n THE CARILLON STEINBACH, MAN. C8
n www.thecarillon.com THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2024 Agriculture Now
LORI PENNER THE CARILLON Jeremy Hughes, product manager at Horsch, says while farmers can’t control the weather, they can take advantage of new technology which allows more efficiency.
LORI PENNER THE CARILLON One of many machines demonstrated at Down2Earth, a learning event hosted by genAg.
Farming: A bigger learning curve than it used to be
about the pinnacle planting date. After a certain date, you start losing yield because of the calendar. We far surpassed that in many regions of the major corn and soybean areas of the U.S.” He added, “With our climate changing, our seeding windows are getting shorter, and when we have the time to get out there to get the job done, we need to get the most done.” While high tech equipment can’t control the weather, it can provide producers with better systems to spray at higher wind speeds, with nozzles that are more directed at the target. “We work with planting and seed- ing technology, running at higher speeds, with less time filling, more time running, and more acres per day, so that when that window opens, we can capitalize and grab more productivity rather than sacri- ficing it with something that’s slow- er.” Vencatasamy says with new tech- nology comes better efficiency. “These days, farmers have to be constantly more efficient and able to do as much as possible, while keep- ing the costs as low as possible. With interest rates climbing, and all other things getting more expensive, the more we can do for the same cost or less cost, the better for everyone.” She adds, “Our goal is to get the equipment to be as efficient and meet the needs that they have. It’s always a changing environment, but
vesting equipment. “Our customers invest a lot of money and time into these products and this lifestyle. It’s important to give them the support and the edu- cation they need to use them prop- erly.” Last summer, they hosted their by-annual Down2Earth event, which always includes equipment demon- strations, educational sessions where producers spend one-on-one time with the actual manufacturers and can ask all their burning ques- tions and gain valuable insights. There was also a panel of speakers, who covered topics like stress man- agement and finance on the farm, which are no less relevant since technology came along. Jeremy Hughes, product man- ager at Horsch, based out of North Dakota, also shared his insights. He discussed changes in the industry, in relation to residue management, soil structure, and extreme weather conditions. “It’s about getting customers to sit down and analyze what’s going on, and potentially changing some of their dynamics and techniques to achieve more yield, more revenue, and look at it from a long-term strat- egy rather than year to year.” Hughes reflected on the influx of precipitation last spring. “It’s been an extreme weather year. We had a very wet spring. Back home in the U.S., our corn belt region was close to a month behind getting planted this year. We always talk
technicians at each of their three lo- cations in Winkler, Portage la Prairie, and Steinbach - the business takes pride in offering training and assis- tance for producers. “Equipment is becoming more complex. These are not your grand- father’s tractors,” says Vencatasamy. “These are way beyond even my scope. They all have computers on them now, so you have to know how to work the computer to work the machine. This is very advanced technology. So, we offer training for producers all winter long at various clinics for various operators. The ed- ucation piece is very important.” Greg Braun agrees. After years of experience in equipment sales with genAg, he’s seen firsthand how the new technology has added efficien- cy and led to healthier profits - but it comes with some learning. “This goes beyond just being a dealership. It involves a lot of train- ing, and a lot of classroom time in the field,” he says, explaining how their team learns and operates the equipment alongside the farmers, during planting and seeding season. “We sit in his tractor, and that is one way we can learn about the equip- ment, and the best way to use it.” The business offers a variety of products: CLAAS tractors, foragers and hay tools, SPUDNIK/GRIMME potato & vegetable equipment, Drago corn & sunflower headers, HORSCH tillage, seeding, planting and spraying equipment, as well as COLOtMBO dry/edible bean har-
by LORI PENNER A hundred years ago, farmers were still using horses to get their work done. It’s hard to imagine that, when you see today’s fields, packed with high-tech ma- chinery and computers doing the navigating instead of the farmer’s seasoned eye. Over the past century, agricul- ture has hit some major milestones, from commercial fertilizers and hybrid corn to GMOs. But the real game-changer has been the evolu- tion of tractors and implements. Nowadays, precision is everything. Each seed is planted at just the right distance and depth, with sensors on every row keeping track and sending updates to the cab. If something’s off, the farmer knows right away. Planters use pneumatic downforce to keep the pressure just right, ad- justing on the fly based on how firm the ground is. Spraying tech has also come a long way. Modern sprayers can shut off row by row to avoid over spraying and can even target just the weeds, leaving the bare ground alone. This means farmers can use less herbi- cide while still getting the job done. With all this tech, choosing and learning your machinery can be a daunting task. This is where experi- enced ag dealers come in. Melissa Vencatasamy is the gener- al manager of a second-generation farm equipment business called genAg. With an experienced team of
I think in general, that’s just the way it has to be. Can you use technolo- gy? Can you do something to make this machine do a little bit more with what they have? Farming has always been a learning curve, but now it’s become a lot more complex, and producers as well as dealers need to be willing to learn.” LORI PENNER THE CARILLON genAg general manager Melissa Vencatasamy says technology has added to the learning curve, which ag dealers and producers need to embrace.
September 14, 1962
Marchand tobacco may become next new cash crop for Manitoba
and parts of Tache and Reynolds. Steinbach area agricultural rep- resentative Fern Paquin assisted with the Marchand plots of tobacco grown for the Extension Service and the University of Manitoba. The crop grown on the Davidson Farm at Marchand was a cigarette type of tobacco, with seeds provided by the Dominion Experimental Sta- tion at Ottawa. While the plants looked good, the quality of the tobacco is only deter- mined after the leaves are cured. The Manitoba experiment was initially more concerned with the quality of the plants grown here, rather than determining the quantity that could be produced. A 1954 sample sent to an eastern factory graded Number 2, which would have fetched 30 cents a pound. Prodan had an experimental plot at Prawda that produced 1,100 pounds of cured tobacco per acre. “Unfortunately, the east grows all the tobacco it needs and there is absolutely no market for Manitoba grown tobacco.” Prodan was formerly an agricul- tural representative at Vita and be- lieves there are at least 60,000 acres of land in the Southeast that could grow tobacco successfully.
lecting yield data to find the most productive variety for this area.” The Marchand experiment grows 33 varieties side by side, includ- ing the best available on the North American market. In addition to the variety of seeds, each variety has had a variety of fertilizer trials done on it. This means there are hundreds of carefully marked stakes in the large plot and details of the plants in each section are recorded very carefully. The crop is picked by hand and the number of leaves each plant has borne is recorded before the leaves go into the kilns, where they are cured to a soft, golden yellow before they are off to the tobacco factory. In addition to tobacco, the exper- imental plot at Marchand is also growing mint and coriander seeds, along with several other crops. Experiments with tobacco grow- ing in Southeastern Manitoba in the early 1950s showed that a great grade of cigarette tobacco could be grown successfully here. But at that time, there was no market for the product and the land best suited for tobacco would stay in jack pine and blueberries. In charge of the experiment at Marchand, seven years ago was agri- cultural representative C.S. Prodan, who served the RM of Springfield
by WES KEATING A fter several years of experi- mental production, tobacco grown at Marchand is begin- ning to show promise of becoming another new cash crop for Manitoba. Mars Lipsit, manager of the Marchand project, told The Caril- lon News that judging by the yield of some of the 33 varieties being grown, a target of 1,500 pounds per acre could be met, not that far into the future. The 1,500 pounds is the production yardstick used to deter- mine when the tobacco crop would become profitable, he said. The tobacco growing experiment was panned by Winnipeg daily newspapers last year, claiming try- ing to grow tobacco in Manitoba was a waste of time, as the crop could never be grown profitably in the province. Lipsit hopes these naysayers will take note of the results of this year’s experiment. Dr. A. C. Ferguson of the plant science department at the Uni- versity of Manitoba agrees with him. “For the past three years, we have only experimented to determine whether or not we could match the quality of eastern growers. Now we are working on monitoring and col-
CARILLON ARCHIVES C.S. Prodan, ag rep and tobacco specialist, with tobacco leaves from the 1955 crop grown on an experimental plot at Davidson Farm at Marchand.
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