As the world is recovering from and dealing with COVID-19 in 2022, we all are becoming more accustomed to keeping our bubble small.
By spending more time at home and on our farms and ranches — and relying more on deliveries instead of getting out in person — how do we keep up with improvements and advances in the industry?
There are not nearly the number of networking opportunities there used to be and not nearly the number of visits by pharmacy industry people, nutritionists, or educational producer meetings through veterinary clinics or agricultural association meetings. So what do we do to rectify this?
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What is available to western Canadian cattlemen and cattlewomen that is at our fingertips that we are just not aware of?
For one, reading articles in newspapers such as this one exposes us to animal health articles but also management and many, many more topics related to cattle production. The advertisements will keep us abreast of new developments out in the cattle industry.
Also, there are the breed association magazines which reach out to their membership and most recently the Alberta Beef Producers has developed its own member magazine which will convey new developments in the industry. It deserves a real look. It will not take away from papers like this one but only add to them.
They say we often need to see things three different times before it is implemented. This is true in life and I can readily attest to that when convincing producers to switch to something new. There is solace in the status quo. There are some growing pains with change, but often the result is improvements down the line.
An offshoot of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association is the Beef Cattle Research Council and you can access its website at www.beefresearch.ca, which is funded by your checkoff dollars. The blog has articles on topics of huge interest to producers, and there are also various calculators that tie right into production profitability. Sign up directly to be on the email list.
They have done a short clip video with Dr. Claire Windeyer from the vet school at Calgary on calf resuscitation. This video may review things you already know but there is always something to learn. Other videos (such as properly tubing a calf and on calving) offer a great learning experience.
I am pleasantly surprised by how much information is available.
There is also a lot on the Alberta government website and the Alberta Veterinary Medical Association has produced a short film documentary called “Raised With Care: Stewards of the Land” that is very good. Pharmaceutical companies also have websites and if you find something you’re interested in, you can run it by your veterinarian if you need clarification or direction.
All this knowledge should make you better informed and your veterinarian should be updating their learning with all these information sources as well (and passing it on to you, the client). Happy reading.
