Brand Management Helps Give Livestock Breeders An Edge Competitive Markets

source: Farm and Food Report

Out on the Great Plains, the word itself may be more closely associated with the mark on a cow’s hip or shoulder, but “brands” are much more than that, and gaining increasing recognition among purebred livestock operators in Saskatchewan as something that warrants special attention.

“We hope that people associate our name with integrity, honesty and hopefully, some good cattle.”

Carmen Jackson is co-owner of the Jackson Cattle Company, a family owned and operated ranch just north of Sedley that specializes in purebred Red Angus.

“We have been in operation for 18 years. People need to be able to relate to us in how we represent ourselves with our logo and everything. It has to stand for what you believe in,” explains Jackson. “We are a family unit and we believe in the strengths that stem from that. We are just like everybody else, just trying to earn a living at what we like to do.”

Louise Yates is Director of Brand Management at Regina-based Farm Credit Canada.

“In the business world, the brand encompasses everything about a company from the quality of the product itself, to the customer experience, to the way you package and sell your product,” says Yates. “A brand is a personality — an opportunity to explain to your customers how your company and products are different from anyone else’s. It symbolizes your credibility.”

And a brand can be articulated in innumerable ways. Take the Soo Line Land and Cattle Company owned by Roger and Michelle Hardy of Midale.

“We were building a Red Angus herd and we figured we needed a herd name,” says Roger. “The Soo Line railway runs right through the middle of our ranch. The trains are there all the time. We decided to use that name and to visually figure Soo Line trains prominently in our advertising campaigns: Keeping Your Program on Track or Soo Line Genetics to Keep Things on Track. So we use the analogy with railways and moving in a constant line or moving forward, as part of our program.”

Brand development need not be a monumental project to make a difference. Here is what FCC’s Louise Yates suggests:

“Take the time to explore the messages you want your operation to convey. How is your product and operation different from your competitors’? What do you want your brand to stand for? Then make sure you deliver on what you promise. There have been many cases of great products that have failed on the market because of poorly communicated brands, and many examples of not so great products that have been extremely successful on the market because of their attention to branding.”

Kerrie and Warren Girodat of Gull Lake formed the Rocking G Land and Cattle Company last year, literally to create an investment vehicle for the future.

“The Rocking G is a three-generational brand from my husband’s side of the family,” says Kerrie. “His grandfather was the originator of the Rocking G. When we decided to form the company, it was based around the thought of having our children be able to take over the farm and form a company gives the idea that maybe one - or more than one - of our children will be able to buy into shares and make agriculture their life.”

The Rocking G logo is a stylized Hereford bull integrated into a G on a rocker, which is the Girodat’s actual brand, applied on the left hip. The logo is used on business cards, stall displays, the cattle trailer, and it should go up on their pick up truck next. Every time they put it out there, they become more aware of all the meaning a brand carries with it.

For additional information, contact:

Carmen Jackson
Jackson Cattle Company
(306) 885-4418
http://www.jacksoncattle.com

Soo Line Land and Cattle Company
Roger and Michelle Hardy
(306) 458-2359

Rocking G Land & cattle Co.
Warren and Kerri Girodat
(306) 672-3986

Louise Yates
Director, Brand Management
Farm Credit Canada
(306) 780-8612
http://www.fcc-fac.ca/

Experts Hope To Curb Attitudes Towards Farm Safety By Focusing On Children

source: Farm and Food Report

Every second or third week, John Saum, an Occupational Health and Safety Officer with Saskatchewan Labour, hits the road to meet up with farm operators.

“I plan on visiting three or four farm businesses, maybe their machinery dealers, and then visit specific farm units to talk to individual farmers about safety,” says Saum. “They may be a dairy farm, a cattle feedlot, PMU operation, chicken or egg producers. We try to inform employers and employees on their rights and obligations according to the Occupational Health and Safety Act and Regulations in Saskatchewan.”

Saum finds his hosts generally receptive to his observations.

“The farm sector is quite different from what you might see in a city,” he says. “Farmers often have two or three employees whom they work alongside. If there is a safety issue on the farm, the farmer is faced with that safety issue as well. The informed farmer takes action quickly, because if it is a safety issue for his or her employee, it is also an issue for him or her.”

But there is still a perception among the public on and off the farm that it is normal for accidents to happen on the farm, according to Saskatchewan Labour’s Executive Director of Occupational Health and Safety, Allan Walker.

“Farming is one of the most dangerous occupations one can choose,” Walker says. “An agriculture operation is one of the few industrial environments — one where chemicals and heavy machinery are present daily — in which people both work and live. Children live and grow up in this environment. Around 125,000 Saskatchewan people live in this industrial setting.”

Every year, more than 300 injuries severe enough to require hospitalization occur on the farm; 20 deaths occur annually across all ages. The Farm Health and Safety Council and Occupational Health and Safety staff have been working closely with other stakeholders to break this acceptance of the normality of accidents on the farm. This starts with children, right at school, with Grow Up with Safety, an Agriculture in the Classroom project that provides health and safety resources for Grade 1-6 school children.

“We would like to see farm safety become part of farming culture. All accidents are predictable and preventable. At the same time, we are also well aware of the pressures the cost/price squeeze of farming imposes.”

Most injuries take place between May and October, during the busy time of the year. People take risks they shouldn’t. They get fired up to get the job done and they take shortcuts. John Saum sees unnecessary hazards and risk-taking on his field trips.

“Quite often you will find safety shields off of pulleys; the guard off the auger itself; you can find safety shields off of balers; power take-off shafts may not be covered with safety shields. You may find some of the farmers will go up on bins using ladders without cages and they fall. Falling is one of the most critical accidents that can happen.”

As John Saum drives across the province, he often wonders about the risks people on the farm take. But he also knows how the changes that have affected agricultural industries over the years have had other, more perverse effects.

“Safety may be a common sense issue if you have grown up on a farm. If you have not grown up on a farm, there is no such thing as common sense on the farm. You have to actually experience the farm component of it before you actually understand what is going on. It is like anything else. And more and more, in the agribusiness sector especially, it is difficult to recruit employees who have had a broad range of farm experience.”

Saum and his colleagues believe it is time now to work on the safety education component of agriculture and to curb our common sense “false friend.”

For more information on Grow Up With Safety, visit this link.


For additional information, contact:

Allan Walker
Executive Director
Occupational Health and Safety Division
Saskatchewan Labour
(306) 787-4481

Producers Should Have Their Seed Tested To Avoid “Seeding In The Dark”

source: Farm and Food Report

Experts are inviting producers to give special consideration to the quality of the seed stock they plan to use in the spring, given the cool growing conditions in 2004 that resulted in delayed seeding and slow crop development.

“Much of this year’s crop was immature when impacted by the frosts in mid-August,” explains Dale Risula, an Integrated Cropping Management Specialist at Saskatchewan Agriculture, Food and Rural Revitalization’s (SAFRR’s) Agriculture Knowledge Centre in Moose Jaw. “Consequently, seed quality could be adversely affected, and good quality seed may be in short supply for 2005. It is advisable to secure your seed supply as soon as possible and test for seed quality.”

With the weather not being as warm as usual in term of Growing Degree Days (GDD), crops were particularly vulnerable to frost in 2004, which can impact the quality of seed germination and seedling vigour.

“Research conducted at the University of Saskatchewan and elsewhere shows that frozen seed exhibits poor germination quality and poor vigour.” In Risula’s opinion, “seed that is likely to have suffered frost damage should be either tested before it is used, or producers should implement a seeding management program that will compensate for the lower performance of affected seed stock.”

Producer may wish to seed at a higher seeding rate than they normally would to compensate for poor germination and vigour. They may also wish to reduce seeding depth, as research has shown that seeding deeply can have adverse effects on emergence.

“I would encourage producers who plan to use their own seed to verify the germination quality of their stock, using a Pre-Indicator Test for Germination,” said Risula. “This will ensure the seed is suitable for further tests at an accredited seed testing lab, where a satisfactory sample can also be tested for seed borne diseases such as Fusarium and Ascochyta blight.”

When purchasing seed, make sure to ask for a Certificate of Analysis from an accredited lab. Any seed sold as Canada Certified No. 1 will have one.

Growers who know that they are working with inferior quality seed as a result of tests will be able to make the necessary adjustments that will help keep their crop development program on track.

Instructions for the Pre-Indicator Test for Germination can be found online here.

Seed Quality For The 2005 Season

For more information, contact:

Dale Risula
Integrated Cropping Management Specialist
Agriculture Knowledge Centre
Saskatchewan Agriculture, Food and Rural Revitalization
(306) 694-3714

Area Committees Ensure Local Experience Guides Transportation Planning Decisions

No one knows the volume of traffic that roads around Cudworth sustain better than Louis Kolla, Reeve of the R.M. of Hoodoo and a member of the North Central Area Transportation Planning Committee (NCATPC).

“With us being located more in the north, logging activities have a real impact on our road surfaces,” Kolla says. “Our area extends westward as well, so the Lloydminster traffic brings wear and tear on our road network there also.”

Started in 1995, Saskatchewan’s network of Area Transportation Planning Committees was established to ensure road upgrades and other transportation decisions made by Saskatchewan Highways were based on sound information.

Allan Carpentier is a Senior Transportation Planner with Saskatchewan Highways. He provides technical expertise for the Transportation Planning Committees in the southern third of the province.

“Our goal is to make sure those who use the highways and road networks have a means to provide us with some input on their priorities,” says Carpentier. “It is more of a bottom-up rather than a top-down approach. Instead of having decisions being made out of Regina, the whole idea is to consult locally on the issues and solutions to transportation challenges.”

One of the most important issues Saskatchewan road authorities are facing today is the rapidly changing grain handling network. Grain elevator consolidation and rail line abandonment are placing an increased burden on our roads in an era of government restraint and debt reduction. It is what motivated this investment in a strategic partnership.

“The Committees consult with Health Boards, School Boards, Regional Economic Development Authorities,” said Carpentier. “They deal also with ferries, airports, short line railways, and with how economic development, tourism, access to schools and hospitals are affected by the transportation network.”

Transportation plans are developed and submitted to the provincial government, which analyses them and goes back to the ATPCs to validate their findings.

“We have a solid discussion to establish where the strategic corridors are, as an example, for grain routes, economic development, and intensive livestock operations,” explains Carpentier.

“What happens is in the municipal system, there is a set amount of dollars for applications brought in under the federal Prairie Grain Roads Management Committee to assess and see if there is a real need for these roads. One of the key roles of these Area Transportation Planning Committees is that when these applications are submitted, the federal committee approaches the ATPCs and asks them if they are necessary, strategic routes. Is there any other information that can be provided to make this a good application? The ATPC provides their input and it just enhances the opportunities for these municipalities to get these roads upgraded or clay-capped.”

Louis Kolla has been a member of his Area Committee for two and a half years only, and already he sees an impact.

“This year, through the Federal Government, we got a three-mile long road clay-capped in our region through an application that had been submitted,” he says. “We know which roads are needed. Being on a committee like this enables us to share our knowledge with decision-makers. It is a win/win situation.”

For more information on Area Transportation Planning Committees, visit this link.