“I’m hoping that you would have had your planter in the shop over winter … and you would have done your inspections on gauge wheel arms, gauge wheels, things like that,” said Eric Bossuyt, account manager with AgWest in Russell, Man.

Ideally, storing a planter in a shop makes inspections easier and keeps it out of the weather, but that’s not always possible.

Bossuyt added that operators should also inspect meter units to make sure seals are intact. Adding some graphite lube to the seed disc while they’re in there also helps to keep them spinning smoothly.

Hose connections should be given a close look to make sure they are secure and that no splits have occurred while in storage, especially if the planter was stored outside.

Bossuyt said ultraviolet light weakens plastic hoses over time when exposed to the sun and can lead to holes, resulting in vacuum loss within the system.

Preparing for downtime

No matter how well prepared you may be when planting season begins, malfunctions or breakdowns can happen in the blink of an eye.

Bossuyt said that a common trouble spot for growers at planting season is poor singulation.

This is often caused by a hole in a hose causing vacuum loss or worn internal parts on the meters themselves, whether your doubles eliminator is worn or the seed disc is having some issues if it’s too tight.”

“Maybe you’re getting surging with the V-drive. Stuff like that can cause missed singulation.”

It may end up being as simple as a misplaced wire or poor contact point, but it’s better to protect your seeding time in the field and check components later.

“That’s going to cause you downtime to try and diagnose what’s going on in the field,” added Bossuyt.

To prepare for these situations, he recommended having at least one spare row for the row unit to swap out individual parts if they malfunction.

“Every module, you should have one spare. That way, you’re not running to the dealership for one little finicky module,” said Bossuyt.

It’s easier to do a quick swap to keep running and the producer can always check on it later if the part is dead or if a contact point wasn’t connecting properly.

Bossuyt also said operators should check their on and off times every season to avoid misses in the field.

These can be caused by technology changes, such as a guidance system, which can lead to poor communication between equipment.

“The hertz might change and you might have frequency issues” said Bossuyt.

Getting started, setups

Before hitting the field, a test run closer to home is always a good idea in case a repair or a part swap-out is needed.

“Pull out the planter and simulate planting,” said Bossuyt.

“Run a few seeds out in the yard, fill it up, do whatever. You just want to make sure all your sensors are working, all your meters are running.”

Bossuyt said this is also a good time to check singulation and GPS timing and to ensure the on and offs are operating as intended.

Any fine tuning can be done in the field once you’ve confirmed everything is in good working order.

Ensuring good seed-to-soil contact should also be done once you’re in the field.

Bossuyt said the biggest thing equipment operators can do in this instance is to get out of the tractor cab.

“Not everybody wants to hear that, but we’ve got to get out,” said Bossuyt,

“We’ve got to be checking if the sun’s beating down and soil is drying up. We might need to adjust our depth or adjust our closing pressure, things like that.”

“China Sends Dozens of Warplanes and Ships Near Taiwan to Show its Anger Over Island’s New Leaders,” is how the Associated Press headlined a story last week.

You’d think Taiwan, facing regular threats from China and clear signs that the communist giant intends to take it over one way or the other, would be gearing up for an onslaught from China’s vast military. You’d assume it would assess the situation and prepare for an asymmetric defence, in which its small size and weakness can be compensated for with counterbalancing measures that might level the battlefield.

It has, in fact, been doing this for a few years now, but only after enormous pressure from allies such as the United States, which has long argued against the “conventional” military tactics Taiwan has traditionally favoured. Now, instead of concentrating on piling up easy-to-kill fighter planes and guided missile cruisers, the island is bristling with mobile anti-ship missiles and other small, cheap and effective weapons that would make any Chinese invasion bloody, costly and probably disastrous.

Why did it take so long for Taiwan to shift to the “hedgehog” defence?

The most obvious answer is that almost all militaries, including Taiwan’s, are most comfortable preparing for what we call conventional warfare, even though “irregular” warfare is just as common. This is the central thesis of Max Boot’s 2013 book, Invisible Armies – An Epic History of Guerilla Warfare From Ancient Times to the Present.

For both cultural and technical reasons, militaries like preparing for wars that involve large units, sophisticated equipment and big battles. Recognizing this, raiders, rebels, terrorists and others have often chosen to employ different tactics, which has not only frustrated numerous militaries but also led to collapse of numerous nations and empires.

Are farmers guilty of this? Do farmers prepare for the most likely growing season, financial conditions and market prices, or do they set themselves up to operate within the most comfortable situations with the tools they’re best at using?

It’s tempting to assume that today’s farmers, who have survived multiple waves of farm failures in the last century, should be free from this particular form of risk. Anyone who just set themselves up for the kind of farming conditions they’re most comfortable with would have been pushed out of the industry long ago. Right?

That’s probably not a safe assumption. What Boot’s book shows us is that across the world, through centuries and millennia, human societies don’t seem to learn this lesson. Time and again, nations are caught unprepared for what is, after all, really quite likely. From the fall of Akkad in 2154 BC to today’s Russian failures in Ukraine, humanity’s societies and militaries have a blind spot for risks that they’re not comfortable preparing against.

Big tank battles? Great. Fighting guerillas in jungles and terrorists in neighbourhoods? Not so fun. It’s more comfortable to avoid dealing with that.

Why wouldn’t that sort of thinking apply to farmers?

Perhaps this explains why most farmers are generally great at agronomy, operating machinery and keeping creditors at bay, and poor at marketing. The real job seems to be all about growing crops and running machinery, and the other stuff is secondary.

But what if it isn’t secondary, and the marketing/financial risks are an equally likely danger to a farm?

Farmers might be well equipped to fight the weather, batter the bugs and wrestle with giant machinery because that’s comfortable, but that doesn’t mean much when the bankers, elevator agents and taxmen rise up and storm the castle.

“Some of that preparedness starts well before calving season, if you think about herd health programs or nutrition, or making sure cows are in good shape coming into calving. That’s important,” said Karin Schmid, beef production and extension lead with Alberta Beef Producers.

Cows that are too fat or too skinny are more likely to have calving problems.

“The next piece, of course, when you get a little closer to your calving season, is thinking a little bit about your equipment being in good shape,” she said. “The worst thing in the world is to be running around in the morning unable to find your calving chains.”

Producers should ensure the calving area is clean and in good shape. Doug Roxburgh, a first-generation cow-calf backgrounder near Rimbey who farms with his wife, agrees that preparation is key.

“That’s the big one, being prepared for everything and anything, even if it is something that you think could be off, that you wouldn’t expect to be the norm. I think it’s important to have all your bases covered for sure.

“Having all these things in place right off the get go makes the calving season go better for producers if they have their ducks in a row before they get started.”

Roxburgh recommends using a checklist of needed calving supplies, such as needles, gloves, milk replacer, colostrum and vaccines.

“The big one for me prior to calving is having a proper nutrition program set up for your cows,” he said. “Make sure they’ve got all the adequate minerals and things, and they’ve got a good solid foundation coming into calving.”

Schmid agrees. Healthy calving depends a lot on herd health and nutrition, making sure animals are up to date with their vaccinations and following the label on vaccinations.

She recommends that producers source colostrum from their own herd and avoid dairy colostrum. Commercial colostrum is also an option. Using a bottle to deliver it is better than using a tube because calves absorb it more readly. Knowing when to get involved in the birthing process is important too.

“Thinking about knowing or brushing up on when to intervene during difficult calving. Too late is usually a bad scenario. Too early can cause damage to the cow’s reproductive system,” she said.

Schmid recommends building a calving kit with cleaning materials, disinfectant, lubricant, chains, gloves, syringes, a bucket and whatever else might be needed. All these things should be in one place and easy to access.

It’s a good idea to have two tube feeders: one for sick calves and the other to deliver colostrum to healthy calves that can’t nurse for some reason. Schmid said the Beef Cattle Research Council has good online resources called the Calf 911 series.

“If you expect calving to start March 1, you want to make sure you have everything ready by the middle of February. That way you can deal with the one that calves a little early, and you’re not caught off guard, scrambling around.”

Healthy calving starts a long time in advance, said Roxburgh. He encourages producers to get feed tested to ensure proper herd nutrition. That goes hand in hand with a good vaccination program.

“The better your cows are fed, the better those vaccines are going to work.”

Roxburgh also recommends forming a solid vet-client relationship long before calving season starts.

It’s important to calve in a clean area, and the Sandhills method can be used for that. It involves separation between newborn calves and those more than two weeks old to reduce the risk of disease development. Producers should also take precautions to protect their own health during calving season.

“A number of pathogens that we come into contact with as producers can also make us sick,” said Schmid.

”A good example of that is crypto. You want to make sure you’re thinking about making sure you’re washing your hands. Make sure you’re wearing gloves as appropriate. If you’re coming into contact with fecal material or birthing fluids, make sure you try to clean that up, so you don’t make yourself sick as well.

“There’s a mental component to calving season, too. I think it’s important that we’re taking care of ourselves. You can’t take care of your calves or your cows if you’re not taking care of yourself as well,” Schmid said.

Roxburgh said that doesn’t have to be difficult.

“It can be simple things like just meal preparation. As producers, we get busy when we’re calving. It’s a busy time of year. In a lot of cases, our own personal health gets put on the back burner. Just having a good mindset really helps you set up for success.”

Sleep when you can and use technology, added Schmid.

“I think this is where technology has made a big difference for some of those folks with remote camera systems. You can monitor your calving area instead of getting all bundled up and going out every two hours to check. You can just walk to the monitor and there’s a little less disruption on your sleep patterns.

“Don’t forget to eat and drink a lot of fluids. I think it can be easy to get wrapped up in the hectic nature and forget some of the things,” said Schmid.