Drought relief funds for Ont. farms

Jul 29, 2021

BFO and AgriCorp will help administer funding from the Ontario government to help producers in the Rainy River and Kenora regions

By Jackie Clark
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Last week, Lisa Thompson, Ontario’s minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs, met with farmers and ag industry representatives to hear about the severity of drought conditions in northwestern regions of the province.

This week, the Ontario government is taking action, providing $2 million in funding for the effort, according to a July 27 release. The announcement was made by Thompson and Greg Rockford, minister of northern development, mines, natural resources and forestry.

“The Northwestern Livestock Emergency Assistance Initiative will help livestock farms in northwestern Ontario by addressing critical urgent needs identified by area farmers. Up to $800,000 will be provided to Beef Farmers of Ontario (BFO) to help deal with the immediate feed shortages on behalf of all impacted farmers in the region,” said the statement. “An additional $1.2 million will be made available to area farmers for emergency measures to source water for livestock and to purchase and install new fencing to allow livestock to safely graze in alternative locations.”

Funds are available to producers who incurred eligible costs due to drought, retroactive to June 14, and the program will be delivered through AgriCorp.

“We’re working closely with BFO and our service delivery agent, AgriCorp, to provide this support immediately,” Thompson said.

BFO appreciates the swift action to help farmers in Rainy River and Kenora, according to a July 27 release from the organization.

“While a number of areas in Ontario have been dealing with dry conditions impacting feed inventories, farmers in the Rainy River and Kenora Districts have been plagued by late frosts, persistent heat and lack of rain throughout this year's growing season, which have decimated their pastures and hay crops,” said the statement. “Farmers in the area are currently making difficult herd inventory decisions, which will have a long-term impact on the current infrastructure supporting the regions' livestock sector.”

BFO is prepared to administer immediate relief, said Rob Lipsett, BFO president.

The immediate assistance is key to support farmers’ operations and businesses, but also their mental health, said Ontario Federation of Agiculture president Peggy Brekveld in a July 27 statement.

“Farmers expressed serious concerns and illustrated the severity of the crisis during an industry roundtable last week hosted by OFA, BFO and Grain Farmers of Ontario. It evolved into an emergency situation caused by crops burning off, pastures drying out, and in some cases, minimal access to water resulting in immediate sell-off of livestock,” said the OFA statement. The organization “was pleased to hear Minister Rickford confirm that farmers facing similar circumstances in nearby regions may be considered for support. We will continue working together with the provincial government and industry partners to address the needs of our northern farmers.”

Diane Kuhl\iStock\Getty Images Plus photo

Video: US Soy: Pig growth is impaired by soybean meal displacement in the diet

Eric van Heugten, PhD, professor and swine extension specialist at North Carolina State University, recently spoke at the Iowa Swine Day Pre-Conference Symposium, titled Soybean Meal 360°: Expanding our horizons through discoveries and field-proven feeding strategies for improving pork production. The event was sponsored by Iowa State University and U.S. Soy.

Soybean meal offers pig producers a high-value proposition. It’s a high-quality protein source, providing essential and non-essential amino acids to the pig that are highly digestible and palatable. Studies now show that soybean meal provides higher net energy than current National Research Council (NRC) requirements. Plus, soybean meal offers health benefits such as isoflavones and antioxidants as well as benefits with respiratory diseases such as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS).

One of several ingredients that compete with the inclusion of soybean meal in pig diets is dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS).

“With DDGS, we typically see more variable responses because of the quality differences depending on which plant it comes from,” said Dr. van Heugten. “At very high levels, we often see a reduction in performance especially with feed intake which can have negative consequences on pig performance, especially in the summer months when feed intake is already low and gaining weight is at a premium to get them to market.”

Over the last few decades, the industry has also seen the increased inclusion of crystalline amino acids in pig diets.

“We started with lysine at about 3 lbs. per ton in the diet, and then we added methionine and threonine to go to 6 to 8 lbs. per ton,” he said. “Now we have tryptophan, isoleucine and valine and can go to 12 to 15 lbs. per ton. All of these, when price competitive, are formulated into the diet and are displacing soybean meal which also removes the potential health benefits that soybean meal provides.”