Reading Time: 3 minutes There is nothing quite like a harvest moon. It is made especially memorable when watched rising while having a tailgate supper, or when moving into the next pass without interruption of light or landscape. It is these moments we treasure at harvest time. Everyone on the team should have a moment to stop and enjoy […] Read more
Schoepp: Seize, prepare for and appreciate the day
How dental disease can cause weight loss in horses
Dramatic weight loss can often occur when horses can no longer properly chew their feed
Reading Time: 3 minutes The clinical symptoms of slowly advancing dental disease in the older horse are not always overtly obvious, can be quite subtle and may even be discounted as ‘just’ a sign of old age. And so it is that owners and caretakers of an older horse can be taken by surprise when their horse — who […] Read more
Has the time come again for Canadian producers to go deep into sheep?
Sheep and goats are challenging beasts but they can offer a way into farming for new entrants
Reading Time: 3 minutes The revival of the small farm has created a new interest in sheep and goats. And although Canadians are not known to be big consumers of lamb, mutton or goat meat, there is a much greater demand than there is product. Canada only produces 40 per cent of the lamb needed for consumers. As the […] Read more
Who has benefited from the shift to heavier cattle?
The move to larger animals began decades ago but was driven by packers, not consumers and ranchers
Reading Time: 3 minutes I had given a century-old Stockman’s Manual to a young rancher as a gift. As we leafed through the pages, it was pretty evident how cattle, particularly British cattle, have changed over the years. Once mostly horned, short legged, deep in body, wide in loin and very haired up, they look very little like the […] Read more
Opinion: We need to welcome our new Canadian neighbours
To fill the tens of thousands of jobs in agriculture, we must make the sector more attractive to immigrants
Reading Time: 3 minutes As agriculture faces acute shortages of people at every level, it is a good time to talk about the value in immigration. The federal government has committed to increasing the number of immigrants to 350,000 annually by 2021. What does that mean for Canada? The majority of immigrants currently come from three countries: China, India […] Read more
Is there really any need to brand cattle anymore?
The reasons have largely disappeared
Reading Time: 4 minutes I hope everyone will seriously question if we need to brand — and if we do, how best to do it. I have heard several veterinarians and animal welfare scientists discuss if branding in its original form is even needed today. Lots has changed from the days of the wide-open range where cattle were mixed […] Read more
Many sources of greenhouse gases are being ignored
Agriculture is singled out while major contributors receive little or no attention in climate change debate
Reading Time: 3 minutes As the discussion on climate change heats up, I find myself defaulting to facts that may surprise you. Climate change is not a new phenomenon. The definition is basically changes in wind patterns, temperature and precipitation that stretches over several decades. With that definition in mind, climate change has been an ongoing challenge for farmers […] Read more
The topline tells the tale of a horse’s overall health
It’s one of the clearest and widest indicators of well-being — or problematic issues
Reading Time: 4 minutes Multiple aspects of a horse’s health, lifestyle and environment dovetail together and contribute to the appearance of its topline. An esthetically pleasing topline in a horse at any age is a testament to the alignment of a good many conditions and circumstances which are supportive of the horse’s health and well-being. The opposite is equally […] Read more
Cattle producers have made a lot of progress but still have a ways to go
The latest in-depth survey of the cow herd shows higher rates of vaccination, but gaps remain
Reading Time: 4 minutes A recent article on the results of a very in-depth survey of cow-calf herds across Western Canada notes there has been decent improvement in vaccination usage since surveys done in the early 2000s. But it pinpoints gaps in vaccine coverage that could be improved. There are things to be learned by every producer and veterinary […] Read more
What’s in the engine room of your farm business?
It’s not just the physical assets that power your enterprise and keep it moving forward
Reading Time: 3 minutes My friend Claire Booth from Australia shared a photo of her farm office referring to it as the “engine room” of their business. I like that analogy and am conscious of the fact that we all run with an engine and without that source of power or way of moving forward, we stay in one […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
