Something, most likely an insect, caused the tree to take protective action which produced that gall. I am not sure how much help your AgCanada people might be but I'd not think asking would do much harm.

Here is a link that might be useful: about galls oon trees

it looks like it is so old.. that its already disintegrating ...

if so.. the branch its on .. may also fail ...

if its your tree.. and it could harm anything.. the branch should probably be removed at the trunk .. thru proper pruning methods ...

if its out in the middle of nowhere.. i would spend the next decade watching it.. and prune properly after it fails...

many such things are harvested for the burl wood inside ... you dont happen to need a burl pipe.. do you ... lol .... some new wood for your dashboard ... lol ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: flip to the web side for a wiki doc... but check out the pix ... seems like a waste to watch it fall apart ...

What are the measurements?