George Morris Centre Newsletter: Ethanol Bad, Pork and Beef Industry Hurting

http://www.georgemorris.org/aspx/Public/Utils/DbFileViewerPopup.aspx?FileID=292

I don't know what you think of the George Morris Centre ( a think tank on Canadian Farm Policy and Ag Industry in general) but there stated intention of raising discussion on issues is important to the industry.

The post raises two points that I find interesting:

1. The ethanol industry is bad for Canada. The argument that the US as a net importer of energy has a lot more to gain from ethanol than an exporter like Canada is right on the money. The benefits to our grain industry may be minor compared to other negative effects across our economy
2. Things are really bad in the cattle industry. These guys are really getting beat up. We do cry "wolf" a lot in agriculture, but boy cattle farmers are hurting. I really fear western Canada will lose a lot of cow/calf operations. The 100 or so cow operations are no longer profitable. The really bad thing is I can't see any one helping them. As the post states the industry will survive, but I don't think some of the "little guys" will make it.

For a research farm ethanol will provide a lot of places to do work. Any time this big a change occurs in the industry we get lots to work on. The change can be good or bad we still benefit

Switchgrass: The president's favorite grass

A Prairie Land’s Companion The post is an article from the USDA on switchgrass. By the sound of this there are very few genetic differences between some of the "new" cultivars of switchgrass and the original or native strains. According to the post this is likely due to the short time that switchgrass has been commercially bred.

Organic Farming Can Feed The World, Study Suggests

Organic Farming Can Feed The World, Study Suggests

I posted 4 articles from ScienceDaily in this series of posts. I don't know what to make of this reporting. I don't see any data to back these claims up. I actually am a fan of many of the things "organic" agriculture does, but I'm a bit confused by the claims made here. No one outright comes out and says more is produced year over year or if it is produced in a profitable way(?) The writers and researchers state "yield" is more and "other" benifits increase and your footprint on the earth is less. Is more produced overall and in a cost effective way (?) I don't know and I don't see it stated.

Now because it's my forum (blog) I'll give my take on organic

• Lots of organic farmers are making a good dollar and reducing there environmental food print all over North America. There is a great (and growing) market for organic product and these pioneers are doing an excellent job filling that need. I say more power to them and a scourge on their critics. Much of noise and criticism of these producers may come from corporate spin, I'm cynical enough to believe that. Other opposition is motivated by ignorance of what organic farmers do or "backlash" against the organic movement's criticisms of conventional farming.
• Organic systems have strengths that could be used across agricultural production. Organic rotations for improved weed control and fertility should be looked at for cost savings for all producers.
• If producers can make changes that decease food productions use of non renewable resources everyone wins. You have to make a buck, but non renewable imputs may cost themselves out of the picture. That scenario makes some organic ideas attractive
• Dependence on pesticides has created rapidly evolving "resistant" pests. In the last 10 year there appearance has continued steadily. So far producers have adjusted. Maybe a good adjustment would be looking at more "organic" solutions
• My last point is a rip on organic production. What in the heck is the definition anyway. I see a lot of the "organic" production sold to consumers fits the definition of "organic" the retailer comes up with. I guess that's not the producers fault, but the consumer rips conventional producers and then buys his product anyway, thinking it's "organic". That kind of bugs me (pisses me off really)

Enjoy the posts! Take them with a grain of salt!

Organic Farms Produce Same Yields As Conventional Farms

Organic Farms Produce Same Yields As Conventional Farms See post on Organic Production Can Feed the World

Organic Farming Beats No-Till?

Organic Farming Beats No-Till? See comment on Organic Production Can Feed the World

Organic Farming Produces Smaller Crops, Healthier Soils, Swiss Researchers Report In Science

Organic Farming Produces Smaller Crops, Healthier Soils, Swiss Researchers Report In Science See post on Organic Production Can Feed the World

Snow day fundraising

Just got the first real snow cover of the year yesterday and today at the farm we are white. I'll do some office work and put away some more equipment

I spent some time yesterday at home fundraising for the farm. I don't know how this will work out. I'm actually a bit optimistic about getting funds, but I am worried about getting longer term commitments. If we can get some sponsors like the large fertilizer company I'm contacting to commit to a extended period (three years or more) that would give us security and freedom.

The problem with an extended commitment is as new people we have no track record. I think once we prove ourselves we can get some longer term sponsors, till then we work year by year.

I love when I hear about "buying" acres

A Big Fight For Acres Coming In 2008

Trading Chart is one of my favorite sites. The post is a "bull" report on oilseed and all ag commodities for next year. GREAT. This article sounds just like the position a local producer shared with me on a recent e-mail. This post adds weight to his comments

If these elevated prices can last through next year, grain producers should be looking pretty good. The "fly in the ointment" is rising inputs. Hopefully rising costs won't chew to far into the profits

Farming is tough on the wallet

The money to run this type of research farm is very tight. Looking at the books make me wonder how committed various government agencies are to this. Our biggest financial support does come from a government agency, but if we had a crop failure or a major equipment breakdown I wonder how we could finish out next year. That's not the best way to try and set up projects for the farm or to entice employees to stay or even start at the farm.

SouthEast Research Farm earns it's money mainly from field trials we run for industry, producer groups and university research. Every year (Dec. to March) we go looking for the funds (trial/demos) to pay the bills. This past year was tough, we had about $85000 worth of projects down from $100,000 average over the last 2 or 3 yrs. As an added stress on the books we replaced the motor in our combine. The rebuilt Volkswagen diesel was a $10,000 touch that really hurt.

I'm just getting going on trial proposal writing. This is a very creative part of the job, along with being the "life's blood" for the farm. So far we have 2 new projects for industry lined up. I think we will have to have about 20 different project to make the $100,000 we need for income. I don't want to make it sound that horrid, about 10 projects are pretty much guaranteed. Things like multi-year trials, or variety trials that run every year are trials we are pretty sure we will get. But this coming year we need to do some marketing to ensure we bring up the income to a more sustainable level. I think we have got good start and I do feel we will reach our objectives.

There that makes me feel better! I have my problems off my chest and given you a little bit of in site into the farm.

Ethanol Backlash: Bloomberg weighs in on the troubles in the Ethanol Industry

Bloomberg.com: Latin America

I've been seeing a few articles ( more than a few) on problems with ethanol production in the states. Add this one to the pile

Energy America on MSNBC: Wind potential map of USA, among other things

MSNBC Interactive

We (I, really) looked at putting a wind generator on the farm and setting up on the grid. I don't know if the money is right yet. The interactive map linked shows the potential on the prairie or the lack of same for wind power.

Brooke is working on a solar energy project to compare solar energy hardware. I think that has a good chance of getting done.

First Post: REVISITED

Welcome to TheResearchFarm the blog from SouthEast Reserch Farm. I plan on using our blog to get our message out and share ideas about agriculture on the Canadian Prairies

The idea behind our facility is "Producer Driven Research" The farm is a non-profit corporation. We are overseen by a board of local producers and funded by our projects. SouthEast Research Farm Inc. has one full time employees. Myself (Garth Johnston) as Manager

Initially I will post articles of interest to ag-production and information about the farm and our projects

Wish me luck. Please wish me luck!

Garth