GrainsWest Fall 2020

Fall 2020 Grains West 6 Feeders ready toput 2020behindthem AT THE HEART OF THE PROVINCE’S feedlot sector, Feedlot Alley centres around the town of Coaldale just northeast of Lethbridge. To understand how the sector has been impacted by an ongoing rough year, we talked to industry leaders includ- ing three feedlot operators situated in the area. This investigation produced “Feedlot fortunes” (p. 20), our fall cover story. Following more typical challenges such as an international trade snafu with China, the emergence of COVID-19 knocked the wind out of the sector as the global restaurant trade shut its doors. “We severely underestimated what the impact was going to be,” admitted Kee Jim of G.K. Farms, who also owns and operates Feed- lot Health Management Solutions. The sharp ups and downs absorbed by cattle feeders in 2020 have been enough to leave industry veterans nauseous. Despite this, feeders possess famously high tolerance for risk and have adopted a cautiously optimistic view of things to come. This guarded positivity may be due in part to having come through what is hope- fully the worst the year has to offer. Elsewhere in ag, a number of develop- ments over the past 10 months have likewise inspired optimism. The formation and roll out of Results Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR) has proceeded on track through the pandemic. The organization aims to position farmers squarely in the driver’s seat of provincial agriculture research with a mandate that stresses competitiveness and profitability as its compass. “Research reset,” (p. 30) closely examines the formation and in- tentions of RDAR, which David Chalack, interim board chair, describes as a “flat, lean, mean organization.” In another notable policy shift, the prov- ince removed Fusarium graminearum from the Pest and Nuisance Control Regulation, adopting management of the disease over zero tolerance. We look at the rationale and implications of the move in “Under new management” (p. 38). The two-part story also features interviews with scientists whose research focuses on Fusarium head blight resistance in barley and wheat. “A surprising start” (p. 7) looks at an on-farm research project. The first-year results of Team Alberta’s three-year grain drying and conditioning study are in. With wet harvests in recent years and the implementation of carbon taxation, this research project is especially timely. Pro- ject leaders have enlisted Alberta farmers to assist in this effort to determine the economics and effectiveness of various methods. Among this issue’s wide range of topics, you’ll also find we ask plenty of agronomic questions. For instance, how are farm- ers tackling excess field residue? “Trash talk” (p. 26) examines this emerging issue, which has grown more pressing in recent years. As variety improvements have pushed crop yield higher, excess crop residue has become a more persistent con- cern. Management of this plentiful plant material has become a topic of discussion among farmers and agronomists. Both join us for this in-depth conversation on the issue. We also ponder the potential of CPSR to fill rotations and railcars in “Class consid- erations” (p. 34). Market demand for this wheat class continues to increase, but does it make economic and agronomic sense for Alberta farmers to grow more of it? Asking such questions and engaging in the conversations they produce is cen- tral to farming. This issue of GrainsWest illustrates this especially well. There are always new questions to ask and old ones to revisit and the topics are as vast and varied as agriculture itself. GRAINSWEST WRITER PENS WINNING WORDS The Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation Awards celebrate excellence in agricul- tural journalism. The 2020 winners were announced on Sept. 24. GrainsWest writer Tamara Leigh captured bronze in the Dick Beamish Memorial Award press feature category for “Welcome back,” a story about young Alberta families returning to the farm after time spent outside agriculture. To read the story, visit grainswest.com . EDITOR’S MESSAGE In Feedlot Alley and across Alberta’s feed sector, it has been a year to remember for all the wrong reasons. Photo: ZoltanVaradi