b'FARMCASH FarmCash: Cash Flow to Help You Grow Syeda Khurram, chief financial officer of the Alberta Wheat CommissionWHEN IM CHATTING with a farmer, my favourite questionlooking into the program, we became frustrated by the fact that to ask is what he or she would do if they suddenly gainedthis farmer-centred program was not always administered in extra financial wiggle room in their farm business. Many sayways which best benefit farmers. Thats when we committed theyd store their crop a little longer on-farm to capture ato becoming an administrator ourselves, with the express plan better marketing edge. Others say theyd pay off real estate orof rolling out the most farmer-oriented version of the program operating debts to save the big bites interest fees take from theirpossible. bottom line. Some sayalways with a grinthat theyd buy theFast forward to today:toythat bigger, better tractor or faster, shinier combine. IveAt the risk of sounding proud (Im willing to take that risk: truly never run into a farmer who couldnt think of at least a fewI AM proud!), the Alberta Wheat Commission has achieved good ways to put extra cash to work. Too bad cash is hard toour goal in spades. Our FarmCash program offers farmers the come by or is it? federal governments Advance Payments Program on over 50 The federal government currently offers a valuable, unique- commodities including all major crops, honey and livestock with to-farming financial perk that more and more farmers areno administrative fees of any kind and at TD prime minus 0.75 utilizing. The Advance Payments Program offers low-interestper cent, the lowest interest rate offered by administrators. We are cash advances of up to $1 million, with $100,000 interest-free,the first and only administrator to offer a web-based application for up to 18 months on crops and 24 months on livestock. Thatsplatform with innovative features including electronic signature itno strings, catches or limitations.and document upload. Furthermore, we are fully transparent in The program is currently administered by over 30 differentour financials and entirely committed to reinvesting any future organizations, mostly commodity groups. Though all offersurpluses into initiatives that benefit farmers. the same program benefits, different administrators chargeOne other thing that sets us apart? Availability. Well answer surprisingly different lending rates on the interest-bearingyour phone calls and emails, whether youre looking for portion of the loan, as well as varying administration fees. Too,information, asking a question, or sending pictures from the each processes the program in more or less cumbersome ways.vacation you could finally afford, thanks to better cashflow Six years ago, when the Alberta Wheat Commission startedmanagement through FarmCash. SEED TESTING Its Time to Start Testing for These 5 DiseasesSarah Foster, President and Senior Seed Analyst, 20/20 Seed LabsSEED ANALYSIS is a fundamental service for both agronomistsattention as the new kid on the block. Its becoming a significant and seed growers, yet it seems like it creeps up on us every yearproblem in the Prairie provinces with reports of up to 30 to 50the time to start thinking about disease and what it can do toper cent yield loss in individual fields.harm your bottom line.Ascochyta: A fungus called Ascochyta rabiei causes blight There are five diseases apparent through our annualin chickpeas. Its the most economically significant disease of monitoring program and its time to start watching for them. chickpeas. The disease can spread rapidly, wiping out a field inFusarium: Fusarium graminearum is a highly aggressiveas little as a single day if conditions are right.fungus which causes fusarium head blight (FHB) and produces Clubroot: A serious soil-borne disease of canola and other a mycotoxin that damages grain. Millions of dollars are lostcruciferous crops which will result in reduced yield and can annually in Canada and other parts of the world because of F.ultimately cause wilting or premature death of the plant.graminearum. By law, seed must be tested prior to being sold. ThereSclerotinia: Occurs in all canola growing regions and is theare three tests you have to do before seed is sold: purity, most economically significant disease of canola in Westerngerminaton and smut. But over time, as landscapes and the Canada. Depending on weather conditions, yield losses can beclimate changes, seed testing has evolved to offer a slate of extremely high. A rule of thumb is yield loss is about half of theservices to help you safeguard your operation and bolster your percentage of infected plants in the field. A field with 20 per centbottom line. infected plants, therefore, will result in a 10 per cent yield loss. Seed analysts are an ally for agronomists and your seedAphanomyces: Root rot of peas on the Prairies has beengrower customers which you can use to make important a growing concern over the last several years. While root rotdecisions.can be caused by a number of organisms including fusarium, rhizoctonia and pythium, aphanomyces has garnered the most Fall 2020 57'