Better Farming - October 2016

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8 Farm News First > Better Farming October 2016
SHORTTAKES
Rural upbringing can reduce allergies and asthma, a
growing body of health research shows.
A study published Aug. 4 in the New England Journal of
Medicine compares school-aged children among two
distinct U.S. farming populations. Researchers found
much lower levels of “allergic sensitization” among Amish
children compared with a similar Hutterite group.
Although similar in genetic background and lifestyle,
Amish and Hutterites
farm differently. Amish
farmers employ
traditional, livestock-
based practices while
Hutterites use industri-
al methods.
Several studies since
1999 show protective
health effects from rural living for asthma and allergies,
University of Saskatchewan researcher Joshua Lawson
said in an interview. Why the lifestyle produces such a
benefit continues to elude researchers exploring what
Lawson described as “the Hygiene Hypothesis.”
Early exposure to bacteria and infection appears to
increase a person’s initial immune response, which in turn
decreases the allergic immune response, Lawson said from
Saskatoon where he works in the Canadian Centre for
Health and Safety in Agriculture.
“Whether or not the hypothesis is true for all situations
or explains all of it, there are still a lot of questions about
that,” he said.
Even with the rural/farm benefit, however, the inci-
dence of asthma among rural children remains at 10 to 15
per cent, Lawson said. For those who do develop the
disease, farm environments can aggravate symptoms. BF
Healthy breathing on the farm
U.S. Midwest bankers predict tighter
credit amid a “general, gradual
decline in the farm economy,” Federal
Reserve Bank of Kansas City surveys
said for the first half of 2016.
Even so, Canadian farmers remain
isolated from the trend mainly
because of comparative currency
values, said J.P. Gervais, Farm Credit
Canada chief economist, when asked
about the downbeat U.S. news.
Agricultural credit conditions
“continued to deteriorate,” reserve
bank spokesman Nathan Kauffman
said in a mid-August report. The
Kansas City region of the U.S. central
bank serves seven, mainly agricultur-
al, states.
Farm loan repayment problems
doubled, Kauffman’s August report
said, to more than seven per cent.
Canadian farmers didn’t experi-
ence the income drop recorded for
U.S. farmers during 2015, Gervais
said. In the United States, the Califor-
nia drought and structural differences
in dairy weighed heavily on farm
income, he said.
But the main factor creating the
difference is Canada’s low-value
currency. It isolates Canadian farmers
from international distress, Gervais
said. He expected the loonie to
remain about 80 cents through
year-end compared to the U.S. dollar.
FCC is telling its clients the threshold
for concern is an 85-cent loonie. Most
economists put the loonie well below
that amount into 2017, Gervais said.
“It’s more likely we’ll see it coming
down between now and the end of
2016,” he said. BF
Low loonie buffers Canadian farmers from market woes
Farmers typically run tractors and grain carts alongside
their combines to speed harvest, as combines can only
hold 250 to 400 bushels of grain.
Boasting a 1,000-bushel grain bin, the Tribine Harvest-
er eliminates the need for a grain buggy.
The combine’s official debut was held at the 2016 Farm
Progress Show in Iowa.
Reducing soil compaction is one of the goals behind
the design of the machine, and its four tires are aligned so
it only makes two tracks in a trip across the field.
According to Tribine Industries, LLC’s press release,
the machine has “the world’s largest threshing and
cleaning system.” The operator can unload the harvester
in two minutes and can make fewer stops for fuel as the
fuel tank has a 500-gallon capacity.
The machine has also been designed with an emphasis
on the operator’s field visibility. It features 360-degree
LED lighting and a glass cab floor.
Ben Dillon, president of Tribine Industries, LLC, spent
20 years on prototypes. He tried them in his own fields in
Indiana, said Greg Terjesen, Tribine vice president, sales
and marketing.
Terjesen explained in a late summer phone call that the
machines will be “sold on a first-come, first-serve basis,”
in time for the 2017 harvest.
In terms of international distribution, Terjesen said the
western Canadian market will probably be reached first. BF
Revolutionizing the nature of harvest?
Johnny Chih-Chung Chang/iStock/Getty Images Plus
Stephanie Frey/iStock /Getty Images Plus
Courtesy Tribine Industries, LLC