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I'm Shaun Haney and this is RealAg on the Weekend. Let's get real and get connected with the week that was in Canadian agriculture. RealAg on the Weekend starts now. Welcome to Real Leg on the Weekend. I'm your host, Shaun Haney of RealAgriculture.com and it's great to be with you here today. Hopefully you had yourself a great week if you were able to start seeding and get some seed in the ground. I hope that went well. For those of you that haven't started yet, hopefully next week is the week Mother Nature continues to. Well, it's, it's really Old Man Winter. He's stubborn, stubborn, stubborn, stubborn. But we listen, the calendar says we are getting a little bit closer to what we would expect, more consistent springtime weather. And we talked about the farmers and it being a busy time of the year, but also we got the, the ranchers out there. There's many of them across Western Canada and hopefully if you are in the middle of calving, if that is going well at the same time as the farmers get on the field. And it was funny. I was talking to Anne Wasco, the Gateway Lives Exchange earlier this week and we were talking about how those, like those calves, they are little golden nuggets, they are worth a lot of money and we are super concerned about animal welfare on any year. But the numbers get your attention, they definitely grab your attention in terms of making sure that I was talking to Ranjer who had twins and it was like, whoa, that's the jackpot. That, that's like that's getting bars across the, across the old three tiered slot machine, right?
Yeah.
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Yes, that's right. Today on RealAg on the weekend, we got a lot of stuff to chat about for sure. We're gonna hear a clip of the Truth About Ag podcast hosted by Saskatchewan farmers Christian Heber and Evan Shout. And they talked to Gary Marr, who is the CEO of the Canada west foundation, talking about some of the things that Canada needs to do when it comes to this USMCA review. We're also going to hear a product spotlight today with Syngenta. Looking forward to that. We are going to talk to the CEO or, sorry I should say the president of Black Earth. Now. They're a company that is in the humic business and they have a mine in Alberta. We're going to talk to him. A lot of talk about fertiliser here right now. There's no question about that. So we got lots to discuss today on RealAg on the weekend. Now if you have any feedback on Today show, you can send me an email shaneeyealagriculture.com you can also call or text the RealAg feedback line. The number is 855-776-6147. Now this week and any other week here in 2026, there's been so much talk about fertiliser. There's been so much talk about input costs. You know, diesel fuel has been brutal. I was out on Thursday with a number of different fellow baseball parents, both from Canada and the US and all. Everyone's talking about the price of fuel. They're farmers, they're just regular consumers, most of them. And everyone's talking about fuel prices. So it is definitely on the minds of general consumers. But we know in farming because we don't have the option to be like, you know what, I can cut back on machinery purchases, I can cut back maybe a little bit on some of the fertiliser I'm using. There's, there's, there's, there is choices out there when it comes to some of the cost. But, but diesel fuel, I, I kind of think it's one of those ones where you're, you're burning the leaders that you're burning the leaders. Like, yeah, okay, we're not going to do a, a pass like, I, I just don't see a lot of areas to cut back. Now. It does make us pay attention a little bit more to the fuel consumption of some of our tractors and combines. And there are big differences. And on Thursday, when I was doing the Farmer Rapid Fire on the RealAg Radio podcast, that is something I continue to hear back from the farmers across Canada is that there is big difference in terms of fuel usage. And this is something that farmers are tracking more and more. And when it comes to some of the software platforms, they're paying attention to that number because it makes a big difference and it also has not just an impact on our expenses in terms of our fuel usage and you know, paying the local co op or whoever, whoever buying our fuel from, but also when it comes to some of the trucking costs and we, whether you're trucking some of those commodities yourself to the elevator or you were paying a trucking company to do it for you that fuel surcharge that you see on that invoice, that it grabs your attention. And I know that's something that's happening a lot out there as, as well. So yeah, it's, it's, it's really tough from that regard. Now in some of the conversations with the farmers as we're talking about monitoring some of the fuel use which they are doing, I think it's happening at a lot, a lot more than it used to is software. Now in some cases, if you're using like, if you're like a much larger farm, you probably have some of this in, in some like a fleet management software package. We're not, we're not all at that stage. So there is the option in some of our accounting software to do some of, you know, some tracking there. But the point is, is that, or maybe we're just doing it in a binder like that. That's also I, A lot of people are doing that as well. The main thing is we're tracking and we're keeping, we're keeping on top of some of these numbers. But one of the things I asked this week on the from Rapid Fire was asking farmers about, hey, are you using some sort of farm management software? Because the numbers show only 21% of farmers in Canada. I think it's actually probably, probably safe to say in North America only 21% are using farm management software. And I say only because I, I might have taken the over if you were asking me to bet on it. But that's the number. And it was interesting as I was talking to the farmers, I interviewed four farmers this week for the farmer Rapid Fire. One of them was using software and the other three were using the trusty pen. They were using a binder, they had a notepad, they were keeping track of it that way. I think there was one farmer that had a notepad, but he also was using a spreadsheet. And so everybody has their version of some sort of a system. The key is that you have a system and those records are safe. One of the things that always does scare me when it comes to pen and paper and listen, I am somebody that prints a lot of stuff out and Lindsey Smith from our team is always hacking on me all the time, making fun of me how much I print stuff out. I like to have physical paper in my hands when I'm reading and trying to make sure I'm up to speed on all the things that are going on. I print out a lot of stuff and don't like reading on My computer screen, that's just me. You can call me old school, do whatever you want. That's just how I am. But the concern is when it comes to records is do we have some sort of a backup? And so when we have those pieces of paper, maybe in the truck, maybe they're not in a binder, you know, the windows open, they blow out like, or hey, you know, I misplace stuff all the time. I'm brutal for this. I actually went, you know, I take notes, I'm always, I'm always taking notes and, you know, making marks and thoughts and all this kind of stuff. And I used to do this on pads of paper and then we just get lost. And so when I moved to Remarkable, which is one of those digital tablets, it made a massive difference for me. I'm not losing stuff anymore. I don't lose my notes anymore. So I've digitised my writing and so this is one of the concerns I have with some of the paper. But everyone's going to have their own system. I'm curious what yours is. You can send me an email. Shaneeyealagriculture.com we'll kind of continue this discussion going. I posted some reels and shorts on social media about this and I would love to hear from you as well. Okay, when we come back, we're going hear from the president of Black Earth right after this.
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Well, right now it seems that in this part of the cycle, as we're starting to get some seed in the ground and a good part of western Canada, at least, we're thinking we're close to it. A lot of talk about fertiliser and obviously there's not only been the cost run up because of a number of different factors, but also just concerns about supply in general. Here to talk about this issue and where their company fits in all this is Jeffrey Kukura. He is president with Black Earth. Jeffrey, it is great to have you here on Reelect on the weekend.
Thank you, Shaun. I appreciate you having us on. Yeah.
Have you ever seen a situation like we have currently where fertiliser has taken up? Like farmers are generally concerned about fertiliser, but this is a whole nother, I think, step change in the level of concern about what's going on.
Yeah.
And first, I want to say for those growers, for those farmers, I mean, every dollar that they have, they have to be very efficient with that dollar on that front end. So you talk nitrogen costs. I mean, you've had the war for three years with Ukraine. You have the new war going on in the Mid east, which just continues to escalate, continues to drive up the cost. And just look at diesel fuel. I mean, just look at diesel fuel. You have to make a pass. So farmers are today probably more so than ever, they're faced with some very difficult challenges, but also some very difficult decisions. They've got to make those decisions so that every dollar they put into that acre, they get the most efficiency out of it.
Now, Black Earth makes your manufacturers humics. Where does a humic fit into this discussion?
Yeah, that's a great question. Because real quick, just I've got about three years into this and I'm not an agronomist. I'm not going to say that I'm agronomist. They give me enough information that sometimes make you dangerous. Right. But Black Earth. So we've actually Been we've just acquired back Earth about a year ago. So we begin to reposition ourselves here in this market and provide biostimulants. Basically what I'm trying to say is we're not, we're not trying to replace a fertiliser. We will work and we will create that nutrient seed usage efficiency. It helps drive that, it helps the soil structure, it helps the nutrients in the soil and it helps that plant, that crop pull those nutrients in more efficiently and use it to a better degree. Instead of having waste and runoff. Black Earth has several products not going to go into that. This is about more of, you know, how we can be more efficient and helpful. But you're looking for something that is either a ride along with the farmer, you're looking at something that exists in their programme so they don't have to do something special, they don't have to do any extra. It fits into their programme and it helps that crop, it helps with stresses with the crop, it helps with drought and above all, like I said before, it helps utilise the nutrients.
Yeah, like I don't think it's any different than if you look at like a car manufacturing facility or you know, just any kind of a plant. They're, they're looking for efficiencies, they're looking for best bang for their buck for their dollar. You know, extending that dollar, not looking, you know, they want to remove all the slippage and that's how farmers look also at their crop nutrient package is trying to do things that really give us the, give them the biggest bang for their buck when it comes to the impact that that product has on the ultimate outcome, which is crop health, yield and quality.
I love that analogy. I appreciate the introduction as president but my background's more of an operations than an engineer. So I'm more comfortable, I'm more comfortable. You plant, sitting out on a farm, out kicking the dirt, feeling around. So I love that. It's a great tee up for me because you're absolutely right. You know, what we are doing is we're investing in the facilities and in the mine to make them that much more efficient. We're driving that. We're here for the long term. We have some wonderful investors that are backing us for the last three years. I'll share with you, it's going to be news. But we just came out of another capital raise. They're very excited for what we're trying to do here. So back to your analogy. Absolutely. Every dollar, every input has to be accounted for. It has to be efficiently used. We can't throw it away. And I look at it this way, I mean, you look at it, just look at a global. I mean, population is going to continue to grow, our farmers are feeding us and there's not new land being made or invented. So every acre has got to be as efficient as possible. And that's the goal with Black Earth. Again, not trying to push, but with the biostimulants, they fit in, they fit into the farmers programme. They will help drive that efficiency, they will help lower those costs. Bottom line, roi, return on investment. Always want to see it, they want to see it in yield. I'm pushing for it to see it in our growth of our company and our sustainability of our company, our reliability and our quality.
Where are the Black Earth mines?
That's great, thanks for that. They are in Alberta, Canada.
Okay.
So we have, we have one mine, it's located outside of Hannah, Alberta, if you're familiar with it.
No, Hanna. Very well. Home of Nickelback.
Yeah, I didn't know that. That's great. I learned that, but absolutely right. I love Hannah. Nice small town. We, we are in Riley. We are in Howkirk as well. That's where our facilities. So. So our mine is outside of Hanna. We ship the raw product up to they dry screen, produce the dry products at Howkirk, Alberta and then go to Riley. And again, not to re emphasise it, but that's an area we're supporting those communities. We love being in that community. These people are down to earth just looking to put a good job in. And we want to grow in Alberta. We are there and we want to
grow well, but a minute left. Just would love to give you the opportunity, Jeffrey. Really. Farmers are looking for problems to be solved.
Right.
There's a lot of products out there where it's a solution, looking for a problem. What's the problem in 2026 year modern crop production that you feel Black Earth is positioned to help growers with?
We started it out with the conversation. A farmer is being asked to do more with every dollar they put on every acre. They're being asked to have better yields, higher yields, better quality on that end of it. As far as Black Earth, we control the product from the Rolf shot, so we control the mine. That's fairly unique. If you look a lot across a lot of the biosimulant companies, we have that our expertise in mining, we're able to actually ensure that the finest quality of humics are sent to Halker to produce that, that dry product. So again we're utilising our expertise to ensure that we start with the best input raw material that is Canadian mined humilite in Alberta, Canada. From there we're actually breaking down to dry and the liquids. And again we're not trying to replace the fertiliser, we're working in tangent with fertilisers that we bring in. We help the soil structure, we help the soil health, we help the crop be resilient and utilise those nutrients that are being put in more efficiently to get that same or better yields.
We're talking to Jeffrey Kukura, he is president of Black Earth. Thanks a lot Jeffrey. Really do appreciate it. You know, one of the things I continue to hear is not only like we've been talking about 26 fertiliser issues, continue to hear concern about 27, which is hard to imagine here in May, but that is kind of the reality given the current geopolitical climate and questions around how long all this lasts. We will take a break here on Real Life on the weekend. Back right after this.
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My name is Lindsey Smith and it's time for today's Product Spotlight. Joining me now, it's Matthew Coulter. He's the Formulation and Application Technology Manager at the Syngenta Honeywood Research Facility. Matthew, how are you doing?
I'm great, thanks, Lindsey, how are you?
I'm doing well. Tell me a bit about what you do with Syngenta at the Honeywood research facility.
Yeah, thanks. Yeah. I'm Matthew Coulter. I lead the formulation and application technology team at the Honeywood Research facility in Plattsville, Ontario. We're a team of scientists dedicated to making sure farmers have a great experience when applying Syngenta products. Our days might start with seed treatment formulation discussions and end with herbicide application testing. So we're sort of in the background making sure farmers don't have any surprises during application. No one wants to get into the sprayer and be delayed because of a product failure or incompatibility that leads to clogged filters and nozzles. Syngenta has made a significant investment in labs at Honeywood where we rigorously test our formulations under Canadian application conditions. So this testing gives us confidence that products can be applied effectively so that applicators won't have downtime when they're out using our products. We also really like hosting farmers at Honeywood and in the formulation and application technology labs. Give them a behind the scenes look at what it takes to develop and launch a great product.
Now, you said something there that I think is really key and that's how these products perform in Canadian conditions. And that's a key part of why this testing is needed. Tell me more about that. What makes it so different or what are the things that you're looking for in how these products perform right here in Canada?
Yeah, we deal with unique application challenges in Canada. We want to make sure our products handle and apply well under the cold conditions that are often present during herbicide applications in the west, for example. So those conditions, cold ambient temperatures, cold water, along with things like low spray volumes, can be challenging for formulations and cause issues that ultimately show up as those clogged nozzles and screens. So at Honeywood, we have methods and specialised equipment that allow us to test these formulations in these real world scenarios to confirm our products work not only under ideal conditions, but the challenging ones farmers will actually encounter in the field during application. So, for example, how do our herbicide formulations behave when they're diluted and held in very cold water in a sprayer tank? We can test that condition in the labs before we launch the products. Tank mix testing is also a major component of our programme. We test new products with tank mix partners to cheque their compatibility in mixes that will be used in the field and, you know, on the seed treatment Side, there are similar challenges in Western Canada. Product could be going on cold seed and seeing cold temperatures and high humidity during application and seeding. And we test our formulations under these tough conditions to make sure we're maintaining good coating quality, seed coverage and seeding performance.
Now, specifically then looking at, let's say wild oats or Kochia, these are, you know, kochia especially just a huge headache for farmers in Western Canada. How do you get the most then out of an application? From the, from the work that you've done. What are some of the things you figured out as far as making sure these products work best under some of these challenging conditions?
Yeah, I would say review your nozzles and application setup. So read and follow that product label. The label gives important information on things like boom height and spray droplet size requirements for each product. So use this information in combination with nozzle manufacturer catalogues and resources to select the right nozzles and optimise the configuration for your application. With wild oats and Kochia, you're often dealing with those resistant high density populations. So try higher water volumes to improve coverage. And remember, water sensitive paper is a great tool for visualising and testing the output of your setup.
I love water sensitive paper. It is very cheerful and it does, as you said, it's a simple, powerful tool to tell you more about what that spray pass is doing, what that spray pattern is doing. It's really cool. Okay, so Matthew, some really neat things happening at Honeywood. Obviously a lot of work going into making the most out of these products under Canadian conditions. For growers who want to know more about this kind of testing and what you do, where can they go for more information to get the most out of the products that they're buying?
Sure, yeah. Let's continue these discussions about application technology. If you have questions about your application, reach out to your Syngenta representative and they'll be happy to set you up with the right expert.
All right, Matthew, thank you so much for joining me here on the show. Really appreciate it.
Thank you.
Thanks for that. Product Spotlight with Syngenta Canada. Lindsay, Other news we saw this week was the Canadian Wheat Research Coalition set a new vision for wheat and barley breeding in Western Canada. In a joint statement released this week from the Canadian Wheat Research Coalition, the Canadian Barley Research Coalition, CEDS Canada, University of Manitoba, University of Saskatchewan Crop Development Centre and the Faculty of Agricultural Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Alberta, the group sets out a path forward on a shared vision for wheat and barley breeding for Western Canada. These groups and stakeholders were invited to a workshop led by the CWRC and facilitated by Synthesis to think big about the future for wheat and barley in the region. From the meeting, the above participants agree on the following shared vision for the future so here are the points they're going to deliver superior field ready varieties that these varieties provide choice to support the market and meet the needs of end use customers will be technology driven and have the capacity to integrate the most advanced breeding technologies, testing, screening methods and data science to enable efficient delivery of improved varieties Will recognise and leverage the long term investments made by farmers will enable competition and collaboration to drive innovation and farmer choice Will provide reliable long term public and private investment in the plant breeding programmes has the capacity to deliver a sustainable return on investment Will attract investment and talent into the Canadian plant breeding system from both domestic and global sources Will be connected across plant genetics improvement continuum with strong feedback loops and collaboration focused on delivering measurable results for farmers and finally will be supported by a regulatory and commercialization system that is responsive to the needs of farmers and end users. Representatives from Agriculture and Agri Food Canada also attended the workshop and are pleased to see key plant breeding stakeholders engaged. AFC looks forward to continued collaboration with these and other stakeholders. Discussions will continue and additional stakeholders will be engaged in the coming months as part of the process to create the optimal future for Western Canadian wheat and and barley plant breeding, according to the joint statement. Now I have had some people say to me that they are thrilled that all these different stakeholders could get on the same page and could agree on this. I have also seen some people talk about how pretty bland and not sure. Yes, those points are all great but at a hundred thousand feet. But there is disagreement as we get into more of the the minutia the more the grind of it. So we'll have to see what comes next out of this but probably probably could be considered progress is is probably the best way to look at this. Let's take a break. We got more real life of the weekend coming up right after this June
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I'm Lindsay Smith, host of the Agronomist and I want to thank you for tuning in for over 200 episodes zones of our beloved little programme. Join me Monday nights 8pm Eastern on YouTube for our live and interactive Agronomy Q A. Each week our guest panel will handle some of your toughest agronomic questions live streaming on YouTube, Facebook X and RealAgriculture.com tune in Monday nights or go to Real Agriculture.com Agronomist and sign up for our email notifications and don't miss an episode.
One of the podcasts that we did distribute through Real Agriculture is called the Truth About Ag and it's hosted by Christian Hebert Farmer from Saskatchewan, as well as Evan Shout, who is the CEO of Farmer Coach. And recently on the Truth About Ag podcast they had Gary Marr who has a political history. He's also president and CEO of the Canada West Foundation, a think tank out west. And they, they discussed about a number of different topics. But they did talk about Kuzma because at one point Gary Marr spent a lot of time in Washington D.C. representing Canada and its interests and Alberta specifically. So Christian asked him a question about where the USMCA Kuzma is headed. Here we go.
So I'll pull you down another path since we're on the US Canada talk right now. You spent a fair bit of time with the Ambassador to Canada and the U.S. hoekstra. What did you learn and what do you think the Canadian U S relationship is really like and where do you see Kuzma headed?
I think that we're going to take a rough road, but I think we end up signing a Kuzma deal. There's a couple of important things that I think that the ambassadors conveyed to people that are open eared and listening. One is that the President wants prosperity not just for the United States, but for his neighbours as well, including Canada and Mexico. Because in the President's paraphrased words, prosperous neighbours don't make trouble for you. So that's if that's his ambition, that's good. The second thing that I heard was that there are those guys that are bad guys that are trying to change our prosperity. And the ambassador specifically identified, you know, President Maduro and that was a foreshadowing of what ended up happening. Scooping up Mr. Maduro who's now in a jail cell in Brooklyn, New York. The third thing he said, and I think this is the most important thing, is he said, Canada has to stop saying, we need your oil, we need your gas, we need your steel, aluminium, your automobiles. He said, we don't need any of that stuff. We can drill our own oil. We can get more from Venezuela. Same thing with cars. We can make more cars. We could. We can get them made in Mexico. But he says this. There's a reason why Canadian oil has gone from 6% of our imports in the year 2000 to more than 60% of our imports today. And that's because while you're not the only source of oil in the world, you're the best source. But when you say you have to have our oil, that puts the President in a corner. He thinks of himself as a great deal maker. And no deal maker is going to start off by saying, yeah, I need what you've got. Now let's make a deal. Right. You've got to give the President some room to make it look like he's got some leverage to, you know, create the best deal ever for the United States and its energy supply. So I think that, to your point earlier, Christian, the manner in which the President thinks inside the Oval Office may be different than the manner in which he expresses himself outside. But we should be paying attention to what Ambassador Hoekstra is saying to us. I think he's trying to give us important clues as to how to approach the administration. And, and it's, it's actually, if you look at his book that was published, I don't know, 1990, the art of the Deal, it's like a playbook. And he's been running the same playbook for decades now. I, I bought a copy of it in the early 90s. I went to a used bookstore. It was, it was like $3 for a paperback copy. Somebody used a $5 bill for a, for a, for a bookmark. And I thought, wow, I'm ahead two bucks. This is really a great deal. And so, but if you read the book, you know, it's a, it's,
it
really tells you the mindset of the man that's on the opposite side of the bargaining table. And we should inform ourselves of these things.
You might have to lead the negotiation. You made two bucks on a deal with Donald Trump.
Yeah.
So then if you will keep going down that path for a sec. So if you go, obviously, we would, I think we would all agree that our current negotiation team is significantly less awful than our one we had a few years ago. What, what advice would you give to Prime Minister Carney? And, and you know, and I'm going to throw Premier Mo in this too because I think he plays a really big role. And Premier Smith, with the negotiation with the US what would be your top three pieces of advice to give them working through Kuzma?
Well, first of all, outside of Kuzma, I think that our trade relationship with the United States has changed forever. We cannot rely simply on Kuzma. It's important that we get it in place. But we need to be thinking about a longer game as well. We need to be thinking about 2028 and 2032. And we need to recognise that the guys in Washington don't run the economies. Governors run the economies. And so we've got 13 consulates throughout the United States. And they're all smart people. I know a number of our consuls general, they're smart. But what some of them don't have is business and political acumen. And so you need people to fill those roles so that you can build up the kind of support that you'll get from governors say Governor Abbott in Texas or you know, the governor of North Dakota, because those are the guys that will actually have influence on what decisions are made in Washington. We can say whatever we want, but we're Canadians. We don't vote for the President, we don't vote for the 435 members of Congress, we don't vote for the 100 US senators. But those governors have supporters that do vote for those people. And so we need to think about the long term game of making sure that we're able to get those guys on board. And you know, people like, you know, the Governor of Arkansas, you know, she in Arkansas, Walmart is headquartered there and they would identify Canada as being one of their biggest trade destinations. And so it's really important to get Governor Huckabee on board with what it is that Canada wants. So that's the medium and long term game, in the short term game. So I'll get to the second point. I'd say it's really important, as I said, to understand what the ambassador is providing clues as to how we approach Jamison Greer, the ustr. And I think that it's important that people like Premier Smith, Premier Mole, Premier Canoe also has a representative in Washington. And I think that sometimes national leadership is not always federal leadership. And this is a theme that I'll come back to again and again that the provinces can play an important role in helping our trade relationships with the United States. And the example of that that is really stunning, I think, is that Premier Mo was spending all of his time in China laying the groundwork down for the deal that the Prime Minister got in to sign with Xi Jinping. That's I'd say Premier Mo, take a bow. That was fantastic. And then he follows that up with the deal that he strikes in India for $2.6 billion worth of uranium from Saskatchewan going to India. So I would advise the Prime Minister do not discount the importance of provincial leaders in helping you seal deals.
That was Gary Marr on the Truth About Ag podcast. You can find the Truth about ag podcast on reallacoculture.com or wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for tuning in to RealAg on the weekend.
Sam.