Tue PM	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
Low: 5°C	High: 7°C Low: 5°C	High: 7°C Low: 5°C	High: 4°C Low: 0°C POP: 40%	High: 5°C Low: 1°C
Rain at times heavy	Rain	Showers	Chance of showers	Rain or snow

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Grass and Legume Seed Market Update - December 3, 2008  The Canadian Grass and Legume Seed Marketplace is not immune to the happenings in the Global world financial and stock markets. Since the fall, with the ever-broadening world stock and financial crisis, grass seed processors have found a lot of time on their hands. In other words, the grass and legume seed marketplace is very slow, with very little grass seed movement being reported. Pre-bought orders are not being asked to be delivered, while any semblance of new business generally includes only partial orders of this and that, enough to fill a container, maybe. The marketplace is so slow, that price quotes for many species are not even being offered. Most buyers and growers are aware that under normal situations, we are basically in a shortage position for many of our grass and legume seed supplies. But with no buyers, price quotes are not very good because no one knows the actual value of that crop. Once we get out of these dismal economic times, everyone is hopeful movement and buying will resume again, possibly in the spring. Until then, it’s wait time.

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2008 Western Canadian Grazing Conference Draws Over 300 Producers     Over 300 producers from across western Canada gathered in Edmonton from December 3 to 5, 2008 to participate in the Western Canadian Grazing Conference.

“We were very pleased with both the number of registrants and the response we had to our program,” said Brian Luce, co-chair of the WCGC planning committee. “From the attendance at the trade show to the active participation in the many sessions we organized, we could see that producers from British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan are committed to expanding their expertise in grazing and to building profitable operations.”

“It was very encouraging to see the level of interest in grazing and forages,” said Dee Ann Benard, executive director of the Agricultural Research and Extension Council of Alberta (ARECA), the host organization for the conference. “During tough economic times, producers have to be even more innovative about the way they do business. We are confident that the information shared by our speakers and by fellow producers will help producers improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their operations during the difficult months ahead.”

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Lame cows improve when given access to pasture   Lameness is a common and costly disorder affecting dairy cattle. Freestall housing systems are designed for ease of management but are also associated with a greater risk of hoof injury and disease leading to lameness. For example, the use of concrete floors, zero-grazing and uncomfortable stalls are all well known risk factors.

Pasture rearing can improve hoof health, perhaps due to the change in the physical environment or to associated factors such as change in diet. Fewer cows become lame during the grazing season and cows kept outdoors are less prone to claw disorders than those that are housed indoors. Despite these advantages in hoof health, switching from indoor housing to pasture is not a practical option for many producers. Providing a rest period on pasture for lame cowsmay be a more practical option.

The primary objective of our study was to test whether a relatively short period on pasture would help lame cows recover. Time on pasture may reduce lameness by providing access to more comfortable standing and lying surfaces.

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The Canadian Farm Business Management Council has started their Agriwebinar series for this year. Throughout the year, you will hear from a whole host of agriculture experts. It is free, live, interactive and from the comfort of your desk! Make sure you register today for this fall's series at http://www.agriwebinar.com     Next week, we will have Agriwebinar veteran George Brinkman Professor at the University of Guelph, ON. George will be presenting on the topic of Viability of Canadian Agriculture- Updates for 2009. Don't miss it as this will be the last webinar until the end of the holiday season.

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H.O.R.S.E.  (Help Okanagan Rescue Save Equines) - Formerly Vernon Horse Rescue  ...  HAY DRIVE - DONATE $7 TO BUY A BALE OF HAY.  For every 2 bales donated a special sponsor will donate a 3rd bale!!!   View the Vernon Horse Rescue WISH LIST ... horse clothes, feed, vet, tack, barn supplies, office supplies, farm services.

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Manure Spreading Advisory #6 - 2008  South Coastal Region - In general, manure application on any crops after November 1 is not advised.  The Manure Spreading Advisory Committee recognizes that some farmers might not have adequate capacity in their manure storage facilities to hold their current levels of manure and the additional levels expected to accumulate over the winter. The Committee further recognizes that the environmental risks of applying manure carefully under appropriate conditions are likely less than the environmental risks of overflowing manure storage facilities in winter.

If producers plan to spread manure, the only suitable receiving crop is well established perennial grassland. The principal environmental risks associated with manure application at this time are:

• surface runoff of manure nutrients and pathogens to water courses
• short-circuit flow of manure nutrients and pathogens to water courses through drain tiles
• soil compaction from operating heavy equipment on fields that are very wet

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Wire Worm Research at PARC, Agassiz   Todd Kabaluk, a research biologist in the Integrated Pest Management program at the Pacific Agriculture Research Centre, has been studying the biological control of field insect pests using microbial insecticides. Currently, Todd is working toward the use of Metarhizium anisopliae as a biological control for wireworms.  Metarhizium anisopliae is a fungus that grows naturally in soils throughout the world and causes disease in various insects by acting as a parasite. It is considered to be a soil-borne insect pathogen.

Todd’s current research is focusing on the effect of Metarhizium anisopliae seed treatment to increase the yield of field corn. Research to date has shown consistent increases in yield as high as 20%. For example, without Metarhizium seed treatment, there was a 60% yield on a field infected with wireworm; with Metarhizium seed treatment, there was a 80% yield. The Metarhizium seed treatment performed as well as ‘Poncho’ – a currently used chemical seed treatment.

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FORUM TOPIC Reduced Tillage for Corn ... I'm quite interested to find out how reduced tillage works in a relay crop situation. And also how the injection of manure was managed in the system. There are now chisel plough type injectors which may have a place in this system. I'm also interested to know if the crop response to seeding applications of phosphorus was similar after the fresh injection of manure.

Although we have no direct experience yet with reduced tillage into relay crops, the experience with no-till into well established cover crops and into perennial grass swards suggests that this should be possible. One point to consider first is that if the relay crop is very well established, you might want to consider keeping it for the whole summer and planting corn in a different field.

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Drought Resistance Is the Goal, but Methods Differ  To satisfy the world’s growing demand for food, scientists are trying to pull off a genetic trick that nature itself has had trouble accomplishing in millions of years of evolution. They want to create varieties of corn, wheat and other crops that can thrive with little water.   As the world’s population expands and global warming alters weather patterns, water shortages are expected to hold back efforts to grow more food. For companies that manage to get “more crop per drop,” the payoff could be huge, and scientists at many of the biggest agricultural companies are busy tweaking plant genes in search of the winning formula.

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New Forage Supply Coverage Available for 2009   Northern livestock producers are being offered extra protection against the financial impacts of severe weather conditions with new production insurance, Minister of Agriculture and Lands Stan Hagen announced.  Forage Supply Coverage is being offered in the North, Central and Peace regions of the province for 2009. To be eligible, livestock producers must rely on forage produced on their own farm for the majority of their forage requirements and must have already purchased at least the minimum level of forage production insurance. The deadline to purchase forage production insurance is Nov. 30, 2008.

Forage Supply Coverage includes:

• An additional $40 per ton insurance coverage above and beyond conventional forage production insurance.
• Assurance that if production in the North, Central and Peace regions falls below 60 per cent of average production, producers with Forage Supply Coverage will receive a claim.
• An incentive that the Province will pay half of the producer’s cost of Forage Supply Coverage for 2009.

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A New Twist on Cropping - Living Legume Mulches     Many producers are interested in sustainable crop production systems that reduce the application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Incorporating a ‘living mulch’ in cereal silage production might help achieve this.

Living mulches are a form of intercropping. Intercropping is the cultivation of two or more plant species in the same field at the same time. A living mulch is an established legume cover crop into which an annual row crop is seeded. Often that annual row crop is a cereal, such as triticale or barley. Forage legumes are ideal for use as living mulches because they can be low growing and perennial. Using a perennial forage legume allows the living mulch to be maintained for multiple years without reseeding.

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“This year’s cranberry harvest is looking tremendous” says BC Cranberry Marketing Commission Chairman, John Savage. “Conditions are excellent and throughout Canada and the United States we are looking at some of our best production numbers in years.”  In 2008, our 80 farm families will harvest 85 million pounds of cranberries from 6,000 acres from Richmond to Agassiz and on Vancouver Island. Making cranberries the biggest berry crop in BC, and making BC one of the largest cranberry producing regions in Canada!

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Organic Agriculture Symposium: Fundamentals for Professionals ... October 28, 2008 and December 2, 2008.  The Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada (OACC) is collaborating with provincial organic specialists from across Canada to host a symposium for agricultural professionals across the country to learn more about organic agriculture and research. This symposium will feature two days of presentations from specialists in the organic industry on topics including production economics, marketing, certification and standards, and a range of organic production subjects.

All conference presentations are being broadcast as a live webcast in both French and English. Regional symposium locations are being set up across the country. Participants are encouraged to attend regional meetings for full participation. You will have the opportunity to network and engage in discussion with other local agricultural professionals. Regional organic experts will also be available to help answer your questions. If in-person attendance is not possible you may attend via web conferencing from a remote home or office location.

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Fertilizer Prices Affect the Value of Hay and Straw   The dramatic rise of fertilizer prices over the last year may be old news, but the effects of these increased input costs are still surprising. High fertilizer costs could affect hay, greenfeed and straw prices. Animal feed that is produced and harvested in one area and fed in another will export a lot of nutrients, and the fertility of that producing land will decline if these nutrients are not replaced as fertilizer or manure. The replacement cost of these nutrients needs to be built into the price of feed.

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Shavings and Sawdust - Is there any truth in the rumours that cedar shavings and sawdust used as bedding cause problems in the soils they ultimately end up incorporated into after manure applications? Does this also apply to compost made from manure from Cedar shavings or sawdust? What about alder - is there any truth in the rumours that alder sawdust breaks down in a lagoon?   Any comments?  Please email info@farmwest.com

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Web address for an interesting water powered electric generator. Probably more application for areas with less winter.  http://www.zotloeterer.com/our_company/water_vortex_engineering/water_vortex_power_plant.php

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Field Crop Protection Guide, 2008-2009

Guide To Best Management Practices In British Columbia for Cereals, canola, field corn, field peas, grasses and legumes for forage and seed production.  The 2008/09 edition of the Field Crop Protection Guide is now available for B.C. producers. Contact your nearest B.C. Ministry of Agriculture and Lands office to obtain a copy. Contents of the Guide are also available off the BCMAL website in PDF* format.  Contents:

• Introduction
• Disease Management
• Insect Pest Management
• Weed Management
• Herbicide Abstracts
• Application Equipment and Calibration
• Herbicide Tables

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Herbicide Selector

This selector will help you find herbicides to control specific weeds in cropping and non-cropping situations. You can begin the selection by choosing a crop, if you know the crop and leaf stage, and then selecting for the weeds you want to control. Click on the results link to display all the products and registered mixes that can be applied to control or suppress weeds for that situation.  Alberta Agriculture link.