ESSENTIAL NEWS FOR AGRI-RETAILERS
The Communicator
April Issue – See All
Panel Discussion: Understanding Farmers' Needs and Expectations
Four Canadian farmers share their insights into the relationship between farmer and retailer at the 2018 CAAR Conference.
Chairman’s Award: Bob McNaughton
The winner of CAAR’s 2017 Chairman’s Award has been a force in the Ontario fertilizer industry throughout his career, which has spanned more than 40 years. Although his business achievements are numerous and impressive, it is his commitment to giving back to the industry and his active, vocal and passionate support for CAAR that earned Bob McNaughton the Chairman’s Award.
4R Nutrient Stewardship Agri-Retailer: Co-operative Retailing System
Trish Meyers, knowledge and innovation manager at Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL), believes that 4R Nutrient Stewardship allows agri-retailers to steer the conversation about sustainability in agriculture in a way that is good for their farmer customers.
“Farmers have been using 4R practices for a long time, we just haven’t had a name for it,” says Meyers. “The 4R program gives us a way to quantify what farmers are doing and lets us be in the driver’s seat to tell our good news story.”
CAAR’s Ammonia Committee
CAAR and Fertilizer Canada are working together to address regulatory challenges on behalf of the industry.
Just days after Mitch Rezansoff joined CAAR as executive director in January, new requirements for ammonia nurse, applicator and highway tanks came into effect under CSA B620-14/B622-14. Rezansoff met these updates head-on and went to work on behalf of membership, attempting to secure an extension for compliance. Rezansoff describes the experience as a steep learning curve, but a necessary one, given the timeliness of the issue.
A Growing Problem
Herbicide resistance has been increasing across Canada for the past four decades, with resistant weeds now found on an estimated 38 million acres of cropland in Western Canada.
According to Hugh Beckie, research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), the rising percentage of cropland affected by herbicide resistant weeds is showing no signs of slowing down.
Beckie was part of a team that conducted three rounds of prairie weed surveys in 2001-2003, 2007-2009 and 2014-2017. During each period, the team surveyed one of the three Prairie provinces per season. “Across the Prairies, we quickly found that the more we looked, the more resistance we discovered,” he says.
When Saskatchewan was last evaluated in 2015, the team found that 57 per cent of surveyed cropland had weeds that were resistant to one or more herbicide modes of action.
CAAR Can Help
It’s been a fast paced couple of months since I joined the CAAR team in January. Already, the 2018 CAAR Conference has been successfully completed, while other areas of focus, such as the negotiations with Transport Canada regarding anhydrous ammonia nurse tanks, continue at the time of writing.
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The Essentials for Agri-Retailers
During National Soil Conservation Week, CAAR would like to thank our members for their dedication to helping their customers make the best decisions on their operations to protect our soils for the next generations.
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The April Communicator is now online and arriving in your mailbox! This issue includes a wrap-up of the 2018 CAAR Conference, held in February in Saskatoon. Read about the winners of the CAAR’s Choice Awards; each exemplifing the spirit of innovation, commitment to customer service and dedication to giving back to community and the industry that CAAR members strive for.
CAAR is pleased to congratulate CAAR member, Shur-Gro Farm Services Ltd. of Brandon, Man., as they celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2018. To celebrate, they are hosting a special recognition event on April 12 in Brandon.
On behalf of CAAR’s staff and board of directors, we extend our deepest sympathies to the players of the Humboldt Broncos, along with their families, friends, neighbours and communities.
CAAR has been in contact with Manitoba Sustainable Development regarding the province’s restriction prohibiting the application of nitrogen and phosphorous during the winter and is advising all members that due to current soil and weather conditions, the application ban remains in effect until midnight April 10th.
CAAR is pleased to announce that the updates to the Nurse Tank Safety Council of Canada’s (NTSCC) Nurse Tank Safety Program (NTSP) Quality Control (QC) Manual required for compliance to B620-14 have been completed.
This is a reminder that as of Jan. 12, 2018, all ammonia nurse and applicator tanks and transport delivery units (TDU) must be in compliance with new Transport Canada regulations implementing CSA B620/622-14 Standards1.