May, 2011 - Quebec Farmers` Association

Transcription

Vol. 31, No. 5
May 2011
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What’s Inside…
The 4-H Provincial
Rally… p. 6
Kobe beef in the
Townships… p. 7
PHOTO: COURTESY OF NDP
Beef federation
meeting… p. 8
Fiddlehead
recipes!... p. 12
Saving supply
management… p. 15
NDP leader Jack Layton speaks with producer David Tremblay at his farm in Stoney Point, Ontario. “I will work with the provinces to provide affordable risk management programs
so farmers get the help you need when you need it,” said Layton in front of a crowd inside Tremblay’s barn.
www.quebecfarmers.org
Andrew McClelland
Advocate Staff Reporter
P u bl i ca t i on Ma i l No. : 4 00 33 77 3
Now that the Conservatives
have landed their long soughtafter majority in Parliament,
Canadian farmers are wondering what the future has in store
for them. But agricultural producers aren’t in agreement on
whether or not Stephen Harper’s
majority is a sign of foul or fair
weather on the horizon.
Of course the big surprise of
election night was the so-called
“Orange Crush” of the New
Democratic Party nearly sweeping Quebec. The province’s agricultural producers, it seems,
voted with their non-farming
neighbours, turning long-held
Bloc Québécois seats to the NDP.
“I think people here rushed to
vote for a new party on the ballot,” says John McCart, a dairy
producer from Argenteuil. “It
shows you that in politics all it
takes is a good leader. And I felt
that Ignatieff said an awful lot
about what Stephen Harper
would do to Canada without
saying what the Liberals
planned to do, so Quebec put
their confidence in Jack Layton.”
Canada’s Western provinces
took a decidedly different view
of things, and Prairie farmers are
no
exception.
With
the
Conservatives winning all-seatsbut-one in both Saskatchewan
and Alberta, the grain growing
provinces voted in a decidedly
different way than producers in
Quebec.
“It’s a way forward for western Canadian farmers, for sure,”
said Stephen Vandervalk, president of Grain Growers of
Canada. For Vandervalk, a
Conservative majority means a
more
efficient
Standing
Committee on Agriculture.
“The committee in Ottawa
was sometimes dysfunctional,
and I think now they’ll be able to
get two, three or four times the
work done,” said the grain producer from Fort Macleod,
Alberta. “I think it’ll be a huge
positive, to not sit in committee
and squabble over little issues.”
Wheat board
Many Prairie farmers have
cause for concern, however, as
the Conservative government
has long made its view clear
that a single desk marketing
channel like the Canadian
Wheat Board (CWB) has no
place in their vision for the
nation’s agricultural economy.
As
early
as
May
3,
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz
was telling reporters that the
CWB will soon lose the privilege of being the sole agency in
charge of buying and selling
QFA members
get 3 free classifieds per year.
See our classifieds on page 22 for details…
barley and wheat in Western
Canada.
“I was not shy about raising
this at every whistle stop that I
made in Saskatchewan in eight
different (electoral districts),
plus my own,” Ritz said. “No
one threw eggs at me. There’s
some concern we’re going to
throw out the baby with the
bathwater (but) I told everyone
‘Not a chance.’”
According to Ritz, the CWB
will be free to compete on the
open market, becoming a player
on the markets instead of a supplier. It will not, strictly speaking, be abolished.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
The pleasures of the mighty
are obtained by the tears
of the poor.
—Samuel Richardson
Page 2 - Quebec Farmers’ Advocate / May 2011
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
T he B e s t of
But tell that to CWB Board
Chairman Allen Oberg. The
Forestburg, Alberta producer
said that a similar change in
industry
happened
to
Australia’s wheat board. The
result? The board collapsed in
less than three years, eventually
being forced to sell its assets to
competing companies.
In interview, Ritz said that
the Conservatives will “consult
farmers” over whether of not
the CWB should lose its monopoly, but they will not hold a
vote to let producers decide.
The wheat board, on the other
hand, is asking the new government for a fair fight—a
plebiscite on the future of the
marketing agency.
“We respect the results of the
election last night,” Oberg says.
“We’re hoping the government
respects the Wheat Board’s
democracy as well.”
Supply management
The other key issue that agricultural producers will be
watching out for is supply management. During the years of
the Conservatives’ minority
government, the party’s official
stance on the matter was subject
to some debate. However, during Harper’s campaign to win
seats in rural Quebec, the Prime
Minister made a promise to
protect supply managed industries.
“We’ve signed free trade
agreements with eight countries
and in every one of these agreements we’ve given more opportunities for our farmers and our
agricultural sector while protecting supply management,”
said Harper during a visit to a
dairy farm in Acton-Vale in the
province’s Eastern Townships.
However, now that the
Conservatives have lost seats in
Quebec, many are saying that a
world trade deal that sacrificed
supply managed sectors like
dairy, egg and poultry could go
through on Harper’s watch—
particularly if that deal offered
gains for beef and pork producers.
For farmers in supply-managed industries like McCart,
that’s something to watch out
for in the long-term.
“Beef and pork are big out
West,” says McCart. “And our
industries out there are really
run by companies from the
U.S.—a company like Cargill
that owns most of the business
and supplies the feeds.”
But for McCart, there are
more pressing issues for his
supply-managed industry of
dairy than the possible threat
from the Conservatives.
“I don’t think that in the
short-term supply management
will change. The big problem
now is for those dairy producers who want to buy quota but
can’t find any quota to buy
even if they have the cash.
That’s a problem we’ve gotten
ourselves into. It’s part of being
in a supply-managed industry.
But you can’t have your cake
and eat it too.”
Stephen Harper made a promise to
Canadian farmers during a visit to an Eastern
Townships dairy farm during the April election campaign: “We’ve signed free trade
agreements with eight countries and in every
one of these agreements we’ve given more
Quebec Farmers’ Association
Membership Application
opportunities for our farmers and our agricultural sector while protecting supply management.” Now that the Conservatives hold a
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Agricultural or forestry producer, rural resident or retired farmer: $57.00 ($50.03 + $2.50 GST + $4.47 QST)
Bilingual Vocabulary Builder
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Sales barn = encan à bestiaux; enchère de
bestiaux; halle à bestiaux
Reprinted from Vocabulary of Agriculture.
Government of Canada publications, 1990.
Quebec Farmers’ Advocate / May 2011 - Page 3
Bringing farm history to life
Missisquoi Museum exhibit shows
history of Quebec farming
The Missisquoi Museum presents the “Food and Farming Heritage of
Quebec” exhibit at the Walbridge Barn site. Using oral histories of farming
people from the Eastern Townships and Missisquoi County along with artefacts
from the collection, this exhibit will look at the evolution of farming in Quebec.
This exhibit was developed as a part of the Quebec Anglophone Heritage
Network’s “Spoken Heritage On-Line Multimedia Initiative” and funded by the
Department of Canadian Heritage.
The Missisquoi Museum in Stanbridge East Quebec is open from May 29
to October 10 2011. Admission fee permits entrance to all the museum sites.
Open everyday 10-5. For more information, please contact the Missisquoi
Museum at 450-248-3153 or [email protected] and at
www.missisquoimuseum.ca
QFA Board
Members
Mark Boyd
Wakefield
Douglas Brooks
Executive Member
Franklin
Ken Brooks
Franklin
Meredith Closs
4-H representative
Wendall Conner
Executive Member
Canton de Hatley
Roy Copeland
Lachute
Mission
To defend the rights, provide information and advocate
for the English-speaking agricultural community
in Quebec
Vision
The QFA’s actions contribute to a sustainable future
for both agriculture and the environment while providing a decent quality of
life and financial return for the individuals and their families who have made
agriculture and food production their chosen professions.
Shared Values
Members of the QFA believe in:
• Maintaining family-owned and operated farms • Food sovereignty and
self-determination by individuals and nations • Intergenerational involvement
• Lifelong learning • Protection of the physical environment • Preserving land
for agricultural production • Minimum government interference • Working
alone and in partnership with others
Gib Drury
Executive Member
Alcove
Bill Fairbairn
Executive Member
Wakefield
Bill Fairbairn
Executive Member
Wakefield
Chris Judd
President
Shawville
Patricia Keenan
Brompton
Walter Last
Poltimore
John McCart
Vice-President
Grenville-sur-la-Rouge
Armin Ruf
Stanstead
Wylie Munro
Cascapedia
Ronald Strutt
Shawville
QFA EDITORIAL
So we had a federal election…
What did farmers get from it?
Chris Judd
QFA President
Like many of you, I stayed up
late on May 2 to be there when
the ballots were counted and
Elections Canada determined
how the country voted. I then
stayed awake half the night trying to assure myself that the
farm community got at least
SOMETHING from the election.
Quebec turned from light
blue to orange. Stephen got his
majority. What else?
Historically, Quebec has
always leaned more to the
socialist (or “Let’s stick together!”) end of the political spectrum
than
many
other
provinces. We have stronger coops, (e.g. Agropur, Coop fédérée)
and we have our own nationalized power company in HydroQuébec, which produces a
cheaper energy source that’s
also “greener” compared to oil
and coal-fired stations.
Supply management has its
foundations in Quebec. The
ASRA (income stabilization)
programs in Quebec are the
envy of farmers all over
Canada—and the world. We
have insurance mutuals that
keep jobs, profits, and ownership in Quebec. We’re home to
producer-owned co-ops and
abattoirs that allow us to
process our animals and keep
money at home. The province
also has a proud history of caisses populaires that are owned by
their clients—not by rich corporations.
Our “belle province” has also
developed high protein soybeans that can be sold all over
the world at a premium price
because they are NOT genetically modified. Once again, the
growers share in profits of this
achievement.
And while it’s important to
remember that universal health
care was dreamed up by a
Prairie
politician
(Saskat chewan’s Tommy Douglas),
Quebec has a higher degree of
social programs than almost
anywhere else in the country.
Our subsidized daycare, and
the CLSC programs that assure
assistance at home for the aged
or seriously ill, are the envy of
more than a few provinces.
When it comes to agriculture,
the UPA—Canada’s most effective farmers’ association—has a
policy to support and maintain
farms of a “human dimension.”
In other words, to support family farms. Even better, our agricultural producers’ “step up to
the plate” approach to protecting the environment and clean
Bellavance) regained his seat in
Richmond-Arthabaska. When
the Liberals watched even their
leader get defeated, their ag
critic—Prince Edward Island’s
Wayne Easter—was returned to
NO MATTER HOW THEY VOTED OR WHERE THEY
LIVE, THE MAY ELECTION DEMONSTRATED
THAT ALL CONSUMERS WANT TO EAT SAFE,
CANADIAN-GROWN FOOD.
water is world-class. And that
environmental stewardship has
come at no small price to the
farmers themselves.
What did farmers get on election night? We got recognition.
How? When the Bloc was all
but obliterated in Quebec, their
agricultural
critic
(André
his seat. NDP ag critic Alex
Atamanenko got his seat back
in
B.C.
and
even
the
Conservatives, who won a
majority—but with the casualties of both Foreign Affairs
Minister Lawrence Cannon and
Minister of State for Agriculture
Jean-Pierre Blackburn—got to
keep Agriculture Minister
Gerry Ritz.
No matter how they voted or
where they live, the May election demonstrated that all consumers want to eat safe,
Canadian-grown food. Seeing
them vote back every agriculture critic and the Minister of
Agriculture is definitely a sign
that they want a strong, healthy
farming base in Canada.
Stephen, we have a situation
in Canada where 80 per cent of
our farms have at least one family member working at an offfarm job to effectively “self-subsidize” this country’s agriculture industry.
Canada has
given you the reins to that
industry and a whole lot more.
Remember, we’ll be watching
to see how you drive.
UPCOMING EVENTS
“Food & Farming Heritage of Quebec”
Exhibit at the Missisquoi Museum’s Walbridge Barn site
—May 29 – October 10, 2011
Missisquoi Museum in Stanbridge East
Info: 450-248-3153 and at www.missisquoimuseum.ca
Email: or [email protected]
Animal Nutrition Association of Canada – General Meeting
—June 1 - 3, 2011
Marriott Hotel, Ottawa, Ontario
Info: http://www.anacan.org/eventspublications/convention/index.html
Centre de développement du porc du Québec inc. – General Meeting
—June 21, 2011
Quebec Farmers’ Advocate
Centre de congrès et d’expositions de Lévis, 5750 J-B-Michaud, Lévis
Info: (418) 650-2440
Email: [email protected]
QFA 2011 annual general meeting
—Friday, November 4, 2011
Centennial Centre
Macdonald Campus
Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC
Info: 450-679-0540, ext. 8536 or www.QuebecFarmers.org
Email: [email protected]
Editor-in-Chief
Ivan Hale
[email protected]
Managing Editor
Andrew McClelland
[email protected]
Published to benefit the English
agricultural and rural community in Quebec
Vol. 31, No. 5: May 2011
All contents copyright and may not be reprinted or translated without
permission. Published in Quebec by The Quebec Farmers’
Association. Legal deposit: National Library of Canada. Dépôt légal:
Bibliothèque nationale du Québec.
ISSN#0714-9518
Publication Mail No: 40033773
THE QUEBEC FARMERS’ ASSOCIATION GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGES THE SUPPORT OF
THE DEPARTMENT OF CANADIAN HERITAGE IN THE PUBLICATION OF
THIS PAPER.
Production Manager
La Terre de chez nous
Sales Director
André Savard
[email protected]
450-679-8483 ext. 7221
Sales Representatives
Daniel Lamoureux (National Sales
Representative), Christian Guinard,
Sylvain Joubert, Marie-Claude Primeau.
Contributors
Angie Beaudet, Pierre-Yvon Bégin,
Jean Brisson, Sonia Dumont, JeanCharles Gagné, Chris Judd, Peter
Krawczel, Christian Lacasse, Sylvia
Lafontaine, Thierry Larivière, Caitlin
MacDougall, Paul Meldrum, Myles
Mellor, Julie Mercier, Terry Mosher,
Julie Roy, Allyson Rowley, Débora
Santschi, Robert Savage, Anita
Stewart, April Stewart, Claudia
Villemaire.
Subscription rates to the Advocate
for non-QFA members are $57.00
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per year.
Subscriptions do not include free
classified ads and are renewable after
11 issues.
QFA memberships (includes a free
subscription to the Advocate) are
$57.00 ($50.03 + $2.50 GST + $4.47
QST) per year and are renewed every
year.
Send cheques to:
The Quebec Farmers’ Association
555 Roland-Therrien, office 255
Longueuil, QC J4H 4E7
Phone: (450) 679-0540, ext. 8536
Fax: (450) 463-5291
E-mail: [email protected]
Food is fashionable
The People’s Food Policy Project hopes to make food sovereignty a big issue
Food has suddenly become de
rigeur these days. Not only did
every Canadian political party
feature food, agriculture or rural
plans in their recent election campaign platforms, but the
Canadian
Federation
of
Agriculture is working on an
industry-led National Food
Strategy. The Conference Board
of Canada is also launching a
Centre for Food in Canada, and
the Canadian Agri-food Policy
Institute recently released a
report calling for a drastic overhaul of agricultural policy.
As part of my consulting business I was fortunate to have been
involved in a similar, yet uniquely different, on-going food policy
development project: the People’s
Food Policy Project (PFPP).
Officially launched April 18 on
Parliament Hill, the PFPP has
been working on food policy
development for over 30 years
(originally under the People’s
Food Commission). The PFPP is
unique not only because it’s the
result of a two-year consultation
of over 3,500 people (farmers,
fishers, indigenous peoples,
nutritionists, food bank workers,
cooks, and others), but because it
is the first comprehensive food
policy that focuses on food sovereignty from a grassroots level.
The core of food sovereignty is
reclaiming public decision-making power in the food system, the
key pillars of which are:
- putting focus on food for people
- valuing food producers
- localizing food systems
- putting control locally
- building knowledge and skills
- working with nature
- recognizing that food is sacred
The concept of food sovereignty was first proposed by La
Campesina, the global peasant
movement co-founded by the
Canadian National Farmers
Union at the World Food Summit
in 1996. It is an approach to a participatory framework where food
is viewed as a primary foundation for healthy lives, communities, economies, and eco-systems
where citizens are actively
PHOTO: COURTESY OF APRIL STEWART
April M. Stewart
Alba Public Relations
Supporters of the People’s Food Policy Project present an apt summary of the food policies of Canada’s major political parties at the project’s launch on Parliment Hill on April 18.
involved in decisions about how
food is produced, accessed, and
enjoyed.
The PFPP has developed ten
policy papers based on the key
foundational elements of a sustainable food system:
1) Indigenous food sovereignty
2) Food sovereignty in rural and
remote communities
3) Access to food in urban communities
4) Agriculture, infrastructure and
livelihoods
5) Environment and agriculture
6) Science and technology for
food and agriculture
7) International food policy
8) Healthy and safe food for all
9) Food democracy and governance
Each policy element looks at
key challenges, ways forward,
and priority recommendations to
build a better food system for
Canada.
Farmers don’t need to be
reminded of the integral role they
play in Canada’s health and wellbeing as well as the industry’s
effect on the economic and social
fabric of the country. To promote
a healthy agriculture industry the
PFPP has also launched the New
Farmers’ Initiative (NFI), which
addresses the critical lack of
replacement farmers, integral to
Canada’s agricultural sustainability and food sovereignty. In light
of current public discussion sessions for the Growing Forward II
agricultural policy framework, it
is an opportune moment to leverage new consumer trends to
renew the farm population by
making a clear commitment to
helping a new generation of farmers across Canada create successful family businesses. The NFI
suggests a strong cross-ministry
Renewal Strategy that:
1. Refocuses the Renewal funding
envelope on a targeted suite of
programs designed to overcome the obstacles and provide
opportunities for a new generation of farmers. While the specific form of these programs
will vary from province to
province, they all need federal
support from the Renewal pillar.
2. Recognizes and responds to the
very different needs of newcomers launching small farm
businesses from those transferring established farm businesses to other family members.
Both are essential to the renewal we need.
3. Takes steps to address the market forces that are blocking
renewal by driving up the price
of farmland.
After all this talk and all these
initiatives, I wondered if people—farmers and non-farmers
alike—in the Chateauguay Valley
were trendsetters or followers
when it came to taking control of
their food system. As a decidedly
rural and agricultural area, food
production plays a key role in the
local economy. Furthermore, as a
rural area that isn’t so remote
from a large urban centre, a variety of food is consistently and
readily available at a relatively
low cost unlike many rural areas
throughout Canada.
Using a Facebook poll (however unscientific, the most efficient
way to gain insight to a large and
varied sampling size), I asked the
following question: Would you as
a Chateauguay Valley farmer
and/or consumer support:
• a regional food policy council –
12.5%
• shifts in agricultural policy to
favour small and/or diversified
farms – 38.5%
• marketing of locally produced food
– 20.8%
• ecological/sustainable
farming
methods – 4.1%
• a national food policy – 12.5%
• farmers/consumers in an active role
in provincial/federal food policy
development – 16.6%
The results indicate to me that
people at all levels are interested
not only in how, where, and by
whom their food is produced, but
who has a say in developing forward-thinking policies like the
PFPP’s—not only in regards to
one of life’s basic necessities, but
one which contributes to healthy
and sustainable families, communities, and country. While farmers may be the bottom rung of the
structure that is food policy in
Canada, it is that rung upon
which the first step is taken. It is,
therefore, fundamentally important that farmers participate—
rather than be fashionably late!—
in creating Canada’s food future.
To learn more about the PFPP and
how you can get involved in the New
Farmers’ Initiative, or how you can
make food policy a priority in your
region visit: www.peoplesfoodpolicy.ca/getinvolved.
April is a sixth generation dairy
farmer and owns Alba Public
Relations which focuses on strategic
agricultural communications. She
writes the bi-monthly newsletter
‘The Rur-ban News: Information &
Technology Updates from the Rural
Milieu to the Urban Dweller™’ and
the blog ‘A Farmer & Her [57+]
Purses’. She is the founder/executive
director of F.A.R.M. (Fair Agricultural Representation Movement)
and lives with her boyfriend (who
also farms), her four stepchildren
and the usual menagerie of farm animals.
149965
The Evolution of the 4-H Provincial Rally
For well on 36 years, Quebec 4-H’s Provincial rally has given youngsters a chance to strut their stuff
Caitlin MacDougall
Agricultural Liaison
Quebec 4-H
Rally is the most anticipated
event of the year for many young
4-H’ers. With the highest participation rate of any 4-H event, it is
also Quebec 4-H’s longest-standing provincial activity and the
source of many friendships and
cherished memories. Over the
past 36 years there have been
many additions and changes to
the Provincial Rally, but it has
always been a fun-filled weekend
of friendly competition and
learning. Here is a look back on
how Rally has evolved.
In 1976, the Richmond Young
Farmers club dreamed up the
idea of inviting young farmers
from across Quebec to a “Calf
Rally.” This event was held at the
fairgrounds in late July with 70
participants attending from 12
clubs.
As Trenholm Nelson, past
Richmond
Young
Farmers
President (and father to three
current Richmond 4-H’ers)
explained, the club “had a bit of
money, only about $150,” from
their first-ever ice cream social,
and decided to spend it on a
“Calf Rally” so they could visit
with and show against the
Chateauguay Valley friends
they’d made while on exchange.
Participants arrived Friday and
competed in the judging competition and tug-of-war that
evening. Saturday was show day,
followed by the awards banquet.
Sunday departures were capped
off with the first Rally water
fight.
After witnessing the Rally’s
success, the Quebec Young
Farmers’ (QYF) federation asked
the Richmond club if the event
could become a provincial activity. Since then, Rally has been
growing. The first few years it
alternated between Richmond
and Ormstown fairgrounds. The
third rally, Trenholm recalls,
“was supposed to be held in
Sherbrooke, but their barn
The Lachute 4-H club celebrates the 2010 Rally’s “Wild Wild West” theme.
Pictured are (back) Jesse Bradley, (left to right standing) Ross McCullough,
Beth Kennedy, Arya Lepage, Jérémie Messerli, (front L-R) Ben Clark,
Glenn McCaig, and current Lachute 4-H President Tessa Hadley.
burned down the week before, so
instead it came to Richmond.”
These days, Rally continues to
move from region to region, to
share both the responsibility of
planning and driving distances
between clubs. It has been held in
Richmond, Ormstown, Shaw ville, Lachute, Sherbrooke,
Brome, Huntingdon, Ayer’s Cliff,
and Cookshire. At its peak, participation has climbed to over 200
attendees from 4-H and AJRQ
clubs across Quebec, the United
States, and Ontario.
The livestock show, originally only dairy calves, expanded
in the late 1970s to include beef.
In 1999, goats, sheep, horses as
well as handicraft and horticulture classes were added. The
name “Calf Rally” was then
changed to “Provincial Rally”
to reflect the new diversity of
projects. It expanded again
when rabbits were introduced
in 2001. QYF itself evolved in
2002, when it changed its name
to the Quebec 4-H Association.
Recently, public speaking was
added in 2005 and poultry in
2009. Life Skills (formerly
Handicrafts and Horticulture)
now includes photography and
woodworking classes among
others. These changes have
encouraged participation from
non-farm youth, enabling them
to learn about agriculture firsthand.
Besides the above-mentioned
activities, 4-H’ers can take part in
fitting competitions, a costume
class, and barn display, all club
competitions. The Farmers’
Olympics are purely for fun and
often planned to get the participants wet or dirty. There’s nothing like the challenge of crossing
a greased log over water to get
kids enjoying themselves. Many
games degenerate into splashing
contests and shaving cream
fights—a change of clothes is recommended!
While competing for trophies,
Pictured above are young farmers/4-H alumni who attended the first rally ever in 1976.
This photo was taken in Richmond at the 30th Anniversary Rally in 2005. Pictured are
back row: *Larry Ness (Howick), *Brian MacFarlane (Howick), *Trenholm Nelson
(Richmond), *Wayne Mastine (Richmond), *Will Dutka (Richmond), Norman Carson
(Richmond), *Philip Boersen (Richmond), Chuck Fowler (Richmond) middle row:
*Pauline Antink (Hatley), *Pam Ness (Howick), *Judy Nelson (Richmond), *Valerie
Fowler (Richmond), seated: Lois Fowler (Richmond), *Laura Johnston (Richmond),
*Mary-Frances Enright (Richmond), *Susan Mastine (Richmond), Ann Louise Carson
(Richmond), *Doug Nelson (Richmond). (Town names in brackets are the names of the
club they belonged to when they came to rally in 1976; some of these alumni are now parents or leaders in other 4-H clubs. The * indicates those pictured have children that are
or were in 4-H.)
members meet up with old
friends and make new ones,
learning that agriculture—and
rural Anglophone youth—aren’t
ALLEY SCRAPER SYSTEMS
CROSS-GUTTER SYSTEMS
TRANSFER PUMP SYSTEMS
146594
so different across Quebec.
Another great thing about
Rally is the family connections.
Trenholm’s daughters were all
involved in planning and showing at last year’s Rally in
Richmond. “It came full circle,”
he added; many current 4-H parents and leaders were involved
in Rally at one time. Just scan the
participants list in any Rally
book and you can find familiar
names.
Stir up some memories at the
36th Provincial Rally, hosted by
Lachute 4-H July 14-17, at the
Lachute Fairgrounds. Show day
starts at 8:30 a.m. on July 16. You
might just recognize a few familiar faces! For details contact
Quebec 4-H, [email protected]
or 514-398-8738.
Caitlin MacDougall grew up on
the family dairy farm in Ormstown,
Quebec, and graduated from
Carleton University with a B.A.
Honours in Anthropology and
Human Rights. She holds a
Certificate in French to English
Translation from McGill University, and works part-time as
Agricultural Liaison for Quebec
4-H.
Townships family raising luxury Japanese beef
In Asbestos, Michel Gagne raises a Canadian version of Kobe beef
Three generations of the Gagne
family have raised their quality
beef cattle in the gentle hills that
rise behind the mining town of
Asbestos, QC. Today’s title holder, Michel Gagne, is an enigma,
following the challenging footsteps his father made. But, Michel
is an adventurous spirit, firmly
believing there’s always a better
way.
In his case, with Ranch
Lougami’s well-established reputation for excellence behind him,
this now middle-aged Gagne has
expanded on his father’s determination to improve his beloved
family of purebred Hereford cattle.
Back in the day, it wasn’t
unusual to find more than one
Lougami herd sire at the St
Hyacinthe testing and insemination centre. Hereford breeders
across the province and beyond
paid top dollar for semen from
the Lougami sires. But Michel,
with the courage of an innovator,
never hesitated to branch into
other breeds, and soon the green
valleys of Lougami Ranch began
to take on a different look. First
came the milky-white of
Charolais, a much larger beef
breed. Simmental would follow,
then, as the popularity of the
Angus breed grew, those red or
black beef cattle were soon grazing those pastures.
“But, now we’ve really got
lucky,” says Michel, a mischievous smile lighting up his face.
“We’ve begun producing what
many experts say is the best beef
in the world. Gourmets and
lovers of the finest food will travel thousands of miles for an elegant meal which features Kobe
beef,” he explains, adding, with a
grin—“Of course, you’ve heard
of it?”
What is Kobe?
Searching the web for answers
to questions that tumbled
through this reporter’s head takes
the researcher back to 2,000 AD,
to the Japanese province of Kobe
where the first of these brownish,
medium sized cattle were imported from Asia. Hindu religious traditions and regulations forbid
eating beef, but these animals
were put to work, pulling the
primitive tools used in the rice
paddies. The region of Shikoku is
very mountainous and one can
only imagine the difficulties and
challenges of travel in and
around these mountains. This difficulty also affected the movement of cattle, resulting in a breed
of rather heavy set animals developing and eventually becoming
known as WAGHU (meaning
Japanese cattle).
But changes were looming. An
army general suspected that beef,
added to his soldiers’ diet of fish,
rice and vegetables just might
give his warriors the strength to
win an important battle. And sure
enough, that is exactly what happened, making eating beef part of
the military diet from that time
on. Eventually the ban on eating
beef faded away. By the 1600s, the
ban was back for a couple hun-
dred years until the mid 1800s
when crossbreeding began,
bringing in several breeds including Brown Swiss, Ayrshire,
Aberdeen Angus, Devon and
Holstein.
But why are these so-called
‘Kobe’ so sought after for their
delicate flavour, tenderness and
heavily marbled meat? With the
move to lean, reduced fat and
cholesterol-free beef, why do
gourmets spend hundreds of dollars just for a Kobe steak dinner?
Centuries of trial and error
have gone into developing the
Kobe strain that many consider
the best beef imaginable. By lacing the cows’ roughage with wine
and sake, through daily massages
using beer to ensure healthy skin
and ‘coat’, and always using only
the best cereals and legumes in
the animal’s diet, the Kobe name
has become synonymous with
“luxury beef.”
But consumers should beware.
The only pure Wagyu beef come
from two isolated provinces in
Japan. There is a move on in
Canada, particularly Britich
Columbia, where producers
claiming to raise Kobe beef are
feeding wine and brewery mash,
but on a larger scale and without
the massages and individual
attention a real Kobe gets.
However, using Kobe-Angus
cross-breeding, Canadian breeders like Gagne can guarantee an
improved quality of beef being
produced in this country.
Keeping company in his off-season with a champion Black
Angus sire, Gerry is one of perhaps half a dozen Wagyu bulls in
Canada at Ranch Lougami.
Gagne is envisioning cross-bred
animals in his pastures and feedlots. He is, in a way, counting his
chickens before they’re hatched,
imagining an increasing demand
for Kobe-Angus females and
sires, commanding top dollar by
Angus meat producers looking
for ways to improve quality yet
again.
In the meantime, Gagne continues servicing beef producers
across Canada, providing the necessary tests that determine
whether any young bull calf has
the potential to become a much
sought after sire. The test station
at Ranch Lougami accomodates
149 calves, brought in when
they’re weaned and vaccinated
where testing begins one month
after their arrival. Weighed every
month, development of rib eye
carefully followed with ultra
sound testing, breed conformation and muscle development
carefully recorded, each animal is
evaluated and is scored on his test
record at the end of his stay at the
station.
“Of course, we’re waiting for
more calves of our own,” Gagne
Michel Gagne at his Ranch Lougami in Asbestos.
Save the date!
Quebec Farmers’ Association 2011
annual general meeting
Friday, November 4, 2011
Centennial Centre
Macdonald Campus
Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, QC
says, taking us on a guided tour
of buildings and feedlots. There
are Angus ladies-in-waiting, due
to calve within the week, enjoying the privilege of a bit of shelter
with feed and water a few steps
away. There are cows and calves
nibbling at feeders on the gentle
slopes near the stables and,
according to Gagne, his calf crop
is right up to par this year.
At first glance, nothing much
has changed as we go through the
wrought-iron gate Michel’s father
erected. But, driving into the stable area, more buildings, flanked
with feedlots and cattle yards, a
small butcher shop and, believe it
or not, a cattery where the Gagnes
raise Bangal Leopard domestic
cats, proves the Gagne expansions and willingness to follow a
dream has been successful.
Born in Sherbrooke, Claudia
Villemaire has been a dedicated
Townshipper all her life. After running a dairy and pork operation with
her family, her career as a journalist
began in 1978 when The Sherbrooke
Record hired her as an agricultural
reporter. A proud mother of four—
and a grandmother to nine—Claudia
lives in Richmond, Quebec.
PHOTO: CLAUDIA VILLEMAIRE
Claudia Villemaire
Advocate Eastern Townships
Correspondent
The Quebec Beef Producers Federation
Fédération des producteurs de bovins du Québec
Annual meeting of the Quebec beef
producers’ federation
Sonia Dumont
Communications Officer
FPBQ
On April 6 and 7, farmers operating under the Quebec beef producers’ joint marketing plan held
their 29th annual general meeting.
Over 245 producers, industry
stakeholders and representatives
from various levels of government gathered in Sainte-Foy,
under the theme “Je choisis l’agriculture d’ici” [I am choosing our
own agriculture.]
From the outset, federation
President Michel Dessureault
emphasized the importance for
producers to be concerned with
the downstream activities of the
production chain. He also encouraged producers to “equip themselves with a solid organization to
represent and defend the interests
of bovine producers.”
Delegates also welcomed some
distinguished guests, including
UPA President Christian Lacasse,
Travis Toews, president of the
Canadian
Cattlemen’s
Association and Gib Drury, president of the Canada Beef Export
Federation.
The Minister of Agriculture, des
Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation du
Québec (MAPAQ), Pierre Corbeil,
also participated in a working
breakfast with the federation’s
executive committee.
Representatives from Réseau
Encans Québec, as well as board
members from Levinoff-Colbex,
were also there to present their
financial statements and explain
their activities for the 2010 fiscal
year and the issues that their businesses will face in the future.
The assembly adopted 17 reso-
lutions that will be used to guide
the federation through the upcoming year. A summary of these
resolutions will be available
shortly on the federation’s website, www.bovin.qc.ca.
Bovine roundtable
For a second year in a row, the
federation’s annual meeting
included a reflection activity,
entitled “Bovine roundtable.”
Under the theme “Faire sa chance”
[create your own opportunities],
delegates welcomed Pierrette
Desrosiers, a “business coach”
who works extensively with the
agricultural community.
Based on her broad experience
on the subject, Desrosiers presented several ideas, notions, methods and tools:
➯ To help producers to better
control their own destiny
➯ To help them to better understand themselves, to think
clearer and to act wiser, in
order to achieve their personal
and professional objectives
➯ To help them to manage, not to
“be managed.”
In short, to help them to
become better able to “create their
own opportunities.”
Regions and representatives
President
Michel Dessureault
Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Stanislas Gachet
Bas-Saint-Laurent
Claude Viel (1)
Beauce
Sylvain Bourque
Centre-du-Québec
J.-Alain Laroche
Côte-du-Sud
Daniel Lajoie
Estrie
André Tessier
Gaspésie
Guy Gallant
Lanaudière
André Ricard (2)
Mauricie
René Perreault
Outaouais-Laurentides
Gib Drury
Québec
Bertrand Bédard
Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean
Gilles Murray
Saint-Hyacinthe
Yvon Boucher (2)
Saint-Jean-Valleyfield
Eddy Proulx
President CMMVE [feeder-calf committee]
Thérèse G. Carbonneau
President CMMBA [slaughter steer committee]
Michel Daigle (2)
President CMMVG [grain-fed veal committee]
Gérard Lapointe
President CMMVL [milk-fed veal committee]
Johanne Poulin
President CMMBR [cull cattle committee]
Pierre Ruest
Legend: 1: Vice-president 2: Member of executive committee
Marketing Committees
Regions
and representatives
Cull cattle
committee
Slaughter steer
committee
Feeder calf
committee
Grain-fed veal
committee
Milk-fed veal
committee
Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Paul Ten Have
Dany Frappier
Stanislas Gachet
Vacant
Vacant
Bas-Saint-Laurent
Ruest (1)
Jacques Fortin
Maurice Veilleux (3)
Vital Potvin
Vacant
Beauce
Bertrand Gagné (3)
Jules Côté
Thérèse G. Carbonneau (1)
Vacant
Centre-du-Québec
J.-Alain Laroche
Vacant
Marcel Bélanger
Céline Bélanger
Côte-du-Sud
Jean-Yves Gosselin (2)
Alain Pelletier
Normand Dumais (3)
Gérard Lapointe (1)
Vacant
Marco Richard (3)
Diane St-Hilaire (4)
Christian Caya (4)
Daniel Lajoie (2)
Estrie
Alain Bouffard
Lionel Roy
André Tessier
Antoine Doyon
Patrick St-Onge
Gaspésie
Guy Gallant
Vacant
Joëlle Gagné
Vacant
Vacant
Lanaudière
Jean-Guy Bouvier
Denis Ouellet
Walter Ellenberger
Gérard Ricard
Vacant
Mauricie
René Perreault
Claude Lampron
Michel Masson
Louis-Joseph Beaudoin (3)
Vacant
Outaouais-Laurentides
Philippe Leroux
Jacques Desrosiers (2)
Stanley Christensen (2)
Vacant
Vacant
Pierre-Luc Nadeau
Luc Desrochers (4) Jocelyn Bilodeau (4)
Vacant
Johanne Poulin (1)
Mario Robert (4)
Ulrich Hurni (4)
Fabien Fontaine (3)
Yves Barbet (4)
Québec
Normand Bourque
Jean-Guy Perreault
François Poirier
Magella Lemay
Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean
Steeve Bouchard
Carol Tremblay
Pierre Dallaire
Lysette Harvey (3)
Saint-Hyacinthe
Claude St-Denis
Michel Daigle (1)
Gérald Brouillard
Jocelyn Grenier (2)
Saint-Jean-Valleyfield
Denis Dumouchel
Normand Vinet (3)
Serge Dethier
Robert Wynands
Representatives for Accredited
Associations
Gabriel Rancourt (3)
(FPLQ)
Sylvain Raynault (3)
(SPEQ)
André Beaumont (5)
(CCRB)
N/A
N/A
CMMVE Representative
[feeder calf committee]
Vacant
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Federation Representative
Yvon Boucher (3)
Claude Viel (3)
Yvon Boucher (3)
André Ricard (3)
Michel Daigle (3)
Legend: 1: President 2: Vice-president 3: Member of negotiating committee 4: Substitute-producer without voting rights 5: Observer
Elections
At the end of the meeting, the
federation’s board of directors
proceeded with the election of its
executive committee. The current
committee members were all reelected.
It is composed of:
➯ Michel Dessureault, re-elected
as president for another twoyear mandate
➯ Claude Veil, who remains as
vice-president
➯ Michel Daigle, André Ricard
and Yvon Boucher, who complete the executive committee
Two new members were added
to the federation’s board of directors, namely Sylvain Bourque
from the Beauce region and
André Tessier of the Estrie region.
We take this opportunity to
emphasize the work done by the
out-going directors and to welcome those who are new to the
board.
Keep potassium under close watch
during transition!
It was long believed that monitoring the level of calcium in the transition ration was the key to preventing milk fever.
Instead, it’s the potassium level that needs close watching.
Jean Brisson,
agronome
Débora Santschi,
Ph.D., agronome
Sylvia Lafontaine,
agronome, R&D
Valacta
ketosis and mastitis, not to mention an increased risk of distocia,
retained placenta, displaced
abomasum, and prolapsed
uterus. It’s obviously important
to do all you can to prevent such
costly problems. Milk fever is a metabolic disorder that usually occurs in the
hours following calving, but the
problem may occur at other
moments as well. Some producers have encountered milk fever
in the middle of lactation or at
dry-off, for example. The disorder is characterized by a rapid
drop in the level of calcium in
the blood, attributable to the
production of colostrum. A cow
producing 10 L of colostrum
loses 23 g of calcium in a single
shot, which is about nine times
more calcium than is present in
the cow’s blood. The calcium
drawn from the blood and
directed to the cow’s mammary
gland must be replenished; this
is accomplished by increasing
calcium absorption in the intestine or by absorbing calcium
from the bones, or both.
In high producing cows, some
decrease in the calcium concentration in the blood is virtually
inevitable in the hours following
calving, as the animal’s metabolism adjusts to the demand for
calcium. The question is
whether the calcium level will
continue to drop or not. The consequences of a severe decline in
calcium are well-known: the
cow is out of action. In 2010, the
incidence of milk fever reported
in DSAHR records was 2.6 per
cent. Taking into account the
costs related to treatment, production loss, the negative effect
on reproduction, culling and
mortality, a single case of milk
fever has a price tag of over
$500. And if that isn’t enough, a
cow with milk fever is eight
times more likely to suffer from
Potassium in the dock
It was long assumed that controlling the level of calcium in
the ration was the key factor in
preventing milk fever. The
results of an experiment, published in 1997, showed that it is
instead the potassium level that
warrants scrutiny. Goff’s study
was conducted during the three
week period prior to calving,
with Jersey cows that were starting at least their 4th lactation so
as to emphasize the effect of the
ration on the incidence of the
problem.
Because
their
colostrum is so rich, Jersey cows
are more susceptible to milk
fever than animals of other
breeds, and older cows are more
at risk than younger ones.
The results: Table 1 clearly
shows that while the variation in
the calcium concentration in the
transition ration has almost no
effect, the potassium concentration needs to be kept closer to 1.1
per cent, as opposed to 2.1 per
cent, in order to avoid trouble.
On the other hand, it seems
obvious that hypocalcemia is
practically inevitable. It is also
evident that milk fever can be
avoided. In practical terms,
researchers are working to formulate rations with acceptable
potassium levels, between 1.3
and 1.5 per cent.1
Potassium in forages
It’s not a secret any more: the
potassium concentration of forages (hay and grass silages) is
extremely variable. Some forages
contain as little as 0.8 per cent
potassium while others contain
up to 5.5 per cent. There’s no
need to mention that forage containing 5.5 per cent potassium
should be kept well away from
cows approaching calving. So
why does the potassium concentration of forages vary so much?
There are three sources of variation:
1. Species (root system)
2. Soil composition
3. Pluviometry
It’s clear that the potassium
concentration varies between
species. Species with a highly
developed root system—such as
alfalfa or orchardgrass—have
the capacity to absorb greater
amounts of available potassium
from the soil than do species
with a more limited root system,
such as timothy. A word of caution however: the potassium
content of the soil is also a major
source of variation, so much so
that timothy may be very rich in
potassium (up to four per cent)
and alfalfa much poorer (less
than two per cent). So it’s important to be careful: just because
you have a timothy-based forage doesn’t guarantee that it
is well-suited to a transition
ration.
The data presented in Figure 1
clearly illustrates the effect of soil
potassium content on the potassium concentration of the forage.
The values are averages for two
years of production (2003 and
2004) and two nitrogen fertilizer
application rates (70 and 140 kg
⁄ha). The proportion of timothy in
the forage was very nearly 100
per cent, with the exception of
the Sainte-Perpétue site where
the forage was composed of 40
per cent timothy and 60 per cent
Kentucky bluegrass.
Pluviometry has some effect
on the potassium concentration
of forages, since potassium must
be in solution in order to be
absorbed. A plant growing in
dry conditions will therefore
have a lower potassium concentration than if it had been growing in a soil with greater water
availability.
N
Potassium in Quebec
forages
Valacta has some interesting
data on the potassium concentrations of forages. Figure 2 is
based on more than 45 500
analyses of the potassium concentration of forages included
in dairy cattle rations in Quebec
in 2010. The colours show the
proportion of forages with low
(green), average (yellow) or
high (red) potassium concentrations. How do you interpret the
figure? If you take legume
silages, for example, you see
that 15 per cent of the samples
contain less than two per cent
potassium while nearly 20 per
cent exceed three per cent.
Forages with “green” potassi-
um concentrations are safe to
use in feed for cows preparing
to calve. On the other hand, you
need to be more careful when
using “yellow” forages. And
“red” forages should be avoided as a feed source for transition cows whenever possible.
Regardless of the type of forage you have, an analysis of its
chemical composition is essential.
The recipe: potassium
content of the ration
below 1.5 per cent
Preventing
milk
fever
requires keeping a close check
on the potassium concentration
of the ration fed to cows during
the transition period. If you can
manage to keep the concentration below 1.5 per cent, you’re
on the right track. A good
understanding of the factors
that affect potassium levels in
forages will enable you to make
the right choice for your transition rations. It’s clear that any
forage lots likely to be used for
feeding
during
transition
should be carefully sampled.
1
These results were presented
in the training course A Good
Dry-Off for a Better Start-Off,
given by Valacta across Quebec
and the Atlantic provinces during the winter of 2010-2011.
Percentage of samples analyed
McGill serves up leadership in food safety
ALLYSON ROWLEY
McGill Reporter
Making sure what we
eat won’t make us sick
No one can foretell when the
next outbreak will be, and our
food comes from so many
sources.”
Madramootoo
explained that McGill is
uniquely placed to find solutions: “We offer expertise in
every part of the food system,
from the time the seed goes in
the ground, right up to when
the food reaches the consumer.”
“The extraordinary generosity of Dr. and Mrs. Munro will
ensure that McGill is a leader
and an innovator in this crucial
area, through our unique combination of strengths across
multiple areas of research,
ALLYSON ROWLEY
McGill Reporter
scholarship and industry collaboration,” said Principal and
Vice-Chancellor
Heather
Munroe-Blum at a ceremony on
April 15 at the Macdonald
Campus. Prior to the gift
announcement, industry leaders, academics and students
gathered for a one-hour symposium, “Averting a Crisis:
Making our Food System Safe.”
This latest gift contributes to
Campaign McGill: History in
the Making, which is raising
the funds needed to attract and
retain top students and faculty,
increase access to quality education, and ensure that McGill
remains one of the world’s
great research-intensive and
student-centred universities.
To date, 37 new faculty chairs
have been created during the
time frame of Campaign
McGill.
Is our food safe to eat? McGill’s new Food Safety and Quality
Program (FSQP) is an interdisciplinary research initiative, which
joins the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
(FAES) with the Faculty of Law and the Desautels Faculty of
Management. The FSQP will undertake research, offer undergraduate and graduate programs, and provide independent,
third-party expertise to the Canadian food industry to address
the burning questions around safety of the food system. FAES
Dean Chandra A. Madramootoo, who was the driving force
behind the FSQP, together with senior food industry executives
and an alumni advisory committee, sat down to talk about the initiative.
What’s the difference between “food safety” and “food security”?
“Food security” refers to the big global problems we are seeing
right now: food shortages in some countries, rising food prices,
access to food and so on. We’re talking about chronically undernourished countries that are deprived of land, economic
resources and clean water, for example much of central Africa,
Asia and Haiti. Of course, we have our own inner cities and our
own Native populations who have significant food security
issues. That’s why the FAES created the annual Conference on
Global Food Security and we founded the McGill Institute for
Global Food Security.
When we say “food safety,” we are addressing problems such
as contamination in the production, processing and distribution
of food, food-borne diseases, pathogens, viruses, and the like. A
lot of the food we eat is imported. It has travelled a huge distance
in containers, sat on docks, and there are numerous potential
sources of contamination along the way, from production to consumption.
Is food safety an issue that we still need to worry about, even
in Canada?
That’s a question consumers are asking more and more, as we
see a more sophisticated and demanding population. We want to
be reassured that what we eat is safe, clean and not contaminated
— and rightfully so. The reality is that problems of food safety
have been with us for decades. No one can foretell when the next
outbreak will be, and food comes from so many sources. As well,
over the next 25 to 50 years, it’s expected that the world food supply must double to keep up with global population growth. So,
there will be a need for even greater vigilance.
What’s the special ingredient that McGill and the FAES can
offer?
McGill is one of the few Canadian universities that can offer
such a broad range of expertise. We have a Faculty of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences here at our Macdonald Campus, and
through collaborations with the Faculties of Law, Management,
Medicine and Science, we can offer expertise in every part of the
process — from the time the seed goes in the ground to when the
food reaches the consumer. The Faculty of Law can assist with
regulatory and policy issues of food safety, Science can provide
expertise on contamination detection, and so on. We have a
unique combination of strengths here at McGill.
What progress has been made in the food industry, addressing food safety of their own accord?
Our industry partners have played a pivotal role in the creation
of FSQP, and they will be full partners in this collaborative
research, teaching and outreach program. They know they can’t
keep up on their own with the science, the detection technology,
the worldwide laws and all the rest. They know they will need
access to McGill’s expertise to train their next generation of
employees, the next group of MScs and PhDs to address the many
challenges. They are fully aware and fully on board.
Both articles first appeared in
the McGill Reporter and are
reprinted with permission.
It is with deep regret that we inform you of the passing of
Dr. Ian Munro on Wednesday April 27th at the age of 71.
PHOTO: OWEN EGAN
Is our food safe? Thanks to a
new Chair in Food Safety – the
first of its kind in Canada –
McGill will be at the head of the
table in seeking answers to that
question.
The Ian and Jayne Munro
Chair in Food Safety has been
kick-started with a generous
$1.5-million gift from leading
food safety researcher and
McGill graduate, Dr. Ian C.
Munro, and his wife Jayne
Munro, along with an investment of $500,000 from the
university. A further $1 million
1967. “I have long wanted to
establish a Chair in Food
Safety, and McGill is certainly
my first choice. Nowhere else
in Canada is there a program of
this quality and magnitude,
delving into food safety
issues.”
Executive Vice-President and
Senior Scientific Consultant of
Cantox
Health
Sciences
International in Mississauga,
Munro has devoted his career
to identifying and controlling
toxic constituents in food. He
explained that the FSQP will
serve as an arms-length scientific authority, which will take
advantage
of
McGill’s
McGill Principal and Vice-Chancellor Heather Munroe-Blum presents Mrs. Jayne Munro and Dr. Ian C. Munro with a McGill crystal in recognition of their generous gift.
will be raised in the future to
ensure the Chair will be
endowed in perpetuity.
Based in the Faculty of
Agricultural
and
Environmental Sciences, the
Chair will lead McGill’s newly
established Food Safety and
Quality Program (FSQP), an
interdisciplinary teaching and
research initiative. The FSQP
will undertake collaborative
research, offer undergraduate
and graduate teaching programs, and provide the independent, third-party expertise
needed for the Canadian food
industry to address the complex scientific, legal and policy
issues of global food safety. The
appointment of the first Chair
holder, a world-renowned scientist, is expected within the
coming year.
“There is so much horsepower here at McGill. This is the
perfect place to launch this
major new program,” said
Munro, BSc(Agr) 1962, MSc
strengths across multiple areas
— agricultural and environmental sciences, law, management, medicine and science.
The FSQP will also conduct
research initiatives with the
Canadian food industry.
Munro is careful to point out
that many food safety problems
arise from natural causes,
through no fault of the food
industry. “But it is certainly
their responsibility to study
and control these problems —
and the food industry has been
front and centre in conducting
this research,” he said, mentioning the “tremendous support” that has already been
received for the FSQP.
“Our industry partners have
played a pivotal role in the creation of this new program,”
said
Dr.
Chandra
A.
Madramootoo, Dean of the
Faculty of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences. “The
reality is that food safety issues
have been with us for decades.
149826
Spring has sprung!
Fiddleheads with butter
and garlic
Yield: 8 servings
• 1 lb Fiddleheads, cleaned and double blanched
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp salted butter
• Pinch chili flakes
• Splash of Tamari
• Salt and pepper, as needed
• Water, as needed
Anita Stewart
Advocate Food Writer
All earth seems green these
days and one of the most special
seasonal ingredients is free.
Fiddleheads—those
tightly
furled fronds on the ostrich
fern—flourish all across rural
Quebec. But aside from using
fiddleheads in soup, not many
cooks really embrace them. Because they’re found in the
wild, I turned to Chef Nancy
Hinton of the award winning
Les Jardins Sauvages for advice.
Nancy and her partner, François
Brouillard, specialize in foraging
then serving forth some of the
most interesting meals anywhere in the nation.
These are her fantastic
recipes—a perfect first taste of
spring. Clean fiddleheads, removing
dark tip. Blanch twice in lots of
boiling salted water for 2 minutes each time. Refresh each
time. Reserve.
Sauté garlic for a minute or
two in butter (no colour). Add
blanched fiddleheads to pan
and warm through, adding a
few drops of water if necessary
(to emulsify butter). Season and
serve as is, or add garnish of
choice (chopped herbs, ramps,
bacon, sundried tomato...)
• ½ cup meat glaze (or reduced meat
stock or demi-glace or pan drippings or miso)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley and tarragon
• Salt and pepper, to taste
Fiddleheads with shallots,
bacon, meat jus and
sherry vinegar
Yield: 6 servings
• 1 lb fiddleheads
• 10 oz bacon
• 1 tbsp minced shallots
• 2 tbsp sherry vinegar
Wash and trim fiddleheads,
discarding any that are opened
or black.
Bring a large pot of salted
Credit for UPA dues for farms with
gross farm revenues of less t h a n $ 1 0 , 0 0 0
To be eligible for the program applicants:
A credit for UPA dues is in
effect at the UPA and applies
to some farm businesses. The
object of this credit is to aid
multiple-owner low-income
farms. It reduces their fees for
2012 by an amount equivalent
to a single UPA dues fee.
Find out more!
d
This credit coul
be for you!
Must be agricultural producer registered
as double-dues paying farm for the
current year (2011), ($564);
Must be in compliance with the
regulation concerning dues, having paid
all UPA dues, including the current year;
Must show that gross farm revenues for
the year 2010 were less than $10,000;
Must complete the appropriate forms
and send them to the UPA before
October 31, 2011 (Note : The credit will
be applied to the 2012 UPA dues).
If you meet all the criteria, you may be able to obtain a credit of $282, which is equivalent to a
single UPA dues fee. Please obtain the necessary form from your regional federation or from the
UPA website (http://www.upa.qc.ca) or by calling 450-679-0540, extension 8213.
be considered as an individual producer.
149873
water to a boil. Blanch twice for
2-3 minutes at a time, refreshing after in an ice bath, and
using fresh water the second
time.
Meanwhile, slowly cook
bacon in a frying pan. When
just about cooked, pour off
excess grease (keeping a little),
add shallots, cook until translucent. Deglaze with sherry vinegar, then meat jus or stock.
Reduce down until a sauce-like
consistency.
Add fiddleheads and warm
through. Toss in butter, fresh
herbs and season to taste.
Fiddleheads in
Asian-style vinaigrette
with wild ginger mustard,
chili and sesame
To dress it up garnish with
garlic chives, pickled red pepper, pea shoots, or even fried
tofu, chicken or shrimp.
Yield: 8 servings
• 1 lb fiddleheads, cleaned and double blanched
Vinaigrette:
• 1 French shallot, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp ml wild ginger mustard (or 1
tsp minced ginger and 15 ml Dijon)
• 2 tbsp ml Tamari
• 3 tbsp ml cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
• ½ cup olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Chili paste, to taste
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
(available at Asian food stores)
Clean fiddleheads, removing
dark tips. Blanch twice in lots
of boiling salted water for 2
minutes each time. Refresh
each time. Reserve.
Make vinaigrette by whisking together remaining ingredients.
Toss fiddleheads with vinaigrette and sesame seeds and
serve.
Fiddleheads with duck
confit, reggiano and
balsamic glaze
Yield: 8 servings
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 lb Fiddleheads, cleaned and double blanched
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp minced shallot or onion
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter or duck fat
• 8 confit duck legs (prepared/bought)
• 80 g shaved parmesan Reggiano or
Quebec cheese of choice
• Chopped fresh herbs (parsley and/or
chives and basil)
• Mixed greens/ 4 ripe tomatoes / ¼ c
basil leaves
Make balsamic reduction by
combining balsamic vinegar and
sugar in a small saucepan over
medium heat and reduce gently
until slightly syrupy, cool.
Clean fiddleheads, removing
dark tips. Blanch twice in lots of
boiling salted water for 2 minutes each time. Refresh each
time. Reserve.
Heat duck confit in oven.
Meanwhile, sauté garlic and
shallot gently in butter or duck
fat until soft and translucent (a
few minutes), add blanched fiddleheads and warm through.
Season with salt and pepper and
parsley, chives, and/or basil.
Serve duck hot with warm fiddleheads, top with balsamic
glaze and shaved Parmesan.
Accompany with mixed greens,
sliced tomatoes and finely
minced basil.
To learn more about Les
Jardins
Sauvages,
visit
http://foodday.ca/food-day2010/events/les-jardins-sauvagessaint-roch-de-lachigan-quebec/
Health Canada on Fiddlehead
Food Safety
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahcasc/media/advisoriesavis/_2008/2008_89-eng.php
Teenager
makes her show
jumping dreams
come true
AP PHOTO : KERSTIN JOENSSON
Angie Beaudet
Sign up today for QFA’s Group Health
Benefits Insurance Plan.
The amazing-but-true story of Luna the cow
has made headlines all over the news and the
internet, turning her into a worldwide celebrity
in just a few days. Luna’s story started when 15year-old Regina Mayer of Laufen, Germany
asked her parents for a show jumping horse.
Unable to afford a horse, Mayer turned her
attention to Luna. Two years later and with a
lot of training and determination, you guessed
it — Mayer rides Luna just like a horse, takes
long trail rides with her and jumps horse obstacles. It is said that Luna even prefers the company of horses to cows. This anecdote definitely proves that anything is possible and that animals can do much more that the predetermined
vocations they are destined for. Who knows,
perhaps Luna even has some ambitions of her
own, like becoming the next cow that jumps
over the moon?
Symbols for Safety
Includes medications, eye glasses and dental care as
well as life insurance.
There are dozens of
hazard and safety
symbols that you
may encounter in
Details are available on the QFA website at:
www.QuebecFarmers.org or by mail. Contact the QFA’s
Plan Administrator at 1.800.453.9543.
working around
your farm. Below
Never step on or into area where parts are
in motion.
are some pictograms
that can appear on
heavy machinery or
in your work area.
Enjoy the peace of mind that comes from
having health insurance for your family
and employees.
Each one is industryrecognized
internationally, and
remembering what
Keep safe distance away from hazard.
they mean may help
you prevent an accident or injury.
To learn more,
visit the Association
of Equipment
Manufacturer’s
website at
Never stand in unloading area.
www.aem.org and
click on PICTORIALS
The QFA wishes to acknowledge the kindness
of those people who have donated to
the Grapes Agricultural Education Fund.
A big thank you goes out to:
Joyce Young
Hugh Connolly
Garnet Stephens
Douglas Brown
David Nichols
The Fund was created in September honour of the late Warren Grapes
who served many years as QFA president and was an inspiration to all.
Bursaries are given to those outstanding applicants pursuing studies
in recognized agriculture or silviculture programs.
The Warren Grapes Agricultural Education Fund is a registered charitable
organization. Income tax receipts are issued for all donations.
To donate, please send your cheque to:
“ Warren Grapes Fund”
QFA
555 Boul. Roland Therrien, Office 255
Longueuil, QC J4H 4E7
QFA Board Member Bill Fairbairn with Warren Grapes recipient Colin Murphy.
150302
DEVOTION TO DAIRY
Getting the message out
Saving supply-management means advertising its benefits to the consumer
Paul Meldrum
General Manager
Macdonald Campus Farm
for dairy farmers when milk
prices drop, and there is government funding to buy up surplus
milk powder and butter which is
then sold at a loss on the world
market. All funded by U.S. taxpayers.
So Canadian dairy farmers
have some pretty good arguments in support of maintaining
our system. The trouble is, most
of the time we are preaching to
the converted. You can have the
best system in the world, but if
you haven’t convinced key people of that fact, there may not be
enough support when it comes
down to crunch time at world
trade talks.
The average
Canadian doesn’t know much
about supply management and
really doesn’t care. The system is
complicated enough for those in
the industry, never mind the general public. Even if you can get
through the salient points of supply-management, as soon as you
bring up the cost of quota, the
first question from the consumer
is, “If you can afford to pay
upwards of $25,000 per cow for
the right to produce milk, then I
must be paying too much for my
dairy products.”
Then the inevitable comparison
of price between Canada and the
U.S. is made. American grocery
stores are well aware of the fact
that poultry and dairy products
in Canada have pricing mechanisms that cover the cost of production for producers, so they
purposely use chicken, turkey,
milk and cheese as loss leaders
to attract customers. So the consumer takes one look at the difference and automatically thinks
that they are getting ripped off
in Canada.
We also point to the fact that
our quality standards are higher
than those in the U.S., but what
average consumer knows what a
somatic cell count is? To them,
200,000 or 400,000 all sounds
high.
Bacteria count, plate
loop—whatever lingo you use, it
means diddley squat to the general buying public. Canadians
who consume American dairy
products are not dying in
droves, nor are Americans. So
the quality argument carries little or no weight. The basic
determinant for purchasing
decisions is price. And with 90
per cent of Canadians living
within 200 km of the CanadaU.S. border, this will always be a
challenge for those industries
working under supply-management.
If we want public support for
supply-management, then we
have to approach the public at
their level, and that means a
public relations campaign. Part
of our milk cheque deductions
are for promotion. While there
has been grumbling in the past
over the use of farmers’ dollars
to promote sales for processors,
we should not grumble if our
money is used to inform the
public about how our “quota
system” is good for farmers and
consumers. In this age of persuasion, good marketing is
absolutely crucial. If we want
political and bureaucratic support for supply-management,
then we have to pour producer
dollars into effective lobbying
campaigns. The fight to keep
our system is not going to be
won by pleading common sense.
We have to use all of the tools at
our disposal and be prepared to
pay.
Paul Meldrum is the manager of
McGill University’s Macdonald
Campus Farm. In the past, he has
run successful dairy operations in
both Ontario and New York State,
hosted and produced CJOH TV’s
“Valley Farmer,” and has been
heard on agriculture reports for
CBC Radio Noon in Ottawa
PHOTO: BEATRIZ SALAS/TCN
In last month’s column, I talked
about the pressure on the dairy
quota system both from other
countries and from within the
industry itself. In any discussion
about the future of supply management, the question inevitably
arises—will the quota system survive the world trade discussions?
There is no solid answer to that
question. The best answer any-
one can give is, “It depends”. It
depends on how much support
there is politically and to some
extent, from the public. Some
very well educated people in our
industry say that it would make
no sense to get rid of our system
because it is organized and fair to
farmers and consumers. But
common sense does not always
enter into politically charged
decisions.
In support of maintaining our
system, many Canadian producers point to how supply management not only provides dairy
farmers with a stable price, but
how that price comes from the
marketplace. Without supplymanagement, prices tend to fluctuate wildly—witness the hog
and beef industries here and the
dairy industry in the United
States. These farmers usually
need financial programs financed
by tax dollars to get them through
extended periods of low prices,
whereas the stable price given to
Canadian dairy and poultry producers means they are not going
to the government, cap in hand.
Supply-management
also
obliges producers to take care of
their own surpluses at their
expense. South of the border,
there are government programs
The QFA would like to thank those who’ve taken the time to renew
their memberships—or who’ve recently joined the QFA family.
Your membership helps the support of your community.
Charles Alexander
Geoffrey Bokovay
Bob Bretzlaff
Grant Burnett
Winston Casselman
Perry Cheslock
Bobby Clarke
Stuart Collins
Dwight Cullen
Donald Frier
James & Maureen Gallagher
Donald Graveline
To become a member of the QFA, clip out our membership
form on page 2, or call 450-679-0540 ext. 8536
David Greig
Philippe Hardy
Rethink your farm business
Beef production: Walking a thin line of profitability
Robert Savage,
Agronome, MBA, CEO
Solutions affaires
experts-conseils
Feeder Steer Production
Measure twice, cut once. This
great rule of carpentry obviously makes a lot of sense.
Applying this rule to a business
is to say that the best way to
save money is to not make any
costly mistakes. It seems, however, that very few of us take
the necessary time and effort in
applying that rule. This is especially true in a production such
as feeder steers where profits
are not calculated in dollars,
but in cents, and as often as not,
in fractions of cents.
I have said it before and I
sure won’t stop repeating
myself: EVERY little detail
counts. More than any others,
beef producers are walking on
very thin lines of profit margins. Producers involved in
custom work often settle for a
price per pound of weight gain
based on the client’s well-bargained offer, rather than on a
down to earth calculated production cost. I have seen it
before while analyzing the
leakage of an efficient but nevertheless unprofitable hog and
beef farm. The producer would
lose 10 cents for every pound of
weight gain, while the owner of
the cattle was making a comfortable $1,000 a day! “Who’s
fault is that?” is the question
that needs to be pondered.
A scale to weigh the animals
is not only a good investment,
it is mandatory. That would
seem obvious in a production
where revenues are measured
by the pound, but then again,
scales are sometimes “missing
in action”. As it is with a person who starts a new diet, each
animal, as well as the feed that
is supplied to it, should be
weighed EVERY DAY in order
to know and understand what
is going on. Control, collect
data and calculate EVERY
DAY. That way you will know
what your feed costs per day
per pound of weigh gain really
are.
Another good way to help
oneself is to invest in vaccinated and preconditioned animals,
as well as in specialized software. Many good management
tools are available, some of
which are even free! Of course,
some successful and profitable
beef farms have found yet
another way to lower their feed
costs by feeding humid produce and waste from food processing plants. Some of these
farms are actually owned by
the food processing plants!
Cow-calf production:
cute, cuddly and costly
When dealing with efficiency
and profitability, an agronomist always has to keep in
mind that he has to deal with
one wild card: animal lovers!
Nothing is truer than for those
in cow-calf production. Let’s
admit it, these animals are very
likeable. What was initiated as
a government measure to occupy the Quebec vast territory
and available pasture land in
the hope of creating prosperous
farm businesses, by generously
subsidizing the cow-calf production through the Farm
Income Stabilization Insurance
program (FISI), became a real
love affair between the farm
owners and the animals that
provide their source of revenues, if any. However, something has to terribly wrong
when you could get a FISI compensation of $500 for a beef cow
that would not produce even
one calf, while you might have
got $400 for the calf itself.
Warning! The next lines may
contain a coarse truth, therefore
readers’ discretion is advised.
Here we go. In my twenty-five
years as an agronomist, I
scarcely became aware of any
profitable cow-calf farms. In
the majority of those cases, it
would have been better to sell
the cows and put the money in
the bank. Just take a look at the
backyards of our neighbours,
whether it is United States or
Ontario, and you won’t see
many cow-calf herds peacefully
grazing in lush green pastures.
These great subjects for artists
are good for Western Canada
from which a large number of
owners of cattle feedlots in
Quebec obtain cheaper calves
of similar or higher quality.
However, the one good thing
about this disguised agricultural social measure is that the
value of farmlands has steadily
increased, to the financial
advantage of the farm owners.
But in the end, one has to keep
in mind that all the hard work
involved might not be fairly
compensated.
Having worked for over 16 years
for various financial organizations, Robert Savage, founder of
Solutions affaires experts-conseils,
has established an innovated
approach to farm consulting services. With the help of a multidisciplinary team of experts, Solutions
affaires experts-conseils can get
your farm on its way to greater
profitability by working with your
existing resources and by having
access to a network of professionals
involved in agri-business.
THERE ARE THREE MEN ON A TRAIN ENTERING SCOTLAND. THE FIRST MAN IS AN
ECOLOGIST. THE SECOND MAN IS A LOGICIAN. THE THIRD MAN IS A
MATHEMATICIAN. THEY ALL SEE A BROWN COW ON THE SIDE
OF THE TRACKS PARALLEL TO THE TRAIN. THE ECOLOGIST SAYS, “LOOK! THE
COWS IN SCOTLAND ARE BROWN.” THE LOGICIAN SAYS, “NO NO. THERE IS AT
LEAST ONE COW IN SCOTLAND THAT IS BROWN.”
THE MATHEMATICIAN SAYS, “YOU’RE BOTH WRONG. THERE IS AT LEAST ONE
COW IN SCOTLAND OF WHICH ONE SIDE APPEARS TO BE BROWN.”
Additional production days for May, June and July
The purpose of adding these days is to ensure that there is
enough milk in the summer and fall, since certain provinces
are producing less than expected.
150126
The P5 provinces approved the quota committee’s recommendation of adding an additional production day for May and two
additional days for each of the months of June and July. Just
like the additional days already scheduled for August, September, October and November, these days are not cumulative.
Dairy farmers are concerned
about the difficulty of purchasing additional production quota.
Gathered at their annual general
meeting last week in Quebec
City, delegates mandated their
federation to look into the problem and to propose solutions. In
2010, less then 4,000 kg of milk
fat/day were negotiated, which
is well below the 14,000 kg
reached in 2002.
“Since it has become so difficult to purchase additional
quota, we must develop
Canada’s milk market and make
sure that we get every bit of it,”
declared Marcel Groleau, president of the Fédération des producteurs de lait du Québec (FPLQ).
Groleau explained that his
organization
has
received
numerous suggestions from
local syndicates on how to stimulate quota sales. A reduction in
the number of dairy farmers
abandoning
production—99
farms in 2010 compared to an
average of 250 over the past several years—could partially
explain the present situation.
“We have come to ask you to
give us a mandate and the local
syndicates will be consulted,”
promised Groleau. “All solutions must be analyzed and it
would be risky to apply them in
a piece-meal fashion.”
The FPLQ president revealed
PHOTO: PIERRE-YVON BÉGIN/TCN
Milk quota scarcity is slowing growth
Fédération des producteurs de lait du Québec President Marcel Groleau indicated that a better differentiation between prices, based on
end use will become the principal element in a strategy to increase both farm incomes and market share.
that “a significant differentiation
between prices, depending on
markets and milk classes” will
constitute the principal element
of the strategy, while at the same
time demanding an average
price to cover the cost of production. Product promotion also
represents an important element, he added, citing the example of ice-cream made from
Canadian cream and butter. He
also noted that our dairy farmers
were able to recuperate a good
portion of this production,
which used to be made largely
“SINCE IT HAS BECOME SO DIFFICULT TO PURCHASE
ADDITIONAL QUOTA, WE MUST DEVELOP CANADA’S
MILK MARKET AND MAKE SURE THAT WE GET EVERY
BIT OF IT.”
—FPLQ PRESIDENT MARCEL GROLEAU
with imported ingredients, by
offering a discount to processors
who use the “blue cow – 100%
Canadian” logo—the “logo of
dissension”, as it has become
known.
On this point, Groleau
believes that the underlying
problem is due to the fact there
are still many imported ingredients being used in the fabrication
of dairy products. The logo, he
says, interferes with manufacturers’ marketing. It is important
that the blue logo responds to
the desire of consumers to eat
quality products, by providing
them with an additional element
of security.
Presently, over 4,000 products
display the logo. The blue cow,
he insists, does not interfere with
brand marketing, and Groleau
asks that processors see it as an
added value that confirms the
food safety and environmental
standards that dairy producers
must observe.
“We are not asking you all to
become the same. We simply
wish that you assure your consumers that the milk used in
your products is the best that
you can find,” Groleau declared
to milk processors, bringing a
round of applause from the delegates.
Coming to the end of his term
as president of Dairy Farmers of
Canada, Jacques Laforge continued along the same lines, saying
that there are ways to find common ground with the milk
processors regarding the message to consumers. According to
him, the logo constitutes a valuable marketing tool in order to
gain consumer loyalty to
Canadian dairy products. “With
the import tariff issue fast
approaching, it is crucial that we
have the loyalty of Canadian
consumers,” he warned.
Pierre-Yvon Bégin
New advisory services for beef operations
MAPAQ intends to create a team
of 15 frontline advisory specialists
in beef production.
gram. Moreover, the advisory
services for beef production aim
at increasing the efficiency of
these businesses and will deal
with the technical, genetic and
economic aspects, in particular. A
call for candidates to act as advisors will be published in the near
future and the new team should
be operational in the regions progressively.
“Getting everything into place
will vary from one region to
another, depending on the availability of expert advisors,”
explained Bernard Racine, assis-
tant director for MAPAQ’s
Direction de l’appui au développement des enterprises et de l’amenagement du territoire. The ministry
already has a list of about fifteen
specialists.
“Currently, we are very optimistic; we will search out everyone who is interested,” asserted
Racine, who invites all interested
advisors to contact MAPAQ.
Members of this new team will be
supervised by the Réseau
Agriconseils advisory network.
More specifically, they will be
self-employed workers attached
to the 14 regional Réseau
Agriconseils networks and will be
remunerated through the advisory support programs available to
farm businesses. This coordinated effort will thus compensate for
the absence of a Centre of
Expertise in the beef sector.
“We would really like to form a
team and create links between
them,” explained Racine. In addition to Agriconseils, MAPAQ can
also count on the support of its
regional staff, the Fédération des
producteurs de bovins du Québec
and the team from the Programme
d’analyse des troupeaux de boucherie
du Québec (PATBQ).
Beef production advisory services are also offered by the private
sector. The Coop fédérée, for its
part, has a team of 20 advisors,
including two full-time beef specialists, according to Nadia
Goyer,
the
Coop’s
Communications Officer. For this
organization, the demand has
remained fairly constant over the
past 12 years. However, the
recruitment of specialists has
proved to be difficult.
Julie Mercier
The Ministère de l’Agriculture,
des Pêcheries et de l’Alimention du
Québec (MAPAQ) plans to create
a team of 15 frontline expert advisors in beef production.
This announcement is a direct
result of the Stratégie de soutien à
l’adaptation des enterprises agricoles
launched last October. Equipped
with a budget of $10 million over
five years, the objective of the
strategy is to support farms that
are experiencing financial difficulties as a result of the changes
made to the farm income stabilization insurance (ASRA) pro-
EDITORIAL
Agriculture first… multifunctionality later
Christian Lacasse
UPA President
Some time ago, the Ministère de
l’Agriculture. des Pêcheries et de
l’Alimentation
du
Québec
(MAPAQ) announced the creation of a pilot program to support the multifunctionality of
agriculture. In particular, according to MAPAQ, this program
would support projects that are
advantageous both to farmers
and to their communities: For
example, landscape cropping,
abandoned field renovation
using agroforestry models, pas-
ture improvement, restoration of
buildings of interest, etc. A
budget of $10 million over four
years is allocated to this program, which falls under the
Stratégie de soutien à l’adaptation
des enterprises agricoles that was
launched last October.
Well before multifunctionality
in the minds of farmers, the priority is and should remain, agricultural production, covering the
cost of production plus a decent
income for the work that they do.
The risks of the marketplace
being what they are, agriculture
requires income security measures that allow farmers to get
through difficult periods—not
only to ensure the long-term sustainability of their businesses,
but also to maintain an essential
economic activity that is crucial
to society as a whole, namely the
ability to feed ourselves. It is for
this reason that all of the world’s
major nations support their agriculture—a choice that is even
more appropriate in the fact that
it brings with it the creation of
jobs and collective wealth. This is
the case in Quebec as well, as
proved by a study done by
EcoRessources Consultants.
That being said, we have
known for quite some time that
agriculture also fulfills “additional” economic, social and
environmental functions that
society increasingly expects it to
contribute for the collective wellbeing. This is true, for example,
when farmers are “assigned”
with expectations such as
improving biodiversity, preserving the landscape or making
their land available for various
other uses in the community. To
be sure, there is a place for measures that would compensate
farmers for the extra costs or lost
profits associated with the
assignment of these non-agricultural objectives.
Nevertheless, although the
idea of multifunctionality has its
good side, we must also look
beyond that and question the
very limited criteria that are suggested in MAPAQ’s new program, particularly since it is
emphasized that it forms part of
a “strategy to support the adaptation of agricultural business-
es”. In fact, the MAPAQ
announcement referred to “a
clientele located in 55 regional
county municipalities (MRCs)
which have been specifically targeted because of certain biophysical and geographic characteristics”—and where gross annual
farm income is less than
$150,000, the message also specifies.
The question becomes whether
these criteria have been chosen
only for the “pilot project” or are
they the underlying characteristics of a vision of multifunctionality as seen by MAPAQ? In
other words, will these criteria
later be used to limit multifunctionality to certain types of farm
businesses and regions, or even
to certain types of “clients?” In
reality, is agriculture not multifunctional everywhere, no matter what the region, the type of
farm operation, the principal
production or income? Will multifunctionality only be applicable
to those farms that have been
identified as being in a “phase of
adaptation,” to use MAPAQ’s
terminology? If that is the case,
we are going down the wrong
road.
If the government hopes to
establish, through agriculture, a
stimulus for activities that will
have long-lasting benefits for
society in general, we would
suggest that it should rather
implement regional development plans for agriculture—
plans that would, first and foremost, provide a variety of concrete measures and accompanying budgets to develop agriculture and the private forestry sector, based on each region’s
strengths and particularities. It
was not that long ago that
MAPAQ proposed the idea that
this type of initiative (specifically, its pilot projects for the development of the agricultural zone
(DZA) constitute “one of the top
priorities for the Ministry in
order to support the MRCs in the
preparation of their agricultural
development plans.” The UPA
believes that this priority should
be maintained and undoubtedly
could lead to much more.
LTCN 2011-04-28
Year of grace for Financière
field crop producers
La Financière agricole has
made some concessions and
will now allow a year of grace
to field crop producers before
applying the new minimum
insurable field area. In a press
release, La Financière said it
was taking into account the
fact that many grain corn,
small grain and oilseed producers have already planned
and purchased seed and other
inputs for the upcoming cropping season.
It should be recalled that in
its efforts to tighten up the criteria regarding the farm
income stabilization insurance
(ASRA) program for field
crops, La Financière announced
an increase from 10 to 15
hectares for the minimum
insurable area. The organiza-
cialized farm in this production sector. For all other products insurable by the ASRA
program, the minimum insurable threshold is set at 10 per
cent, it argued.
A BUSINESS CAN STILL GET INSURANCE COVERAGE,
EVEN IF IT DECLARES A SEEDED FIELD AREA
OF BETWEEN 10 AND 15 HECTARES IN SMALL
GRAINS, GRAIN CORN OR OILSEED CROPS.
tion declared that this minimum corresponds to five per
cent of the average-size spe-
For the upcoming insurance
year, La Financière says that it
will be “tolerant” regarding the
minimum insurable area. Thus,
a business can still get insurance coverage, even if it
declares a seeded field area of
between 10 and 15 hectares in
small grains, grain corn or
oilseed crops.
However, this tolerance is of
little consolation for field crop
producers. In a recent article
that appeared in the newspaper La Terre de chez nous, the
president of the Fédération des
producteurs de cultures commerciales du Québec, Christian
Overbeek,
spoke
of
an
“unprecedented” gap between
the cost of production and the
stabilized income level.
According to him, a producer would have to have a farm
income of 20 per cent below the
cost of production before the
program would kick in. The
federation maintains that the
new cost-of-production model,
coupled with the 25 per cent
efficiency squeeze, will have a
cumulative impact of $300 per
hectare less compensation for
grain corn.
Pierre-Yvon Bégin
LTCN 2011-05-05
EDITORIAL
The agreement must be respected!
Christian Lacasse
UPA President
The end of April marked the
end of our province-wide tour of
the regional federations’ boards
of directors, which we do every
year at this time before hitting the
final stretch towards the peak
cropping season. There is no better way to take the pulse of
Quebec’s agricultural sector and
to assess the situation.
One fact never ceased to be
repeated: there are many farm
businesses that find themselves
in a perilous financial situation.
Beef, pork, sheep and many other
productions are being hit hard, as
a result of the budget-tightening
measures and numerous other
changes in the Farm Income
Stabilization Insurance (ASRA)
program. “We cannot take any
more—we are at the end of our
ropes!” is the remark heard most
often. For these people, a feeling
of despair is very real—something they believe escapes those
who are making the decisions “at
their expense.”
And yet, how many times last
year did the UPA sound the
alarm? Nonetheless, here we are.
We can now see the full effect of
all these measures. And it
hurts—it hurts a lot! The gap
between production costs and
stabilized income has become so
wide as a result of these changes
that it is pushing agri-businesses
to the breaking point. This
becomes even more evident in
the outlying regions, where
ASRA accounts for a greater percentage of the total business
income. It does not take a long
explanation to understand…
unless you are voluntarily blind.
“Oh, the UPA is crying wolf,”
they keep saying in Quebec
City—“there will be a support
program for the adaptation of the
affected
businesses.”
Yes,
MAPAQ did launch a program
entitled Stratégie de soutien à
l’adaptation des enterprises agricoles, centred on providing advisory services and aid for business
modernization, etc. However, at
this moment it is cash flow that
farmers urgently need, especially
in view of the fact that the money
is available within the $650 million budget announced along
with the ASRA changes. With
this context in mind, I will let you
decide for yourselves the catastrophic effect that the non-payment of the 25-per cent budgettightening measure will have.
Indeed, we must continue to
expect the worst. And this will be
the case as long as La Financière
fails to respect the agreement
made last December 17 between
the government and the UPA. It
is easy enough for the
Agriculture Minister to say that
he is committed to returning any
surpluses to the producers affected by such measures. However,
La Financière, in its excess of caution, has chosen instead to imple-
ment a calculation of the premiums that will reimburse the
deficits of the various regimes
much faster than expected, thus
erasing the predicted surpluses.
The impact of this is twofold:
the premiums are too high, thus
reducing the liquid assets available to our businesses; secondly,
the resulting surpluses are used
to erase the deficits instead of
compensating for the 25-per cent
efficiency adjustment.
The agreement must be
respected! The UPA plans to
work vigorously towards this
end during the coming weeks
and to see that the $650 million
budget is really invested in agriculture, as promised. The sustainability of our businesses and
of Quebec’s agriculture is at
stake!
LTCN 2011-05-05
“Quebec has to close the loophole,”
says maple president
“I am very disappointed that
Quebec’s Agriculture Minister
has not yet closed the loophole
in the Act respecting the
Marketing
of
Agricultural
Products, which was created as a
result of the judgement handed
down by the Quebec Court of
Appeals in the Bourgoin case,”
declared the president of the
maple syrup producers’ federation, Serge Beaulieu, on April 29
in an interview with La Terre de
chez nous. “Letting this problem
drag on, even though it can be
easily remedied, risks bringing
disorder to the marketing of all
agricultural products where
marketing agreements are in
place. It sends out a very bad
signal.”
Recent facts seem to be proving him right. The Association des
transporteur de bois de Québec-Sud
Inc. [wood transporters association] has contested the penalties
of $3/cubic metre of wood
imposed upon them by the
Association des proprietaires de
boisés de la Beauce [woodlot
owners association] for failing
to make wood deliveries in
January 2010.
This penalty is part of an
arbitration ruling rendered
by the Régie des marchés agricoles et alimentaires du Québec
(RMAAQ) in January 2010. The
carriers have invoked the
Bourgoin judgement as the
basis of their petition submitted
to the RMAAQ in March 2011.
Beaulieu’s disappointment is
all the more understandable in
the fact that the former Minister
of Agriculture, Laurent Lessard,
had promised to correct this
loophole during the current parliamentary session. Also, his
successor, Pierre Corbeil, said
that he is of the same opinion
regarding the issue. However, a
rumour that the expected modi-
fications are now being delayed
until the fall is adding to
Beaulieu’s
frustration.
In
Quebec City, a media relations
officer has given assurances that
the Minister remains committed
to giving full autonomy to the
RMAAQ.
Jean-Charles Gagné
LTCN 2011-05-05
Quebec Maple Producers Federation
President Serge Beaulieu.
Turkey quota will henceforth
be sold through a centralized
sales system. The province’s 90
turkey producers adopted the
resolution by a secret ballot during a special annual meeting on
April 19 in Trois-Rivières.
Invited to choose between two
centralized quota sales proposals, they preferred, by a vote of
43 to 40, to go with a capped
demand auction rather than an
auction with a fixed ceiling
price on quota.
“This is a big step forward for
turkey producers,” declared
Jean-Paul Bouchard, the ÉVQ
president, in an interview with
the newspaper La Terre de chez
nous.
“Producers will know the
exact price that buyers are willing to pay for additional quota,
while the capped demand auction will allow buyers to have
access to larger quantities than
with the fixed ceiling price
method,” said Bouchard. “It is a
starting point that can be
improved upon over time.”
That being said, Bouchard
admitted that he was “rather
surprised” that the capped
demand auction was adopted,
considering the many warnings
brought up at the meeting. The
fixed ceiling price auction
(rejected) would have permitted
PHOTO: JULIE ROY
Centralized quota sale adopted
for turkey production
“The secret to proper poultry raising is to take good care of the animals, even though, in the end, we eat them,” explained Maurice
Fillion during his presentation. He is accompanied by the new ÉVQ president, Jean-Paul Bouchard (on the right).
an absolute control of the price
of quota, but buyers would have
had more difficulty in obtaining
sufficient volumes of quota, if
demand was higher than the
supply. The ceiling price had
been set at $525 per square
metre. The capped demand auction will provide very little protect against rising quota prices,
but it does offer the possibility
for one or more buyers to obtain
a sufficient volume. The adopt-
ed project does, however, make
provision to introduce a ceiling
price if necessary.
Terms and conditions
In-family transactions, permanent exchanges of heavy turkey
quota for light turkey quota and
vice-versa, as well as the sale of
an entire business may be done
outside the centralized system.
However, the sale of an entire
business must nevertheless be
posted and comes with the obligation to continue to produce
the entire quota thus obtained
on the site of the purchased
business for a period of at least
10 years. In addition, the assembly asked that 25 per cent of the
quota obtained through the sale
of a complete business be channelled through the central auction sale. The turkey committee
must make a decision on this
last demand. The adopted proj-
ect provides for two quota sales
each year for light turkeys and
two others for heavy turkeys. At
each sale, offers to purchase or
to sell will be limited to one
offer per quota registration
number or individual. A buyer
must bid on at least 10 square
metres and the seller must offer
at least 50 square metres for
sale. Purchases will be limited to
3600 square metres for each
quota registration number over
a period of three sales, except
for in-family transactions or the
acquisition of a complete business. Sellers may retract an offer
of sale, under certain conditions.
Any holder of 20,000 square
meters or more of quota will not
be allowed to purchase more
quota. A business with over
20,000 square metres as of
February 10, 2010 may be sold
as a complete business, without
reducing its quota to 20,000
square metres, if the purchaser
does not hold any quota.
Owners of 14,000 square metres
or more will not have the right
to lease more quota. Starting in
2013, all quota holders will be
required to sign a declaration of
ownership, under oath.
Jean-Charles Gagné
LTCN 2011-04-28
Animal welfare a new concern in poultry
The past year has been
extremely positive for members
of Éleveurs de volailles du Québec
(ÉVQ). As well as being the 40th
anniversary of the organization’s
creation, 2010 proved to be their
best year ever regarding wholesale prices. It also saw the signing
of an agreement between Quebec
and Ontario concerning guaranteed supply to poultry slaughterhouses. Furthermore, far from
resting on their laurels, the producers, gathered for their annual
general meeting on April 20, are
now ready to deal with several
more issues and they are counting on their new president, JeanPaul Bouchard, to hold the fort.
In his first speech as president,
Bouchard, who has been acting as
interim president since March 16,
proceeded to thank Martin
Dufresne, who resigned as president in order to take on new challenges. He then continued by presenting the organization’s priorities.
One of the files that will certainly receive attention will be the
holding of the first centralized
quota sale slated for the fall. Also,
the World Trade Organization
(WTO) negotiations in Geneva
will be under close scrutiny.
“The good news is that it is
going rather badly in Geneva, but
we cannot fall asleep at the
wheel,” declared Bouchard. “Just
because it’s cloudy today doesn’t
mean the sun won’t come out
tomorrow. The tariff barriers are
linked to what transpires over
there and we are calling on our
governments to remain consistent. For the moment, our biggest
worry is the increasing number of
processed products coming into
Canada that contain less than 87
per cent chicken. And these meat
products are coming mainly from
the U.S.A. and Brazil,” he added.
Watch out
for your reputation
The consumption of chicken in
Quebec has remained stable.
Statistics even show a slight
increase in 2010—a situation that
merits celebration by poultry producers who are maintaining their
market share while other meats
are experiencing a drop in sales. It
should be noted that for the past
six years, poultry producers have
spared no effort in promoting
their products, by way of advertising campaigns that highlight
the quality of production. This
year, producers have decided to
change their message slightly to
include the “pleasure” of eating
chicken.
“Ninety-nine per cent of the
population say that chicken is
good. We want to make the consumer’s mouth water. Already
this week, TV viewers will see
publicity stressing that it is not
normal not to like chicken,”
explained Bouchard.
Although the majority of
Quebecers have confidence in the
product, David Fuller, president
of Chicken Farmers of Canada,
spoke to the producers present of
the importance of maintaining
this bond of confidence and to
continue to listen to consumers.
Fuller, who also took this opportunity to announce his retirement
after 13 years of service, reiterated
the necessity to continue with the
Animal Care Program. According
to Martin Dufresne, the Quebec
delegate for Chicken Farmers of
Canada, this program has
become crucial since, in many
provinces, voices are becoming
louder regarding better treatment
of animals. “Society is demanding properly raised poultry. We
have to show leadership on this
issue.”
As proof that this trend is
becoming increasingly prevalent,
Maurice Fillion, an associate pro-
fessor at the Institut de formation en
communication Mire, spoke of
actions by various animal protection groups and by well-known
personalities such as Georges
Laraque, a former NHL hockey
player.
“There is now a greater gap
between city dwellers and the
farming community. People no
longer know where their food
comes from—and when they
hear about it, it is usually through
startling images. We are asking a
lot from you, but a crisis is on the
horizon and some initial signs
have already appeared, which we
must not ignore. Today, a reputation can be lost in only a few
hours. Therefore, it is in everyone’s interest to act and work
together as partners, so that the
crisis will do the least possible
damage.”
Poultry
producers
have
already implemented many
measures aimed at the protection
of public health, but they are now
adding another, by passing a resolution calling on the ÉVQ to
include in its regulations, infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT) and
avian
mycoplasmosis
(Mycoplasma gallisepticum) (MG)
as diseases requiring mandatory
reporting.
Julie Roy
Special collaborator
Introduction of freestall housing alters
heifer behaviour
Peter Krawczel
W.H. Miner Institute
Following weaning, the series
of housing that dairy heifers
experience is one of the greatest
challenges that they face in route
to joining the milk herd. At Miner
Institute, heifers will shift from
having resting space provided in
a hutch, to a bedded pack, to
freestalls. The last change is the
most difficult.
A Norwegian survey of stall
refusal found that an average of
six per cent of cows refused to use
a freestall, however the range
across enrolled farms was from 0
to 55 per cent. Similarly, the feeding barrier changes from individual buckets to a post-and-rail barrier to headlocks as heifer transition from the weaning phase of
their development to the breeding phase. Successful adaption to
each new barrier is a must as
there is no alternative means to
access feed. Despite the importance of the successful transition
from one housing environment to
the next, there is little research
detailing the behavioural changes
that occur during adaption.
Understanding these changes is
the first step to establishing what
changes are the most problematic
and developing management
practices that will minimize them.
A recent study published in the
Journal of Dairy Science from the
University of British Columbia
investigated
the
respective
changes to resting and feeding
behaviours when heifers were
introduced to freestalls and headlocks.
Secondarily,
these
researchers quantified the effect
that one aspect of stall design, the
neck rail, would have on usage
when introduced. Freestalls
included in the study were 2.6 ft
wide (centre-to-centre) and 5.9 ft
long, cleaned once daily, and bedded with clean sawdust weekly.
Unrestricted access to fescue
grass hay and 2.3 kg/heifer per
day of concentrate was provided
initially via a diagonally slanted
feeding barrier 9.8 in wide; the
response to freestalls was quantified, then headlocks (13.8 in
wide). The effect of the neck rail
was tested by comparing the
lying behaviour in the presence
or absence of a neck rail.
The transition to freestalls lying
time per day decreased to 11.3
hours from an average of 14.2
hours/day in the bedded pack.
Lying times increased to 13.6
hours/day in the freestall housing. On the day of freestall introduction, heifers spent 2.5 hours
lying in the alleyways, a behaviour that was not observed in the
bedded pack. Over the course of
the experiment, lying in the alley
decreased to 1.5 hours. The lost
lying time on the day of transition was spent standing, ideally
in the feed alley. Feeding time
(six hours/day) was unaffected
by the transition to freestall housing. On the other hand, the shift
in feed barrier decreased feeding
times by 30 min without affecting
lying or standing behaviour.
Feeding
time
eventually
increased to 5.9 hours in the
headlocks, which was not different from the diagonally slanted
barrier. The presence or absence
of the neck rail had little effect on
stall usage. Time spent lying in a
freestall or standing in the alley
was the same with either neck
rail scenario. Standing with two
feet in the stall was the one aspect
of stall usage altered by the neck
rail. In its presence, there was a
two-fold increase in this behaviour.
Overall, the results of these
experiments suggest that, in general, heifers readily adapt to the
various housing conditions to
which they are exposed.
However, some individual
heifers did quite poorly when
introduced in spite of the quick
return to the mean time budget
established in the original housing conditions. This indicates the
importance of closely monitoring
heifers when introducing new
housing features (freestalls,
headlocks, etc.) to ensure that all
have sufficient access to
resources.
— [email protected]
*Reference: von Keyserlingk, M.
A. G., G. E. Cunha, J. A.
Fregonesi, and D. M. Weary.
2011. Introducing heifers to
freestall housing. J. Dairy Sci.
94:1900-1907.
QFA CROSSWORD
- by Myles Mellor
ACROSS
1
6
8
9
12
13
15
17
18
19
23
24
27
28
31
34
36
Vegetable that is served in spears
Green vegetable
Government grant
Change to survive
Pair
Packing company that owns large
tracts of land in Alberta
Farm female
Province whose motto is “splendour
without diminishment,” (abbr.)
Land of the elk and maple leaf, abbr.
Great crop yield (2 words)
A while ago
Drinks
Old time farm vehicle
First strain of wheat developed near
the beginning of the 20th century in
Canada (2 words)
Poultry area
One ___ time
Red fruits
DOWN
1
2
3
This corporation owns 110,000 acres
in Saskatchewan
Substance that can be used as food
They bring the end to a drought
4
5
6
7
10
11
14
16
17
18
20
21
22
25
26
29
30
32
33
35
Gentleman, maybe
Seed protectors
Northern Alberta river
Hill builder
Black bird
Exercise class, for short
Boat gear
Grain good for cholesterol
Groceries holder
Customer Service, for short
Fall back like a tide
Possesses
Christmas drinks
Sugar _____
Cream of the crop?
Terrific (slang)
A long way
Plum part
Medical specialist
Welcome
SOLUTION ON P. 22
Quebec Farmers’ Advocate
•
450 679-0540 Ext. 8536
CLASSIFIEDS
BUY • SELL • WANTED • THANKS • TRADE... IN RURAL QUEBEC AND BEYOND!
EMPLOYMENT
Farm Manager Position available on Red Deer and Elk
Farm:
Must be able to manage and
carry out: Daily feeding programme; Keep Inventories
(computer skills required), animal health and breeding programs;
Animal
handling;
Maintenance of machinery,
equipment and buildings; Have
basic fencing skills, able to operate tractors and associated farm
equipment.
Hold a Valid
driver’s license. Have good
communication, observation
and record keeping skills.
Most of all, responsible, self
motivated with the ability to
get along with others as a
team member. Accommodation
+ Allowance. Please contact
[email protected] for further information
VACATIONS
Visit the Gaspesie from our centrally located MACDALE Bed
and Breakfast. We are situated
an hour west of world famous
Perce Rock. From a welcoming
tea or coffee upon arrival to a
delicious evening meal (with
reservations) to a home cooked
breakfast featuring farm fresh
products, MACDALE B&B specializes in spoiling you. Enjoy
your full breakfast with fresh
biscuits, cinnamon rolls and
muffins. Tel: 418-752-5270.
www.macdale.com
FARMS FOR SALE/RENT
I have a farm for sale in
Grenville-sur-la-Rouge. It has
450 acres of fertile land, large
stable, gazebo, barn, 2 silos, second home, apple orchard and so
much more. Call 514-972-4446,
e-mail [email protected] or
look at the website on-line:
Farm for Rent – Dunham Quebec
We are looking for a young farmer (or young farm family) interested in developing an organic farm enterprise in the beautiful
Eastern Townships of Quebec. The region is home to both apple
orchards and the growing Quebec wine industry. The owners will
consider receiving rent on a revenue sharing basis. The owners
will consider offering an option to purchase the farm after an initial 5 year rental period.
Close to Frelighsburg village, with a view of Pinnacle Mountain,
Mt. Sutton and the Green mountains of Vermont, and a part of the
original “Seigneurie de St. Armand”, this gentle rolling land has
been an apple orchard since 1937 and a mixed use farm in the 70
years prior to that. Both the villages of Frelighsburg and Dunham
have dynamic populations interested in supporting agriculture
and supporting the development of agro-tourism and tourism surrounding the arts. Public markets have recently opened in
Dunham, Sutton and Knowlton and a “Marché de solidarité” has
begun operation in Cowansville. The farm is a 50 minute drive to
the Champlain Bridge.
The farm includes 130 acre s with an updated (2007) three bedroom 1869 loyalist home, complete with appliances. Buildings
include Produce and workshop building/ warehouse ( with 600 sq
ft refrigerated space) , large equipment shed, two stream fed
ponds, 2.5 acre apple orchard, 40 acres of good quality fields
with recent updated drainage, planted in hay, 85 acres of mixed
hardwood forest, (33 year growth), 1 acre of 30 year red pine plantation, farming and orchard equipment.
This farm is being offered for rent at $1550 month.
Interested?: contact Peter or Ellen at 450 295-3599 or write to:
Verger Long Val, 5022 Principale, Dunham, J0E 1M0.
www.artwerk.ca/grenville/
MACHINERY FOR SALE
FOR SALE - Bush hog 6 row
crop cultivator, lilliston style,
H.D. notched disc, complete
with shields and closeup cut
away weeders phone: 450-2644154 email: [email protected]
FOR SALE - International
Farmall 100 w/scrapper blade,
Excellent condition, fast hitch,
Pictures can be sent by email
[email protected]
or
450-533-5103 for more details.
FOR SALE - TTR Dairy CHEQ
MILK GARDE. Call 819-4574242 & ask for David
FOR SALE - spracoupe 220
sprayer 1992, 3,481 hrs. 50 ft
boom, complete with rate controller $6,500 phone: 450-2644154 email: [email protected]
FOR SALE - 2003 Dodge RamCL
(Hemi) 4x4. 6ft Box with Goose
neck and trailer hitch. 55,200
Kliks. $12,000 Firm.
Call 450-247-3594)
FOR SALE - John deere 886 H.D.
high clearance, 6 row crop cultivator, complete with shields and
ridging wings.
phone: 450-264-4154 email:
[email protected]
Very good EPD’s & ultra sound
scanned. Also pure bred heifers,
12 months of age for sale. Brome
area: 450-260-5272.
QFA CROSSWORD
SOLUTION
Donkey
herd
reduction.
Jennies age 1 and up. Colors
are solid, roan and spotted. 1
yearling male spotted. Call
Sharon
819-838-5538
Choice young cross bred beef
cows for sale. Gib Drury. Tel:
819-459-2991.
ATIP FOR WRITING YOUR
CLASSIFIEDS – INCLUDE
YOUR AREA IN THE TEXT –
IT GIVES THE READER AN
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QFA Classifieds – for all your
machinery & livestock sales,
auctions and other announcements.
Visit us at
www.QuebecFarmers.org
DO YOU NEED SOMETHING
TRANSLATED?
Translate English to French or
French to English. No job is
too big or too small! QFA
members automatically get
a 10% discount with additional
rebates available to return
customers. Call us at 450679-0540, Ext. 8536 or e-mail us:
[email protected].
QFA ACCOUNTING BOOKS,
bilingual, easy to use, $25 for
QFA members. $30 for nonmembers. Call the QFA office to
order your copy. 450-679-0540,
extension 8536.
LIVESTOCK FOR SALE
SHORTHORNS FOR SALE
Good choice of pure bred bulls,
12-15 months old. Well muscled.
146093
Quirky QFA Crack-Ups
Free drinks inside!!!
A man walks into a a bar, drinks a couple of beers, and prepares to leave.
The bartender tells him he owes $8.
“But I already paid you. Don’t you remember?” says the customer.
“OK” says the bartender, “If you say you paid, then I suppose you did.”
The man goes outside and tells the first person he sees that the bartender
can’t keep track of whether his customers have paid or not. The second
man rushes in, orders a couple beers, and later pulls the same stunt.
The barkeep replies, “OK, if you say you paid, then I suppose you did.”
The customer goes outside and tells a friend how to get free drinks.
The third man hurries into the bar and begins to drink highballs.
The bartender leans over and says, “You know, a funny thing happened
tonight. Two men were drinking beer, neither paid, and both claimed they
had. The next guy who tries that stunt is going to get punched in the —
“The man interrupts, “Don’t bother me with your troubles, bartender. Just
give me my change and I’ll be on my way.”
Walkin’ tall
A cowboy rode into town and stopped at a saloon for a drink. When he finished
his drink, he found his horse had been stolen. He went back into the bar,
flipped his gun into the air and fired a shot into the ceiling.
“WHICH ONE OF YOU SIDEWINDERS STOLE MY HOSS?’’
he yelled.
No one answered.
‘’ALL RIGHT, I’M GONNA HAVE ANOTHER BEER, AND IF MY
HOSS AIN’T BACK OUTSIDE BY THE TIME I FINISH, I’M GONNA
DO WHAT I DONE IN TEXAS! AND I DON’T LIKE TO HAVE
TO DO WHAT I DONE IN TEXAS!’’
Some of the locals shifted restlessly. The cowboy had another beer,
walked outside, and his horse was back! He saddled up and started
“Say partner, before you go. . .what happened in Texas?”
The cowboy turned back and said, “I had to walk home.”
SPECIAL
FINANCING
MAY 2011
CASE IH LB 3 SERIES LARGE SQUARE BALERS set the standard for precisely
shaped bales. New models LB333 and LB433 fill bales more densely, provide improved knotter
reliability and offer:
1. Knotters that eliminate stoppages for increased daily output
2. Two optional Case IH pre-cutting systems. These systems cut the crop before it enters
the precompression chamber.
3. New pickup wheels pickup gauge wheels that don’t require tools to make
adjustments for convenience and a cleaner field.
%
0
48 months
0.9% - 60 months
1.9% - 72 months
ODEL
M
W
NE
5A
SB 45
DEL
O
M
NEW 541C
SB
SBX SQUARE BALERS DCX MOWERCONDITIONER
NEW TRAINING SYSTEM
FHX 300 FORAGE
HARVESTER
RB ROUND BALER
SOLID AND EFFICIENT
ULTRA-FAST
BRING IN HAY AND CORN
4 models for 14’’ x 18’’ and 16’’ x 18’’ bales, up
to 52’’ long.
Made for those looking for quality and speed 4
models : 9’2”, 10’4’’, 13’’, 15’7’’.
With a three-row corn head, conditioning rollers
and two choices of windrow pickups.
HAYLAGE
Resistant exterior surface and nutritional center.
5 models for bales from 4’ x 4’ to 5’ x 6’.
04 SERIES
YOUR CASE IH DEALER - FOR THOSE WHO DEMAND MORE!
GRANBY
LES ÉQUIPEMENTS
ADRIEN PHANEUF INC.
HUNTINGDON
LES ÉQUIPEMENTS
LAZURE ET
RIENDEAU INC.
LACHUTE
LES ÉQUIPEMENTS
R. MARSAN
(LACHUTE) INC.
NAPIERVILLE
CLAUDE JOYAL INC .
STANBRIDGE STATION
CLAUDE JOYAL INC.
Financing provided by
© 2011 CNH America LLC. All rights reserved. Case IH is a registered trademark of CNH America LLC. CNH Capital is a trademark of CNH America LLC. www.caseih.com
UPTON
LES ÉQUIPEMENTS
ADRIEN PHANEUF INC.
WOTTON
GARAGE
E. COMTOIS INC.
149920
COATICOOK
J.M. CHAGNON INC.
0% FOR 60 MONTHS
SALES EVENT
Purchase an eligible T4000, T5000 or TD5000 Series tractor from New Holland and
a matching New Holland mower-conditioner or baler and you’ll qualify for special
package financing – 0% for 60 months. But, don’t delay. The Ready to Roll Sales
Event ends June 30, 2011. Stop by today to see our eligible hay equipment, including:
•
•
•
•
Discbine® Disc Mower-conditioners
Haybine® Mower-conditioners
Round Ballers
Small Square Balers
Dynamic and experienced: visit your local New Holland dealer today!
DALHOUSIE STATION
Fernand Campeau & fils Inc.
MIRABEL
J. René Lafond Inc.
SAINTE-MARTINE
Coop Uniforce
IBERVILLE
Équipement Inotrac Inc.
NAPIERVILLE
Coop Uniforce
WOTTON
Équipement Proulx & Raîche Inc.
COOKSHIRE EATON
Machinerie C. & H. Inc.
FARM RAISEDTM
Financing is on approved credit only.
149808

May, 2011 - Quebec Farmers` Association

Transcription

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