Saturday 28 July 2012

Final Day

I met with Greg L, manager of West Coast Beet Seed, at 7am Friday morning. The company work with farmers, to produce Beet seed, by giving the farmers the seed to grow, then the farmer delivers all the seed produced to the company. He was also a past president of the Willamette Valley Speciality Seed Growers Association, so has a very strong interest in the introduction of Canola into the Valley. He pointed out that it is not actually a GM issue, rather a Canola issue. Because all of the Canola grown will be GM, it becomes a GM issue. But seed growers are purely worried about the contamination of their brassica seed crops, with Canola pollen, which will lower the purity of the seed. Special seed crops have a huge gross margin, so it would be a huge income loss to these farmers if they were to lose their niche markets.

It's a really complicated system of farming here, with farmers working together to make sure all their crops are kept at the right distances apart to ensure purity. I cant quite comprehend how it all works but they seem to talk about it and work it out. The seed association is of the view that the canola growers will not work together with the seed growers to ensure adequate buffer zones. Unfortunately,  I was not able to meet with anyone from the Canola growers point of view. But it does seem like it would be a real shame for these growers to lose these precious markets. I might add that many people I met believe it has become a political issue and the desire for the US governement to produce ethanol and biofuels is driving the push for Canola.

It was good to get back out into the paddock and meet with farmer Skip. He is an extremely busy man, growing over 60 different crops!!!! Special Seed Crops such as onions, cabbages, and sugar beet, consumable crops such as beans, hazelnuts, flower crops such as blue lupins and much more!

The photo below shows the bee hives they have set up all over the farm to ensure good pollintion. The problem they were having at the moment was all the bees wanted to go to the onions, and they wouldnt grow to the other crops! Hmmm, would you chose onions if you were a bee?







Onions going up into seed. They grow 2 rows of males and 3 rows of females, then they have to remove all the male crops before harvest. Sure makes the old wheat and sheep sound easy!

Just looks like a real mess to me, but this is a sugar beet crop grown for seed.

hazelnut trees, really cool!


Skip and his neigbours had gone in together and built this variable rate spreader, he hoped it would save their farm a lot of money on fertiliser. He is working on zoning his small paddocks


Skip, also is very against the growing of Canola in the valley. He almost kicked me out the door when I said we grew it :) He said his buyers had said they would not buy his product if there was Canola grown nearby.

After leaving Skip, I very stupidly thought I would try and take to coastal route up the west coast. It was a really beautiful drive through the forest up there, however very windy and took a long time. The coast was a little overcast, and reminds me why I love the west coast of Australia so much! The coastal highway was SO packed with people and traffic was slow slow. So I had about 4okms of beachline, then headed back inland to the motorway. Unfortunately this meant I hit Portland at peak hour, which was not a lot of fun. I had planned to stay in a little historic beach town further north, but had to settle for a roadside motel, as it just got too late!
Anyway - back accross the border this morning and here I am at the Vancouver Airport.
Trip Stats; 10,466kms (3800 with Shea)
13 hotels, 4 stayovers
17 different beds
13 different states in Canada and America; BC, Alberta, Sasketchawan, Nth Dakota, Sth Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Nebreaska, Colorado, Utah, Oregan, Washington.
Lots and lots of really nice, helpful, clever people!
An amazing, awesome trip!

Thursday 26 July 2012

One of those days


It has been one of those days actually, when one has not acheived a great lot. I was not organised with appointments when I came to the Willamette Valley, as I was really not sure of how long it would take me to get here. Sometimes that works in your favour, as really good things pop up. Today, not much popped up! Everyone is extremely busy harvesting, so even though I had two great ladies in the industry trying to organise some meetings for me, nothing much came to fruition. I was able to do a bit of research on the net, and tested my confidence levels ringing all sorts of people!

 In the end, I was able to visit a very good and interesting organic Dairy farmer this afternoon. It was a very well run operation and it was very interesting to hear his perspective on the direction farming is taking!

I spent some time driving around the valley, most of the paddocks seem to be in grassland seed production, such as one below. Most are swathed like this and just about to be harvested. Most are perennial grasses that are grown for 3-5 years. So they are able to harvest the seed, bale the straw every year with no seeding costs, just fertiliser and pesticide costs.
 Harvest is starting, and apprently when everything is in full swing there is heaps of dust in the air from the fne grasses (such as annual and perrenial ryegrass) they are harvesting. Not good for hayfever.
 After growing grasses, this is the problem they deal with trying to put wheat in the rotation!
 (hmm maybe not good photography - but there is a heap of ryegrass sticking out the top!)

The day ended well, as I alo caught up with Risa from grassland oregan (also on memmber ASTA), and we had DELicous pizza for tea. Almost the best i've ever had, then to top it off I had my first every creme brulee. YUMMO!!! So very full tonight, healthy day tommorow :)

Tommorow I am meeting with the president of the west coast sugar beet association. Sugar beets have been controversial with the introduction of RR beets, however most of the beets growing in the area are now GM. I will then catch up with a farmer Skip, before heading North - homeward bound.

Amazing Drive

I spent the night in Twin Falls, a small town in Idaho. I hit the road by 5am and as I gained an hour when I crossed the Pacific time zone, by 8 am I had already done 400km's!
I am really glad I chose to drive accross, I was a little worried about so many miles to do, but it was a lot easier than I thought, and got to see some really impressive and changing landscapes.
I chose to go North through Pendleton, as there was a weed scientist there I had hoped to catch up with, however I was not able to see him. It was a good choice of scenic routes though, and as I came out of the mountains, there was a fantastic view of rolling wheat fields



When one travels alone you tend to take far far too many photos as you really want to share it with others, so I clicked away the whole trip, with nothing to impressive to show for it!

Note to hockey girls - In my jogging gear above!! Stopped for a run in a state forest, TRYing to keep fit for our last few games ahead!


As you come down through Pendleton to Portland, there is a great drive along a dammed valley, it is the border between Oregan and Washington. The countryside changes from bare, open rolling fields to dense forest and steep mountains. I made it thought the busy city Portland (Obama was there and added to the traffic problems I think), and am staying for three nights in Salem in the Willamette Valley.

The Valley here is an extremely productive area, with 35-40 inches of rain, and a wet not to cold winter and drier warm summer. perfect for growing pretty much anything. It is the heart of GM controversies as there is such a divers range of growers in a small area. Many speciality seed crops are grown here, and they are worried the introduction of GM canola will contaminate there crops and lose their precious niche markets. A decision is currently being made as to wether Canola will be allowed to be grown! Co-existance is the hot topic of discussion, and they are working hard to get to a situtation where everyone is happy. With the diverse range of crops and proximity to neighbours in this valley, if they can do it there, then we should be able to do it anywhere! But it is a major challenge.

I have been able to meet with Carol MSmith from the Oregan State University. She is a weed scientist, but has a strong interest and involvement in the GM debate. I have also been able to visit with a board members from both the Oregan Seed Trade Association and  the American Seed Trade Association. Today I hope to meet with some more people from both sides of the Canola - Speciality Seed Crops debate, and Friday the president of the Sugar Beet Assocation.

And then Saturday is Vancouver and home - it's been a great trip but I sure cant wait to get home!
.

Monday 23 July 2012

Road Trip


I woke a little early, so headed back to my hike from yesterday to just get a couple of pics :) Above is start of the walk.


Not as good as the real thing, but it was pretty awesome first thing in the morning with no one else around.

Hoping for a bear or 3 but none to be found.

Finished with brecky on the grand lake, good way to start the day!


Landscape changed pretty quickly to dry rangeland. Still beautiful in its own way though!

1000k's acheived, a lot of this view, then hit some agriculture again in Idaho. Today went Colorado, Utah, Idaho. Skipped Salt lake city, was bit scared to drive in there!

Sunday 22 July 2012

Colorado Rockies

Sunday morning I headed off from Hays west towards Colorado. With Johnny Denver cranking I hit the rocky mountains, singing my heart out. I soon turned the music off and had to really focus as a thunderstorm hit the top of the mountains and there was heavy rain and hail on very skinny and windy roads. I went for a short exhilerating walk up the top, but got a bit wet and was certain the  lightening was going to hit me any second!!

I made it to Grand Lake and went for a beautiful long walk in through the bush and up past some waterfalls. I forgot my camera though!! so may have to head back there for a jog in the morning for a couple of pics! I am now booked in at spirit lake lodge, and not long out of bed, ready for my 1000k's planned tommorow.
sunflower crop on the drive!

before the storm hit

Hail on the side of road (btw I was in 42oC yeserday)

Getting a bit blown away up the top

A little track I ventured up in the rain with thunder cracking, also in my pluggers which was a very silly idea. Somewhat fun though!

K-State, Hays and Surrounds


We started Friday morning, with a look around the Kansas University Research Farm grounds. They research all sorts of agriculture there, while Phil and his team primarily work on weed control. I was able to meet with head of the station Bob, and we had a great chat about the direction of Ag research and also the funding and future of government ag research. We had a look through Phil's sheds and met his team (which included 1 aussie and I thought - do I really sound like that!). Phil is above with a machine he uses to seed weed seeds!

For a different aspect of agriculture, Phil had arranged for me to chat to a local accountant who deals with many farms in the area. It was interesting to see the differences between our 2 countries, and also get a gauge on how farmers are going over here.

In the afternoon we headed north of Hays to meet a cattle and wheat farmer, who has been very involved at many levels in biotechnology development. Jerry was involved in the National Association of Wheat growers, and had a lot to do with devloping an agreement between US, Canada and Australia, on the principles of biotech commercialisation and the way forward for biotech. He supports the farmers choice to use ALL biotechnologies, and believes wheat breeding has been left behind. Something he hopes and believes will change soon.

Phil knows all the good weedy paddocks, below is a photo of some of the worst weeds in the area. Mares tail, Kocha and Plamer Ameranth (mind the spelling :)).


Friday night we headed down to the Ellis county fair!!! Now I have really experienced America! We watched a combine demolition derby, where 5 old combines go into a dirt ring and run into each other until only one is left able to move! It really was a hilarious to watch, but I really dont know how they can handle putting all that effort into doing up a machine only to smash it to pieces!!  Very entertaining regardless!!


Saturday morning, Phil, Linda and I all headed south for some farm visits. It is one of the driest areas in Kansas, and it was not realy nice to look around the parched countryside. We stopped at some of Phils herbicide trials on the way, here he is in not a very good corn crop.




Ehmke Seeds, run by the Ehmke family, certainly were an interesting visit. They specialising in growing triticale, rye, oats and other small grains for seed for farmers in the area! It is a lot of work, but the niche market they have tapped into has made a fantastic business. Upon arrival, we visited their weighbridge/truck sign in/offices/guest house all incorporated in the grain silo shown below. It was pretty cool architecture. They had it decked out inside too, with all the furniture made from very old fence posts/railway line/hunting kills etc!!


Linda demonstrates below some of the things that were hanging around in the silo!!


We chatted to the family about th business, and also move to communicate with Walmart to move further up the supply chain. Walmart, are trying to look like they are making a real effort to be sustainable and also work with the growers at a ground level. Interesting....

We had a quick look around the farm, other than herbicides they are realying on this plough to control many of their weeds.



The countryside is dry and bare.... athough the wheat stubbles that are harvested do look prety thick, and I think most farmers had a reasonable wheat yield. The same can not be said for the corn to be harvested soon of course.


After stopping at your typical small town American country diner for lunch, and eating way too much as they always serve too much:) we headed further west to meet with organic farmer Jerome. Jerome does not support GM crops at all, and although has not been involved at a political level, would prefer no GM crops to be grown in the world at all. He has not had a contamination with GM crops on his property, but it is a concern for him. The 25 foot buffer required is not really enough to stick to a 0% tolerence level. He does not believe organic standards will change to tolerate GM, but it will continue to be a work in progress with rigorous testing to keep GM out of organic foodstuffs.

His battle with weeds is difficult and becoming worse. However he believes his opertion will be sustainable into the future, with cultivation and crop rotation.

We also discussed a few issues with pesticide drift, something that has been a large problem with organics in Kansas. Some cases have gone to court, as organic producers have lost their status for 3 years after the chemical contamination. I am not sure of the outcome of these cases. Will have to check it out!

On the way home we looked at a glyphosate resistant Kocha trial of Phils. It is a dynamite weed for sure, but the trial showed that using water rates up to 200l/ha with sprayseed were getting results. Phil and his crew are trying to get farmers to keep their water rates at least above 100l/ha for all chemical applications!!

We stopped in at these monument rocks on the way home! The whole of Kansas was once a lake, and here is a little of what remains.


To finish my time in Hays we had a good old American bbq, and some california red wine. Phil and Linda were just the best hosts, and I was very lucky to get the opportunity to stay with them!





Hays, Kansas


Day 2 of Monsanto tour revised a lot of the previous days learnings - and had a good look at the drought tolerant corn that is soon to be realeased. Drought tolerant is really the wrong choice of titles and sends false messages as to what the corn can achieve. In the right conditions, a 10% yield gain may be seen, but wether farmers will notice the difference in the paddock and think it's enough to substanitiate the cost will be interesting! Dallas and I in the photo above in an IRRIGATED corn crop.


Playing with my camera in the corn crop, as it was way too hot to stay out in the sun for the ENTIRE talk :)

From the Field tour, I headed towards Hays, futher West in Kansas. I stopped of at a large fresh water lake for a dip, which was very splendid! I then had an hour to spare before I headed to my hosts place for the night, so found a gym to visit in Hays. Unfortunately, afterwards as I was sorting through my clothes in my boot I managed to lock my keys in the boot!! oops a daisy. Very luckily my phone was in my pocket and not in the car, so Phil, my host came to the rescue and we found someome to come and unlock it for $65. Money I DID NOT mind spending as I was having all sorts of stresses about how I was going to get out of the situation!!

Phil and Linda welcomed me into their lovely home in Hays. Phil is a weed scientist at Kansas University and works at the research centre in Hays. He has worked on weeds, and the particularly nasty herbicide resistant ones in Kansas, for many years!!

Wednesday 18 July 2012

Monsanto Field Tour - Kansas


I have had a fantastic day joining in a Monsanto field day, in Kansas State, a few hours out of Kansas city. Dallas Peterson, and extension officer from Kansas Univerisity had arranged for me to join the tour. There was a lot of discussion about herbicide resistant weeds, and the new GM canola coming out with both glyphosate resistance and Dicamba resistance. They talk about new weed management tools and packages, but all it really is, is more herbicides and continuous roundup year after year. They do not have profitable crops available that are not roundup tolerent so the reliance on glyphosate continues. There is really little to no IWM.
We also discussed their new drought 'tolerent' corn that is soon to be released, and we are to learn more about this tommorow.
Below is photo of glyphosate resistant corn in a glyphosate tolerent soybean crop. It is relatively easily killed with anothr herbicide, but this paddock has been left quite late before the farmer has controlled.


The corn around here looks like this or dryer. It is really really hot and dry!! This corn would usually still be totally green until August.


Farmers are starting to cut the crops for silage as they know they will not yield. The strips left below are for crop insurance inspectors!! So, a lot of sympathy for these guys, but still not as bad as an aussie drought!!
 A RR soybean crop infested with the glyphosate tolerent weed waterhemp. They are encouraging farmers to us pre-emergent herbicides to try and control these resistant weeds. The Dicamba tolerent crops, show good promise for controlling these weeds.
Extension officers discussing the drought tolerent corn.


Tonight we had dinner at the Monsanto research farm, and several local farmers came in for an open discussion on general ag issues. It was a really great, interesting night.
Now, Monsanto have put me up in a lovely room in the comfort inn, a step up from the econolodge last night!! Tommorow we will look at more trials at the research farm, then I am heading further west to meet up with another weed extension officer in Hayes. It has been a great learning day, I only hope my brain can retain!! It was way too hot to take notes!!

Monday 16 July 2012

Wahperton, Millers farm

I spent the morning at Kayla Millers farm KTM, in Wahperton, North Dakota. It was a really impressive and well run operation! It was their first day of harvest, so they were busy busy but still had time to give me a look around, then I jumped on the combine for a ride. Below is their new worksop..... a dream!!!!


One of there 3 air seeder bars, with the boxes on top of each tyne to ensure accurate seed placement.
 Kayla in one of their sugar beet crops. They grown GM roundup ready beets. There is a lot of controversy around the growing of these GM crops, and it is currently being fought out on court wether they will be able to keep growing them. Beet seed producers are worried that the GM beets will contaminate their crop. The beet crops the Kayla grows, will generally not run into head and set seed, however if they do, then every plant (that has seeded) has to be removed by hand and documented. Kayla is removing one of the plants in photo below.

There are no beet seed producers in Wahperton, so even if the beets do run to seed, it will not contaminate any seed producers. In other areas of course, it is different story.

Conventional soybean crop. The Millers have a niche market for non GM soybeans. A market that they put a lot of effort into preserving. They have not had a problem with GM soy contaminating there non GM.

Container trade for conventional non GM soybeans.

About to start harvest. Giving the workers the run down on the combine operation.
S680 with tracks. Pretty comfy. They have 6!!

 I found this corn crop and managed a timed photo from the bonnet of the car. Not before I fell over trying to scramble to ditch trying to get to the other side :)
Wind turbines galore in South Dakota and heading South through Nebraska

Made it to the Sioux Centre in Iowa tonight, heading to Richmond Kansas tommorow for a Monsanto tour on Wednesday. Just feasted on way to much Mexican dinner and now belly is well stretched. Food is company :) Shea is STILL not home, more delays and stuff ups. Hopefully tommorow. So far a 4 day trip home :(