Reading Time: 2 minutes The hog industry’s response to PEDv was a huge win for animal health, says a veterinarian who was on the front line of the effort in Alberta. “The pork industry already had the highest biosecurity standards out there, but with this disease, we’ve really put a lot of emphasis on it, and people have responded […] Read more
Upping biosecurity will pay dividends for years
Give up the chase — things you need to know about livestock handling
Cattle are quick learners — so earn their trust by not adding to their fears, says handling expert Dylan Biggs
Reading Time: 3 minutes Want to handle cattle more effectively? Then curb your instincts. “A lot of what we struggle with when it comes to working livestock is just human nature,” Hanna rancher and handling expert Dylan Biggs told attendees at the recent Western Canadian Grazing Conference. Livestock are prey animals and humans are predators. So we follow our […] Read more
A long-overdue return to profitability
Five to Remember: "We couldn't sustain an industry, let alone grow it."
Reading Time: 2 minutes While “nothing stays the same forever,” market analyst Anne Wasko is confident high beef prices will stick around for at least another year. “The cow-calf sector was long overdue for some profitability,” said Wasko, president of Cattle Trends and a market analyst with Gateway Livestock Exchange in Taber. “We couldn’t sustain an industry, let alone […] Read more
Market outlook: Not great, but not horrible either
Four to Watch: Market analyst Chuck Penner figures wheat has upside potential, but a soybean mountain casts a long shadow on oilseeds
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chill out and don’t get too down about the drop in grain and oilseeds prices. That’s the advice of Chuck Penner, owner of Left Field Consulting Services in Winnipeg. First, markets not only swing from lows to highs and back again, but tend to get stuck when they fall into a trough, he said. “When […] Read more
Expert: Neonics are an issue — and also an easy target
Reading Time: 2 minutes Why are neonicotinoids attracting so much attention? The controversy around neonicotinoids is a global one. There are places where neonicotinoids are associated with bee kills and there are places where they are not. The science around neonics and their effects on bees has some inconsistent elements. There hasn’t been any strong colony-level field tests, for […] Read more
Alberta opts for better management to reduce bee deaths
Reading Time: 2 minutes What’s Alberta Beekeepers Commission response to Ontario’s move? Our stance hasn’t changed. We are still very much in favour of working towards a scientific conclusion or solution to what has happened. In Alberta, we just aren’t seeing the same things as they’re seeing out in Ontario. We were very interested in the Pest Management Regulatory […] Read more
Farmers wanted to test sustainability platforms
Reading Time: < 1 minute Updated Jan.9, 2015 – Alberta’s crops industry has developed its own sustainability project: The Alberta Crops Sustainability Initiative. The plan is to encourage farmers to test some of the sustainability platforms created in Canada and overseas to see how they work on Alberta farms. The initiative was developed by Alberta Wheat and Alberta Barley commissions […] Read more
Crop sector starts its sustainability roundtable
As with beef, producers will be asked to document their practices, but carrying the system past the grain elevator may be tricky
Reading Time: 3 minutes The push for sustainability continues — and this time, it’s hit the Canadian crop sector. “End-users are looking to have a certified or verified supply chain that goes to the farm level,” said Kara Barnes, market development co-ordinator with the Alberta Barley Commission and a best practices specialist with the Barley Council of Canada. “Just […] Read more
When it comes to rhizobial bacteria, an infection is a good thing
When you pull up a legume and find nodules on the roots, what should you be hoping for? Big nodules or little? White ones or red?
Reading Time: 3 minutes If you want to know if a legume is fixing nitrogen, you have to pull it out of the ground, look at the roots, and check for red nodules. That was one of the many bits of wisdom shared by University of Saskatchewan soil scientist Diane Knight at the Western Canadian Grazing Conference. The province’s […] Read more
Is this the one? Latest BIXS revamp aims to boost bottom line
CCA is partnering with an IT company with the goal of creating a calf-to-carcass system that will benefit everyone in the beef chain
Reading Time: 4 minutes BIXS is getting another overhaul — but this revamp could make the beef database a lot more attractive to cattle producers. The Beef InfoXchange System has struggled since its creation four years ago to attract producers, but the company taking it over says it will be expanded and enhanced to bring in all players — […] Read more