Century 12 Farms
14118-442 Township Road T0B2L0 Killam, AB, Canada

Canada’s 1.5% is obviously the world’s problem

An interesting interview clip with Grant Fagerheim, founder and President of Whitecap Resources.

Happy 81rst Birthday to the third generation of Chevraux Farms, Stan Chevraux! Stan is still an integral part of the farm as the main sprayer operator (in fact, he will literally race Roger to be the first one on) and as a combine pilot. And speaking of pilots, (Stan’s favourite phrase) he is still flying his Cessna 172. His granddaughter Jacqueline, took great advantage of that when she was at the U of Lethbridge. He is a fantastic grandfather and father-in-law. Have a wonderful day Stan! We love you and appreciate all that you have done!

The new Climate plan will certainly affect us. If you read my post yesterday, you saw the cost of NH3 at $1000.00 per ton and that’s when the carbon tax is at $30.00 per ton. So Nutrien or Agrium, whoever is producing it, adds that to the cost. The transportation company adds that tax on their fuel to the cost. We farmers have no one to pass that cost onto! If the tax climbs more, and the cost goes to 1200 per ton, farmers will not have much to live off of once the bills are... paid. This plan also includes a reduction of Nitrogen production by 30%. As I mentioned yesterday, wheat uses 2-3 pounds of N per bushel. What happens when we cut that by 30%? A reduction in bushels. Less plants grown means less carbon sequestration. And How does the world make up that supply? Buy from elsewhere. This happened when Trump and China were fueding and China wouldn’t buy soybeans from them and instead went to Brazil. What did Brazilian farmers do? Burnt the rainforest for more land to grow more soybeans because the price was high. So, here we see the Butterfly effect. Cut nitrogen production by 30% in Canada, and add C02 into the atmosphere by burning the rain forest. See more

#Plant2021 has begun on our farm! For those of you who have never lived on a farm, or like me and have lived on a farm for 25 years but never really asked how seeding worked, here is a simplistic explanation! Behind the tractor is the 430 bushel yellow tank called an air cart, which is currently full of Canadian Western Red Spring Wheat seed and dry fertilizer: Nitrogen, Phosphate, Potassium, and Sulphur. We use ESN which means that the nitrogen is coated so that it is slow...-released into the soil by rain and not used all up immediately by the plant. This makes it more efficient and there is less nitrous oxide released into the air. Then there are 112 hoses leading to the seed drill which puts seed in the soil. The drill is 56 feet wide with a shank every foot and each shank has 2 hoses from the seed cart: one with fertilizer and one with seed. Behind the drills, is the NH3 cart which applies the nitrogen in a liquid form. This application is monitored by a GPS prescription made after taking soil samples. NH3 costs $1000.00 per ton and we need 162 tons so it is not something that we want to overuse. Cereal and grain crops require 2 to 3 pounds of Nitrogen for every bushel of grain produced. The reason for using anhydrous ammonia instead of just broadcasting dry nitrogen is that it is more effective. Anhydrous ammonia is always injected at least 10 cm below the soil surface to prevent its loss as a vapor back to the atmosphere. Soil micro-organisms can convert available plant N to organic N that is immobilized for a slow release through mineralization. Soil microbes compete with growing crops for N fertilizer, which may result in reduced crop growth.Immobilization can remove between 20 to 40% of inorganic N from the soil. Under zero till management, higher N immobilization in surface soil may reduce available N to crops. Banding [injecting into soil, not on top] N fertilizer in the soil can reduce immobilization losses. Banding N fertilizer keeps fertilizer in a form that cannot be lost from the soil. When you band anhydrous ammonia, the concentrated ammonia temporarily hinders bacteria that normally convert ammonia to nitrate reducing denitrification losses. That is why we use without water ammonia. That’s my fun fact for today! Here is the research that I cited. Mezbahuddin,Symon et al.(9.24.2020) Assessing Effects of Agronomic Nitrogen Management on Crop Nitrogen Use and Nitrogen Losses in the Western Canadian Prairies See more

Dear Carhartt, Rumor has it you are really popular in urban circles these days. City folk love posing in their trendy coffee shops or at their country wine ta...stings while wearing your apparel. Kudos to you for tapping into a new market. Before you go the way of the almighty dollar and rack your prices up for the people who pay extra for every label, remember these faces. These faces that need warm clothes while they learn the ways of their worker parents. Remember the faces of the people who happily owned your label before it was trendy. Remember the people who buy your items with the full intention of using them by getting them dirty and cold and torn and worn. These people are loyal. They won’t chase the next trend. Shoot, they don’t even know what the last trend was and they don’t care what the current one is. Stick with us. We have proven we will stick with you. Sincerely, Country Folk #carhartt #bogsfootwear #workwearforworkers #trendscosttoomuch

Canada may be lagging behind in the number of vaccinations administered, but we are winning in the debt-to-GDP ratio!

Thanks to BAYERCROPScience for the wonderful bottles of wine! Can’t wait to sample.

My Cider of the month gift card is the gift that keeps on giving the whole year Clark! This cider is double chai at 6.8% alcohol. It is fantastic! Thanks True North Cider Co. in Camrose!

I am shocked that they have given into his ridiculous demands!

Tree is up and stockings hung by the chimney with care!

Learning all about Rahr’s malting plans for next year. Making our barley plans. Huge learning curve for me!

Excellent advice as always from QDM!

https://www.youtube.com/watch. For my non farming friends. If you have 20 minutes this is a very good video about modern agriculture

I absolutely love meeting with ex-students and especially when I become the student! These two awesome people were here today to talk pre-buy chemical and seed. Thanks Lexi Antos and Carter Ortman! (Tammy Lang)