I Always Do What I Am Told

Daughter-in-law April was chastising me the other day for taking a break from posting.  Write a Christmas message is what I was told to do.  There were witnesses present, so I have little choice but to get back in the groove.

A Christmas tradition in our household is a gingerbread house. Terrilyn and Melissa take great pride in coming up with unique designs.  And, the best part is they are all edible.  We have gingerbread clear through to spring.

This year is a townhouse row

Last year, a country home with a porch.

A bungalow from the year before.

And just in case there is no snow this Christmas, a few reminders of what the stuff looks like..

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

From the Barker Family.

(Are you happy, April?)



 

Time For A Break

Harvest is pretty much complete in our neighbourhood.  The bins are more than full.  The manure tanks are getting empty.  The snow will soon fly.

Don Weaver, my ever so helpful Area Manager for Pioneer, expects me to spend the next month selling seed and inoculants.  I also expect me to spend the next month selling seed and inoculants.  For these reasons I am going to take a short break from blogging.   
It has been a great experience trying to share thoughts and ideas as they happen.  I hope if my readers haven't learned anything, at least they may have been slightly entertained with my thin sense of humour.

Here are some of my favourite photos from this past year.

My CCA Award last January.

The birth of our grandson, Hayden Brian.

During a political trip to the Ontario Legislature, Cathy sat in the Speaker of the House chair.  She looks very regal.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR.  



There is corn planted under this lake.

Silt loam soil is not supposed to crack open like this.

The sun shone and the crops grew.

Then a wind storm ruined a few fields.

A rainbow appeared.

We had to buy a bigger weigh wagon to hold all the corn.

One happy little bull calf.  We couldn't ask for more.

See you in a few weeks.

 

Emotional Decisions

The #1 discussion topic of the week after marvelling about how the well corn harvest has been, quickly becomes why the wheat looks terrible.  Usually, the only consolation is the neighbour's wheat looks just as bad or sometimes worse. 
The question quickly becomes, should I replant the patches like the one shown below? Or stop looking at it?

The cold hearted agronomist says leave it alone.  We have planted wheat in November that sits under 4 months of snow and still makes a decent crop, so why are we worried about wheat that is only had 4 weeks of cold and wet?  There are signs of life.  But you have to get out of your truck, get down on your hands and knees and look for it.

The emotional farmer says the signs of life are pretty faint and the bare patches are pretty big.  What have I got to lose?  Just some time, which I don't have much of.  Some diesel fuel and they make that every day.  Some seed, which is still in the drill.  Why not?  I don't want my wheat field to look like this in the spring, and by the way, I am paying a lot to rent this farm.

 

The cold hearted agronomist says I agree, you don't have much to lose.  I have some experience replanting thin stands of wheat.  The risk is small because the wheat won't get too thick and fall down.  So you are out your time, diesel fuel and seed.  But I don't think based on my experience you will get any payback to replanting and by the way, don't you have crop insurance?

The emotional farmer says I want to do my very best to grow an excellent crop.  I don't want my neighbours to think I am a lousy farmer.  I have to try.

The cold hearted agronomist says fine, go ahead, have fun while you drive the drill in circles.  As he walks away he thinks to himself, the neighbours are already starting to believe you are a lousy farmer.  If you replant those patches they will know for sure. 

Pop Quiz Answers

First, a disclaimer. 
It is very important to remember this is a one sample test.  In no way should it be interpreted as a reliable indicator to real differences between these 5 hybrids.  Pioneer will supply us with an extensive data base after harvest which will be a much better guide for identifying hybrids that are sensitive to gibberella ear mold. . 
Now for the answers.

P9760HR >.5 ppm 

35F40 - 1.4 ppm

P0216HR - 2.3 ppm

P0474HR - 3.4 ppm

P9910XR - 4.5 ppm

I must admit, there is no way I would have got this quiz correct without knowing the answers. 
It is a very difficult test and illustrates exactly why I hate gibberrella ear mold with a passion! 

Visual appearance can be deceiving.  The only way to know what you have is to test it.  That would be especially important with what appears to be clean corn. 

I tried to give a clue by putting them in order, but it was a lousy clue.  Everyone who answered the quiz, thought P9910XR was the lowest.  I am not surprised.

When I first looked at the samples out of the combine, my ranking would have been from best to worst, 35F40, P9910XR, P0474HR, P9760HR , P0216HR.  And I had a lot better look than any of you had.  I did my best to make the pictures realistic to the sample, but you can only do so much with a camera.

So in the interest of fair play, everyone who e-mailed or called will receive a hat.

Pop Quiz

I have 5 samples of Pioneer grain corn that have been analyzed for vomitoxin.

If you can correctly identify the sample with the lowest vomitoxin and the sample with the highest vomitoxin, you will win a new Pioneer hat.
For bonus marks and two hats, rank them in order from lowest to highest.

Answers will be posted on Wednesday morning this week. 

A TSN Turning Point

Pioneer will be announcing today a new development in the soybean patent arena.  The Canadian Patent Office has granted new pending patents to Pioneer based on the unique nature of their soybean breeding program.  I believe this is worth repeating, the unique nature of their soybean breeding program.

What this means is new varieties developed by Pioneer will be covered under Canadian patent law.  Keeping seed back to grow the following year will be illegal.  This includes new varieties with the RR1 gene. 

Pioneer currently has strong language on the seed tag stipulating one year use only, but this patent development strengthens their position.

This decision by the Patent Office is a first in Canada where patents will be extended on a variety to variety basis.

The corporate explanation can be found at www.pioneersoybeans.ca

The majority of Pioneer's competitors in the RR soybean seed game have adopted the RR2 gene as their answer to keeping their varieties protected from being bin run.   Information has aready been circulated that famers will be able to bin run varieties containing the RR1 gene.  This is now incorrect.

Pioneer has always taken the position that a single gene does not make a good variety by itself.  It is the sum of many genes that make a superior soybean variety.    

The Canadian Patent Office has agreed with Pioneer. 

Pioneer has a strong value offer that I have communicated to my customers.  This development will guarantee new investment and new improved genetics continue to arrive at the farm gate. 

Curtis & Ron Drop to 2nd Place

I gave some credit last week to fellow Pioneer reps Curtis & Ron for some P98555HR that yielded 246.6 bu.  Looked good at the time.

On Monday they lost the title to Gerald Kodde, a customer of mine, whose plot of P0474HR yielded 246.9 bu /acre. 

The P0216HR was OK too.  It yielded 242.3 bu/acre.

The P9760HR was a measly 233.3 bu/acre.

In fact, the plot average across 9 hybrids was 235 bu/acre.  Each strip was 2/3 of an acre, the full length of the field.  In 26 years in the corn business, this is the highest yielding location I have ever witnessed.
The question Gerald asked was "Where did this corn come from?" 

There is only one good explanation.  Keep going to church, Gerald.