Video guide to greener pastures

How-to videos have been popular instruction tools for years, and ag subjects are no exception. "Who's coming to dinner?" a 15-minute tape produced by Oregon State University's extension communications branch, targets farmers, livestock managers, vets and kids in its look at the impact different livestock species have on pasture.

As OSU forage technician Bob Klinger explains on-screen, the grazing habits of cattle, sheep, horses and goats are very different. Understanding how they graze, he suggests, can help farmers satisfy the animals' nutritional needs, keep pasture in top shape, and with selective grazing use forage areas for multi-species grazing.

Horses, with top and bottom teeth and agile lips, are selective close grazers, taking pasture down to the ground. They can trample pasture easily, especially when wet.

Cows aren't selective. Their long tongues sweep in an arc, wrapping around plants, pulling the forage between their teeth. They feed best when pasture is at least six inches high.

Sheep, with bottom jaw teeth, upper jaw pad and dexterous lips are selective, close grazers that are more likely to over-graze than trample.

Goats, while sharing mouth characteristics with sheep, are browsers rather than grazers, more likely to nibble on twigs, bark or seedlings.

With modern portable fencing - electric or otherwise - Klinger suggests trampling and pugging shouldn't be an issue. If it is, he says, you're raising your cost of production. Bare spots aren't providing nutrients, and trampled grasses won't be touched by livestock, nor will it allow sun in to promote new growth.

Oregon State has 12 videos currently on a variety of ag topics. A 13th - "After the Rain: Urban Run-off" - will be released this month. For more information, check out the school's extension web site http://eesc.orst.edu or call (541) 737-0803. Videos are priced in US dollars; shipping and handling is included in the purchase price.

© copyright 1999 Agricultural Publishing Company Limited.


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Wine war of words

The icewine was flowing and the quail canapés were delightful at the Ontario wine industry's annual tipple down at Niagara-on-the-Lake's posh Queen's Landing hotel last month. But behind the gowns, tuxedos and clinking glassware at "Cuvée 1999" an international wine war was brewing.

The dispute centres on the term icewine, to which the Europeans claim sole rights by virtue of its German and Austrian origins. The move effectively bars Ontario icewine exports to the lucrative EU market.

For Bruno Weis, a 37-year-old sales director with Konzelmann Estate Winery, it means his Vidal Icewine 1997, winner of the Cuvée (vintage) best dessert wine, can't be sent back home. In 1984, his father-in-law Herbert Konzelmann transplanted the century-old German winery to Niagara-on-the-Lake.

The wine word war is heating up on another front, too, as the French wine quality control body, the INAO, launches litigation against its Canadian counterpart, the Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA), for attempting to trademark generic, universal wine terms used on labels such as "Vendange Tardive," or "Late Harvest." French trade commissioner to Canada Erik Noïtakis told a gathering at his Toronto home mid-February that the VQA move would effectively block foreign wines carrying these terms from the Canadian market, "which is clearly an obstacle to free trade."

Peter Gamble, executive director of VQA Canada, says the move to protect the terms, including icewine, is part of Bill 85, which passed first reading in the Ontario Legislature last session. A federal version is also in the works.

The Ontario industry is unhappy with the icewine embargo, but Gamble insists VQA's intent wasn't to erect "trade barriers," nor enter into a tit-for-tat war with the EU over the icewine issue. "These terms are important to the future of the Canadian wine industry. We want to see these terms protected in the appellation system." - John Muggeridge

© copyright 1999 Agricultural Publishing Company Limited.


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Currant markets ripe for picking

BY CHRISTINA SELBY

There is a substantial international market for black currants, but the crop has not been able to gain a foothold in Ontario soil.

Adam Dale, a professor of plant agriculture at the University of Guelph, says about 500,000 tonnes of black currants are grown in Europe, mainly in Germany and Poland, while the rest of the world produces about 4,000 tonnes, 90 per cent of that in New Zealand. Dale estimates that there are only about 100 acres of black currants grown in Canada, half of that in B.C., but says there's growth potential in Ontario.

The hardiness of the plants, second only to Saskatoon berries, means they are being produced successfully as far north as Thunder Bay, Dale told growers attending last month's Ontario Horticultural Crops Conference. Black currants are easy to manage and "in Europe, the whole thing has been mechanized." Soil pH requirements are in the 6.5 range, he said. Two varieties that have been tested for Ontario growers are Ben Alder, a major juice variety in Europe, and Ben Sarek, a dessert variety suitable for jams and pie fillings. Both have been bred for powdery mildew resistance.

The worldwide market for black currants is about twice that for raspberries, he said, and presented his audience with a bag-full of sample products: Ribena, a popular juice concentrate; jams; teas; throat lozenges; and candies. Ocean Spray, the king of cranberries, introduced cran-currant juice last year. While the product is manufactured in the U.S., "they bring the black currant concentrate over from Europe," said Dale, who works out of Simcoe's Horticultural Research Institute.

There is a demand for black currants in Ontario. "We get two or three major inquiries a year looking for Ontario suppliers," Dale said. One seeker is Thornhill's Continental Currants Inc., which produces single-strength, no sugar and sparkling juices blended with apples, limes, red currants, raspberries and cranberries under the brand name Berrosia. The company recently bottled a black currant wine, which it plans to export to the U.S. and hopes to get into Ontario liquor stores.

Continental's black currants are imported from Denmark, but Lylith Perkins, Continental vice-president, says the company is always on the lookout for Ontario supply. She has been approached by a number of potential growers and has helped one Ontario farmer obtain plant material. But the three-year delay on a full crop means she has no provincial sources yet.

Continental spent two years developing a lighter tasting juice that better suited the North American market than the heavier European products. It began producing its own juice in 1995. Continental's products are carried by Pusateri's Fine Foods, Highland Farms and various ethnic markets. Denninger's, a high-end delicatessen with seven locations in the Hamilton area, is a perfect outlet for black currant products, says Perkins, as the shops cater to a mainly European clientele that is familiar with the berries.

For the more mainstream North American market, Continental's black currant blends with cranberry and apple present a familiar taste with an added twist. Juices are made with Canadian spring water and five different varieties of black currants; the recipe is a trade secret, says Perkins.

With a one-litre bottle of single-strength black currant juice retailing for $2.99, Perkins says fine food shops are where the products belong: "We don't want to compete with Coke." Canada's reputation for quality has helped Continental build exports to the U.S. and Bermuda.

Prices for black currants took a dive in 1997 to £190 a tonne in Britain, but jumped back up to £300 in 1998, which Dale says is still relatively low. That translates into about 33 cents a pound, he says, still lower than the 45 to 55 cents per pound growers can get for processed strawberries.

Bert Andrews, of Andrews' Scenic Acres, Milton, sees black currants as being where cranberries were 15 years ago. "They have that potential," he says. He'll have rooted cuttings for sale next year, as will Watson Farms in Bowmanville.

Dale advised producers to approach niche berry growing with caution. "Find your market before you plant," he said. "And don't rely on just one market." There are opportunities in pick-your-own, processed, fresh, frozen and value-added products such as jams, jellies and fruit wines, where Dale thinks growers will find higher returns.

© copyright 1999 Agricultural Publishing Company Limited.


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Bumper crops increase labour demand

More than 12,000 offshore workers worked on Ontario farms in '98

BY CHRISTINA SELBY

Bumper crops resulted in a record number of off-shore labourers being brought to Ontario last year: 12,170 in 1998 compared to 11,342 in 1997, according to Foreign Agricultural Resource Management Services (FARMS).

Workers from Mexico, Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and other Caribbean islands worked for a total of 1,514 employers on a variety of farms.

This represents about 20 per cent of horticultural employment in Canada, says Henry Neufeld, regional manager of agricultural programs and services, Human Resources Development Canada. Human Resources' policy remains "Canadians first," and he advised attendees at February's FARMS annual meeting in Delhi to contact HRDC offices eight weeks - "three months if you've got it" - in advance of offshore labour requirements.

Last year, tobacco farms were the largest employer, requiring 4,892 offshore workers. Vegetable and fruit farms ranked second and third. Labour demand increased significantly in the greenhouse and nursery sectors, jumping almost 30 per cent from 1,131 job placements in 1997 to 1,451.

Issues raised at the FARMS annual meeting include:

* Minimum wage: For the fourth consecutive year, minimum wage is not increasing, staying at $6.90 an hour for most workers. In tobacco, wages also remain the same - for tobacco flue, $69 per kiln and $6.90 an hour for planting; for tobacco black, $8.23 an hour for harvest, $6.90 for planting. A standard size kiln was estimated to holdabout 1,250 sticks. For larger kilns, wages should increase accordingly.

* Housing: Gary Cooper, president of FARMS, said an inspection by local health inspectors every two or three years was not sufficient and that housing should be checked every year: "We've gone on record as supporting a fee for annual inspections." Countries can "choose not to provide workers" if farmers are providing sub-standard housing, he said.
Housing standards are "something the industry can't downplay," said Neufeld. If health ministry inspections are going to cost $50 to $75 a year, "then so be it."

* Travel expenses: Harold Ardiel, president of CanAg Travel Services Ltd., which arranges transport for workers in the program, said his organization had booked over 26,000 flights last year and ran into a few snags with the Air Canada strike in the first two weeks of September, just as some workers were heading south. The result was slightly more expensive tickets purchased from Royal Airlines and Air Transat, companies with which CanAg does not have contracts. For 1999 prices, see FARMS fares.

* Time frame: Neufeld told attendees that the time frame for bringing workers into Ontario has been expanded from eight months to nine, specifically for greenhouse vegetable crops. While the time frame is now from February to October, workers are still limited to a maximum of eight months of employment.

* Loaning out workers: Transfers are not allowed without the approval of the worker, the requisite consulate and the local Human Resources Centre. A $35 administration fee must be forwarded to FARMS. Another option for an immediate need for assistance is emergency workers, brought in for a minimum of 160 hours of work. Neufeld says that as long as the supply country has workers available and plane seats can be acquired, emergency workers can be on the farm in 48 hours.

* Health cards: The hassle of signing up employees and delays in acquiring the cards are ongoing problems that Joan Cavallin, service manager for the Hamilton health ministry office, said could not easily be alleviated: "The program needs more staff but I don't think we'll get it."

Of the more than 12,000 workers who came to Ontario last year, only about 10,000 were registered, and Cavallin reiterated that employers are responsible for signing up their workers. This year, workers will have to present the health ministry photo ID. It takes about six to 10 weeks for workers to obtain health cards, she admitted.
© copyright 1999 Agricultural Publishing Company Limited.


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Speeding up the seeding

When it comes to planting speed and efficiency, air seeding blows away the competition for Lucan cash cropper

By John Muggeridge

"Roundup and 2, 4-D." Eric Dietrich, all of five years old, graduated into senior kindergarten this year. But he doesn't bat an eye when asked what his dad has in the sprayer one hot August day. The young future farmer, biding his time with toy tractor replicas until he's old enough for the real thing, is also no slouch at weed identification, says his proud father Hugh Dietrich.

Playing out in the sand pit whatever field operation his dad is working out on the family beef, crop and elevator operation in Lucan, Eric and his two younger brothers recently had to add a new toy to the toy box when dad came home with a John Deere 170-bushel air cart, a 20-foot corn planter, and 30-foot soy-wheat drill.

An early adopter in the growing Ontario trend to air seeding, Dietrich is entering his third year air seeding corn, soybeans and wheat on this 2900-heat-unit farm in Middlesex county. The 34-year-old farmer, who also feeds 300 cattle, does custom work and sharecrops, gives the air system top marks for speed and economics.

With help from his dad Hubert and wife Krista, who delivers seed and fertilizer to the drill while juggling parental duties with their three small boys, Hugh can sow 250 acres of soybeans a day at 5 mph, and can cover 100 acres on a single seed fill. With the 30-foot folding drill with 750 Deere openers on 7.5-inch spacing, "speed now is double," versus his former 20-foot Great Plains box drill, he says. "You're only 10 feet wider, but you have the central fill advantage."

In corn, with his eight-row 30-inch John Deere planter hooked to the air cart, he is boosting planting speed by one-third from 100 to 130 acres a day by eliminating stops for fertilizer. "An eight-row machine can be turned into a 12-row machine because of fertilizer capacity and eliminating stops," he says. "Capacity is second to none."

Key to speeding up seeding is the John Deere 787 air cart, purchased in the fall of 1996. A Flexicoil unit painted green, the unit is today marketed directly by Saskatoon-based Flexicoil; John Deere now builds its own 1900 Commodity Cart in Valley City, North Dakota.

Essentially a seed and fertilizer reservoir on wheels, the cart meters out product and carries it by air through hoses to the planter or drill. The 103/67-bushel split tank is ideal for switching soybean seed varieties on the go, says Dietrich: "You could carry two different kinds to one field for doing a plot." With different metering rolls for each tank, a farmer could vary population on knolls and hollows, for instance. Dietrich adds he plans to continue to test variable rate planting: "It's a little bit positive, but I don't know if it's going to warrant buying GPS."

Another feature he likes is the cart-mounted auger, which allows him to empty out the seed if there are leftovers, or if weather conditions prompt a last-minute variety switch. As well, with no seed box on the drill, down pressure is constant.

Any disadvantages? Dietrich says planting depth and in-row spacing with the 750 openers on the drill can't match planter units - less critical in beans and wheat than corn. Population setting, in pounds per acre, is "right on," he says, rating the 750 openers "excellent" in wheat.

For precise singulation in planting corn, Dietrich hooks the eight-row John Deere with finger units to the air cart, a changeover which takes about one hour. The drawpin is removed, hydraulic hoses disconnected, metering rolls are switched and two quick-couple hoses detached and reattached.

Dry fertilizer placement is where the air system shines in corn, Dietrich says. Two types - MAP-urea and MAP-zinc - are augered into the cart's split tank from his Killbros divided wagon. Via a maze of air hose hookups from the cart to the planter, he applies 165 pounds MAP and 15 urea in a 2 X 2 band through the planter's fertilizer openers, and 15 pounds MAP and seven pounds 31-per cent zinc with the seed in-furrow. Dietrich modified the in-furrow insecticide tubes for the task using a tube from the 750 opener.

While converting from soy to corn planting is now a matter of an hour, Dietrich doesn't hide the fact that configuring the complex hose hookup between the cart and the corn planter was a bit of a "nightmare...If somebody wanted to do that, it's probably three days' work."

Four 2 I-inch primary air hoses coming from the cart feed the fertilizer openers, and a fifth feeds a distribution tower, distributing MAP to the seed via eight other 1G-inch hoses. The soybean setup involves six primary hoses carrying seed to six towers, and redistributing it through 48 smaller hoses to each row.

Despite the spaghetti appearance, Dietrich insists that after the first day, "I never had one plug." Each row is monitored in the cab. Nor has the length - 67 feet for the soy setup - proved unwieldy: "It turns and handles amazingly well."

While reluctant to publish three-year-old prices on the air cart, Dietrich says he can factor in $10,000 savings from not having to purchase both fertilizer and insecticide boxes and a fertilizer auger with the planter. Further savings come from using dry versus liquid fertilizer, without sacrificing the "placement advantages" of liquid, he says. Bypassing the insecticide boxes also allows him to use regular MAP, versus mini-MAP, at about a $1.50-an-acre premium.

On the revenue side, his own tests and Middlesex Soil and Crop tests show a three-bushel advantage to placing MAP with the seed.

Dietrich's three-year fertility program starts with a 200-pound fall application of potash for corn, and a 150-pound anhydrous sidedress in corn. In wheat, there's 100 pounds dry 10-40-15 with the seed. "Reduced rates are applied where manure is spread or soil tests are high," he adds.

He'll also experiment with banding potash from the air cart in front of the cultivator in the fall - "Then you've got your potash on for free, and you've got it cultivated for the next spring."

While beans and wheat are no-till, corn remains a challenge to no-till in his Huron clay-loam.

How did the air system perform in the weigh wagon in '98? Soybeans averaged 49.8 bushels. Wheat hit 82 and corn averaged 146, with spotty rains resulting in some record fields and some sub-par.

For 1999, Dietrich, not near his "equipment capacity," hopes to expand his acreage, aware that the air cart system will prevent him from planting corn and beans at the same time.

Any equipment changes planned? Dietrich's quick response indicates a high approval rating for his air seeding system: "Nothing."

© copyright 1999 Agricultural Publishing Company Limited.


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