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With the warm temperatures forecasted for this week, we will be treating AAC Wheatland VB HRSW & AAC Succeed VB. We do expect to sell out of a few crop types and/or varieties so get your final bookings in soon! On cover crops, get your orders in so we can have your order ready for you when you need it! We have some stock but often not the volumes you may need or specific blends. Custom blends are available as well. If you need a price sheet let me know. We have updated our cover crops page on our website with more detailed pictures, timings and blend options. Wednesday, March 3, 2021 @7pm Cover Crops Amongst Intensive Cropping Systems Benefits & challenges plus discussion following presentation. Harold Perry & Florian Dieker of Perry Produce (Irrigation farm at Chin Alberta rotating Potatoes, Beets, Cereals, Corn, Peas and more) Time: Mar 3, 2021 07:00 PM Edmonton Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85090991939?pwd=b3M4cFJxUHFnZnpuU3kyWW8vNzg0QT09 Meeting ID: 850 9099 1939 Passcode: 1 Outlook Calendar (.ics) Our past events they are posted here. Below: An irrigated field was seeded mid to late August to a mix of tillage radish, buckwheat, clover, fall rye, and phacelia    
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 It's getting closer to spring and final decisions are being made on crop choice. We have had a run on flax seed recently as farmers adjust their plans. Below we have some new crop options on oats ($4.00+ picked up per bu!), lentils, mustard, peas and more as well as our next event on FHB timing, new PGR's, and fungicides.
If you want to watch one of our past events they are posted here. THURSDAY, FEB 25, 2021 @7pm Fusarium Management School + Top Yield Strategies in Cereals (PGR, Fungicides, Seed Treatments) Shad Milligan – Vibrance Quattro Seed Treatment Sterling Mitchel – Miravis Ace & Moddus Time: Thursday, Feb 25, 2021 07:00 PM Edmonton Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84048226073?pwd=b3M4cFJxUHFnZnpuU3kyWW8vNzg0QT09 Meeting ID: 840 4822 6073 Passcode: 1 Link for Calendar New Crop Bids Kris Moric from Johnstons Grain has new crop bids for the crops below that we have seed for. kris@ajagra.com , www.johnstonsgrain.com or call Kris at 844-324-7778 Large Green Lentils: Green Lentils have more risk to grow but also more potential market upside. The new CDC Lima CL Large Green Lentil fits this and is the top CL Large Green Lentil in the market with similar grade retention, yield, and look as other large greens but with the CL chemistry to help with weed control. Small Red Lentil: CDC Proclaim CL is the best red lentil in Alberta so if you are not growing it you are missing out on 200 lbs per acre! Details here: http://www.stampseeds.com/lentil---proclaim-cl.html Milling Oat: CDC Arborg is the newest and best Milling Oat for yield and % plump and available now. Kris is contracting (as of Friday last week so subject to change) CDC Arborg oat variety as the main choice at $4.00 to $4.30 per bu depending on delivery period picked up within 125 km of Coaldale or Carsland based on #2. I am sure other areas work similarly so please contact him. Thats a really good price for new crop oats! New Crop Mustard Pricing From Johnstons Grain (Contact Kris for Current Bids) We have certified seed:
XPT Grain Crop Bids Below Chris: Cell: +1-306-209-7746, Email : christos@xptgrain.ca , http://xptgrain.ca/en/ AAC Delhi Jumbo Yellow Pea AAC Delhi is a brand new Jumbo Yellow Pea. It has yielded very similar to our ACC Chrome Pea but has higher protein. It stands equal or better vs CDC Meadow, and matures early like CDC Meadow. Delhi has large seed size and good seed coat breakage for a large pea. Delhi is exclusive to XPT Grain. CDC Dorado Yellow Flax CDC Dorado is a newer Yellow or Golden Flax variety with top yields and good standability. We find it yields like a Brown, stands as good or better and matures earlier compared to most brown flax varieties. It has high ALA oil content, a large seed size, and a nice golden seed look. Last season we were in the mid 60 bu range with this variety but we usually budget on 45-50 bu. Price on yellow flax can be slightly more vs brown flax. AAC Marvelous Brown Flax AAC Marvelous is a new Brown variety with top yields and good standability. It also has high oil content desired by some buyers. We stopped growing our other varieties once we had grown this one for a few seasons. Last season we were in the mid 60 bu range with this variety but we usually budget on 45-50 bu. New To Flax? We have a one pager on how we grow flax that we send with seed shipments. Malt Barley New Crop With MolsonCoors Bill Coors 100 Malt Barley contracts are available. The new crop price looks good vs other cereals including feed barley. Please email cody.shick@molsoncoors.com or call Cody Shick at 406-697-3838 if you are interested in Bill Coors 100 Malt Barley. At the present time the contracts are only for Southern Alberta on irrigation. Clean Seed On Hand & Ready To Ship: We have AAC Chrome & AAC Delhi Peas, FB 9-4, Fabelle & Snowbrid Faba Beans, Redberry & LeRoy VB HRS Wheat, Alloy & Succeed VB Durum & AB Cattlelac 6 Row Barley, AAC Awesome GP Soft Wheat, AAC Wheatland HRSW, CDC Dorado Yellow / Golden Flax & CDC Austenson 2 Row Barley, Bill Coors 100 Malt Barley, Sunray spring triticale, AAC Marvelous Brown Flax, & Esma 2 Row Barley (launching next fall) cleaned and ready to pickup. We are cleaning AAC Paramount VB soft wheat right now. I always look forward to the Yield publication from AFSC as it shows some varietal and regional differences from actual farmer reported yields. https://afsc.ca/resources/5684-2/ 
Last week our Malt Barley School went well with about 29 participants learning about the Bill Coors 100 variety and contracts available. The new crop price looks good vs other cereals.
Please email cody.shick@molsoncoors.com or call Cody Shick at 406-697-3838 if you are interested in Bill Coors 100 Malt Barley. At the present time the contracts are only for Southern Alberta on irrigation. Strip Tillage School Wednesday at 7pm John Kolk joins us to present on his first year of strip tillage, following his presentation there will be time for discussion with those who are attending. Click here to add to your calendar Topic: Strip Tillage on Dry Beans, Corn, & Canola Time: Feb 3, 2021 07:00 PM Edmonton Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82244478714?pwd=ak1XbmprdFBUQnRZOWszWU91VHdyUT09 Meeting ID: 822 4447 8714 Passcode: 1 CDC Proclaim Small Red Lentil If you are not growing CDC Proclaim small red lentil you are missing out! Yields of 200 lbs per ac over any other red variety in Alberta vs other reds. I have noticed new crop prices of .24-.25 cents per lb (new crop price). We also have a new Large Green Lentil called CDC Lima. New To Lentils? Pick your cleanest field to get started on. We have a one pager on how we grow lentils that we send with seed shipments. AAC Marvelous Brown Flax AAC Marvelous is a new brown variety with top yields and good standability. We stopped growing our other varieties once we had grown this one for a few seasons. Last season we were in the mid 60 bu range with this variety but we usually budget on 45-50 bu. Also don't forget about out equally high yielding and early early maturing yellow CDC Dorado with new crop contracts from Xpt Grain. Contact Chris from XPT Grain 306-209-7746 or email New To Flax? We have a one pager on how we grow flax that we send with seed shipments. Clean Seed On Hand & Ready To Ship: We have AAC Chrome & AAC Delhi Peas, FB 9-4, Fabelle & Snowbrid Faba Beans, Redberry & LeRoy VB HRS Wheat, Alloy & Succeed VB Durum & AB Cattlelac 6 Row Barley, AAC Awesome GP Soft Wheat, AAC Wheatland HRSW, CDC Dorado Yellow / Golden Flax & CDC Austenson 2 Row Barley, Bill Coors 100 Malt Barley, Sunray spring triticale, cleaned and ready to pickup. Just finished cleaning AAC Marvelous Brown Flax and hope to have clean results back on the second week of February. Next on the list is Esma 2 Row Barley and then AAC Paramount VB Soft Wheat. Winter Evening Sessions I plan to host evening events over the next couple months. So far we have a rough plan in place (subject to change so look for an email the week of the event with more detailed descriptions and Zoom links). Wed Feb 3rd at 7 pm - John Kolk - Strip Tillage, The First Season on Dry Beans, Corn & Canola - a discussion on advantages, challenges, and group brainstorming & Q/A on how to improve crop management around strip tillage. Click here to add to your calendar Mon Feb 8th at 7 pm - Christos Lygouriatis Xpt Grain - New Crop Program on AAC Delhi Jumbo Yellow Peas and Brown and Yellow Flax New Crop Contracts. Click here to add to your calendar Wed Feb 10 at 7 pm - Becca Brattain PhD - KWS US Country Manager for Cereals - Hybrid Fall Rye Agronomy and Grain Feed & Forage Use. Click here to add to your calendar Mon or Tues Feb 22 or 23 - Doug Manzer PhD, Senior Scientist & Wildlife Program Manager with Alberta Conservation Association - Intensive Farming While Creating Wildlife Habitat (Stamp Seeds farms land directly around this project Doug has worked with) March 3 - Harold Perry & Florian Dieker of Perry Produce (Irrigation farm at Chin Alberta rotating Potatoes, Beets, Cereals, Corn, Peas and more) - Cover Crops Amongst Intensive Cropping Systems - benefits, challenges along with a discussion time after. Mid March - Flax School Below is a letter that was sent to us to pass along, If you agree with it you have the ability to contact your MLA and let them know how you feel! To all involved in the transportation of goods in Alberta, We've all heard a lot about MELT (Mandatory Entry-Level Training) for class 1 drivers. Many individuals have already provided feedback in different forms, but many producers still feel that the current MELT framework continues to pose a large financial, business, and social burden for us here in Southern Alberta. Our different commodity groups are all working to change this on our behalf, but we think some additional pressure put on the government would also help. We've written a letter and attached it to this email for you to consider. If you find yourself in agreement with the main points of the letter, we ask you to sign your name to it and consider sending it to the relevant politicians, especially your MLA, Jason Kenney, Devin Dreeshen, and Ric McIver. We've provided a list below of politician's email addresses and fax numbers so you can easily see where to send the letter. If you want to make small changes to the letter, we leave that up to you, but we only say that the more unified we are, the stronger our voice is. We have given this letter many hours of consideration, and although we don't say everything perfectly and each of our situations is different, we think it is an accurate summary of the problems that MELT faces us all. If you are in agreement please forward this email to as many producers and industry people as possible. Thanks! MLA Name, email address, fax number, position Jason Kenney premier@gov.ab.ca 780-427-1349 Premier Devin Dreeshen af.minister@gov.ab.ca 780-422-6035 Minister of Ag & Forestry Ric McIver transportation.minister@gov.ab.ca 780-422-2002 Minister of Transportation Drew Barnes cypress.medicinehat@assembly.ab.ca 780-638-3506 MLA - Cypress-Medicine Hat Michaela Glasgo brooks.medicinehat@assembly.ab.ca 780-638-3506 MLA - Brooks-Medicine Hat Grant Hunter taber.warner@assembly.ab.ca MLA - Taber-Warner Roger Reid livingstone.macleod@assembly.ab.ca 780-638-3506 MLA - Livingstone-Macleod Joseph Schow cardston.siksika@assembly.ab.ca 780-638-3506 MLA - Cardston-Siksika Below: file with letter: 
January 29, 2021
RE: Update on industry effects of current MELT framework An Open Letter to Our MLAs and Government Ministers; Southern Alberta’s agricultural community is grateful for the Alberta Government’s confidence in us and your recognition of our role in supporting our provincial economy, particularly during these hard times for the oil and gas industry. We appreciate expressions of your confidence through investments such as the twinning of Highway 3 between Taber and Bow Island, and your government’s substantial recent investment in our irrigation districts. However, the Class 1 drivers we need to move our commodities are just as vital a link in our supply chain as good highways and irrigation infrastructure. We are writing because, despite recent extensions and modifications, the current MELT framework still presents a substantial risk and cost to our farms and our communities, and we want to encourage your further attention to this issue in order to minimize these risks and costs. As farmers we are starting to come to terms with the effects that MELT is going to have on our farms and communities. For our farms, MELT means greater challenges harvesting and transporting our crops because of Class 1 driver shortages. The greatest pressure farmers have is safely and rapidly harvesting our crops. This is the time of the year that we need the most Class 1 drivers. The current MELT framework stands to substantially increase the pressure on our farms at this critical time of year. In our communities many individuals rely on driving truck for a significant portion of their income, whether for local farms or for local trucking companies. By dramatically increasing the difficulty of obtaining a Class 1 licence, MELT is placing significant hardship on these individuals and communities. This hardship is not just a matter of financial cost; much of our local agricultural work force is composed of an immigrant population who are strong in practical knowledge and motor vehicle safety, but lack the education or testing ability to successfully pass the current knowledge test because English is their second language. Upon request, the Class 5 and 3 knowledge tests offer additional help for such people, whereas the Class 1 test does not. The combined impact of all these individual effects of the MELT framework will continue to grow on our farms and in our local communities until we find ways to address them. Consider one example from a local farm to see some of the impact of MELT. An employee on a local farm enrolled in the MELT Extension program but has now failed both written test attempts because he struggles with the written English language. He has accumulated nearly 650 hours of Class 1 driving with a clean driving record, but after failing 2 knowledge tests he has lost his Class 1 and has been dropped to a Class 5. For this employee to maintain his current employment, it will now require him to spend $10,000-12,000 for the full MELT training, and take 6 weeks off work, at an additional cost of $5,000-6,000 in lost income. If he is unable to bear those costs, the only options left to him are to look for another lower paying job, go on unemployment, or leave the community and look for work elsewhere. This is only one example; we could provide many similar ones from other neighbors. The point is that having such employees and neighbors removed as capable Class 1 drivers is harming our farms and our communities by removing capable, safe, and accident-free Class 1 drivers from Alberta’s economy. We appreciate that the government has attempted to address this in part with the Experience and Equivalency Class 1 MELT, but Class 3 drivers are not Class 1 drivers and we still expect large shortages in Class 1 drivers for our industry. As an agricultural community consisting primarily of family farms where our parents, siblings, and children work alongside of our employees, safety is our top priority and something we are very familiar with because of many other safety programs we operate under. From the Canada GAP food safety program, to the Verified Beef Production program, to the Safe, Safer, Safest program from the Alberta Chicken Producers, not to mention Bill 6’s recent changes to farm regulations under WCB, our farms and employees are very safety-conscious. We would not be awarded our annual production licences or be able to obtain adequate farm insurance if we could not demonstrate appropriate safety practices, including driver safety and vehicle maintenance. We do not want unqualified drivers representing our farms on the roads. All we are asking is that the education and testing process for new Class 1 drivers be modified so it is more accessible and more achievable for current and potential drivers. Our final concern is specific to irrigation farms and has to do with recent statements in the media that suggest our government wants to harmonize Alberta’s Class 1 regulations with other similar provincial and federal regulations. Our fear is that this demonstrates that the Alberta government does not adequately understand our unique situation. Southern Alberta’s irrigated agriculture industry dynamics are substantially different than many other jurisdictions, due to the production intensity of the high value crops we grow here in irrigation country. For example, most dryland farms that comprise the vast majority of Western Canadian farm production, harvest at most 2 metric tonnes per acre of production per year, but here on our irrigation farms we harvest up to 30 metric tonnes per acre. This means that our need for Class 1 drivers at harvest time is much more intense than most other farms. We understand the common sense of trying to align Alberta regulations with those in other jurisdictions in Canada, but we want to ensure that situations like ours do not fall through the cracks, and that our harvests – which add a great deal of value to the Alberta economy every year – do not become a casualty of these new regulations. As an agricultural industry we propose the following to help reduce barriers to current Class 1 driver licencing:
On behalf of our business and our employees we thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, NAME FARM NAME LOCATION |
AuthorGreg Stamp CCA Archives
May 2023
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