Reading Time: 2 minutes Fort McMurray bison ranchers Brad and Carmen Ramstead are the winners of a top award given out by the Manitoba Bison Association. The association, which has several out-of-province members from Alberta, Ontario, and even the U.S., gives the Bill Lenton Memorial Award to members who have “shown dedication and commitment as well as given of […] Read more
Alberta bison ranchers win top Manitoba award
Bovine TB probe officially closed
An investigation across three provinces following the appearance of bovine tuberculosis (TB) in six Prairie cattle in 2016 has officially closed with no further cases found. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Monday reported receiving the last of the lab culture test results on about 30,000 animals tested during its probe. “All of the results […] Read more
Pork supply issues hit Maple Leaf’s Q1 ledger
Reuters — Meat packer Maple Leaf Foods posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly profit as lower prices and a temporary interruption in supplies hurt sales of its pork products, sending its shares to their lowest in nearly two years. The company, one of Canada’s biggest pork processors, said that processed fresh pork sales were affected by a […] Read more
Vet college’s full accreditation survives funding cut
The looming exit of one of its major funding partners notwithstanding, the University of Saskatchewan’s Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) has earned full accreditation through 2024. The American Veterinary Medical Association’s (AVMA) Council on Education, the accrediting body for veterinary colleges in North America, recently confirmed Saskatoon-based WCVM’s status as “Accredited (w/minor deficiency).” “Minor […] Read more
Audits and blogs: How to drive change and win over consumers
Temple Grandin has long been an agent of change and says individual farmers can be, too
Reading Time: 4 minutes Livestock producers, you are doing good things — at least Temple Grandin thinks so. “I have been in this industry for 45 years, and there has been a lot of improvement,” she said at Alberta Farm Animal Care’s Livestock Care Conference last month. But the problem is that so few people — including, sometimes, producers […] Read more
Prairie drought conditions improve
CNS Canada — While drought conditions in Western Canada have improved following late-season snowfall, it isn’t a completely rosy picture just yet. “We have seen significant departures from normal in terms of precipitation (on the Prairies over) a long period. The winter hasn’t been above average (for precipitation) so there hasn’t been a whole lot […] Read more
Deadly fish disease continues to spread in Alberta
Whirling disease was first found here in 2016 and has now spread to a fourth watershed
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has declared the North Saskatchewan River watershed infected with whirling disease. The declaration covers all streams, creeks, lakes, and rivers feeding into the North Saskatchewan River and ends at the Saskatchewan border. Earlier declarations of infection have been made for the Bow, Oldman and Red Deer River watersheds. Whirling disease, […] Read more
Animal science professor Red Williams, 93
Memorial services will be held “at a later date” for renowned Prairie animal science professor Charles “Red” Williams, who died Monday at age 93 leaving a legacy of work in livestock care and ag extension. Williams, born in Regina and raised on farms in Saskatchewan and Alberta, served in the Second World War on the […] Read more
Survey on Alberta’s agriculture priorities
Survey open until March 18
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Agriculture and Forestry has developed a short online survey for input on the program concepts for the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (the successor to Growing Forward 2), which is set to begin in April. Input provided will equip provincial staff to provide programming that meets the needs and priorities of Alberta’s industry. The five priority […] Read more
You need to up your game on managing people, say producers
Top-down management doesn’t cut it anymore, but fewer than one in five farms have a human resources plan
Reading Time: 3 minutes Five years ago, Kevin Serfas tried to manage human resources on his farm. It was a “train wreck.” Workers were walking away from the job. The people who stayed weren’t happy. And Serfas found himself on Facebook, “begging people to come run a tractor.” Finally, he went to one of his remaining workers and said […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
