out of cereals

PLUS sometime in the future I may have cereals to deliver or malt barley to sell.

Therefore even though my tonnes of product delivered lately have not been that great to the CWB, I still feel that it is my right to have the vote.......

Just because you might not always agree, or never take advantage of their programs for whichever reasons, that still doesn't mean that our vote can help to create a better system in the future.......

For the record, I never vote Liberal, but that never stops me from voting to try and make things better

[parsley]

WoolyBar:

You may not deliver to the Board, and I don't either BUT:

The CWB Act impacts upon all elevators and termials and railroads.

The CWB Act impacts upon our ability to export because we either get the license or not.

In other words, if what the CWB does affects every farmer, why should only large acerage farmers get a vote to determine policy?

Parsley

[WoolyBear]

Did the wheat growers investigate how many of those low or no tonne producers were affected by hail, drought, flood etc?

Parsley...... not sure if you are agreeing with me or not, but I do agree with you in that all farmers that grow some sort of grain should have the right to vote.

That right though is obtained when one fills and files a CWB permit book. Whether we choose to use it or not depends on alot of factors.

[WoolyBear]

PS.........

1 Farm unit equals 1 permit book and only 1 vote. If you choose to incorporate several family members into your "Farm"........1 VOTE!

A large farm should not have more votes.

[cowman]

Purecountry: I do operate exactly within the environment you note and yep it has its disadvantages without a doubt...also some big advantages?
Now if you wanted to expand or build a hog barn or feedlot...nope it isn't going to happen! But cow/calf seems okay...at least for now. However land prices are totally restrictive and we are seeing a major loss of cow/calf operations in this area.
Believe me you have to operate differently here. If you spread raw manure...you're going to get a phone call from the local fieldman. If you leave a dead cow by the road...a visit from the SPCA...also when you wean calves! Want to shoot up the gophers? Expect a call from the cops!
The suburbanite expects to ride his horse, quad, dirt bike,snowmobile on your land and watch birds, hike, and picnic where ever they please. Which is okay as generally they are fairly good at closing the gates and picking up their garbage.
The advantages of living here are you are just a few miles from all the amenities that make life enjoyable.
I truly believe that the days of livestock production are coming to an end in my part of the country. It just does not make sense to run cows on land that is worth $3,000/acre. It is exceptional agricultural land(perhaps the best in the province) but it is also where people want to be! When I see Red Deer expanding eastwards into land that has two feet of black top soil I often wonder if we haven't got it all wrong? It would be better if the people built there cities out on the poor land and left the good land to produce food. However that isn't going to happen.
I guess you should enjoy living in a remote area where you can operate how ever you see fit, if that is your desire? Years ago I considered selling out and moving but thankfully I didn't. For all the problems of operating here, I still find it about the best place to possibly live.

[charliep]

My brother commented how seeding date sensitive a lot of the crops were in his area (Calgary). Canola that went in early (early May) is getting good grades. Later stuff (mid May) is struggling with poorer grade (high green count). What is odd is the is almost like a light switch - seeded before almost an exact date equals good and seeded after equals poorer grade.

[PureCountry]

I agree with you on alot of that cowman - for a change. It's a shame that the best land isn't set aside for ag. production, as it should be. I am glad we can still do alot of the things others cannot because of our location; our "remoteness". I couldn't imagine this part of Alberta dotted with acreages. It's ugly enough being dotted with leases and tanks across the river valley.

I know what you mean about moving. We still think about it from time to time b/c land prices are going up here, too. But when you work out the pros and cons of it all, anywhere you go has it's up and downs, like you said.

You can be miserable anywhere, or you can be happy anywhere. Home is where you hang your hat, I guess.

[Ajax]

If one farm unit = one vote that wouldn't be so bad. Often one farm unit may have several permit books, or suffixes, by several farming members, some of which haven't set foot on a farm for a long time (ie sons or daughters that have ties to the farm and want to have the tax and other benifits that a permit book or suffix, may bring).

[poorboy]

I think that most of the big cities are on the best land because years ago when the province was mostly ag oriented that is where the most people lived and they probably had more disposable income than farmers/ranchers from less productive land.