Reading Time: 4 minutes Fewer than 1,000 producers have signed up for the second go-round of a beleaguered cattle-tracking system — even though it’s free and designed to boost their bottom line. The Beef InfoXchange System (BIXS) is also intended to be the foundation for the “verified sustainable beef” initiative that McDonald’s is piloting in Canada. At the recent […] Read more
BIXS open for business, but only a fraction of producers have signed up
Fewer than 1,000 producers have signed up for the cattle-tracking database, but officials say the revamped system is greatly improved
The fearless researcher who revolutionized cattle breeding
Roy Berg was once the most reviled cattle researcher in the country — until he proved that crossbreeding could produce spectacular productivity gains
Reading Time: 4 minutes He was an intrepid man whose controversial work earned him scores of critics — but his name will now live on as the research station where Roy Berg conducted much of his revolutionary work on beef cattle. Nearly 300 people — friends, colleagues, former students, industry specialists, and family members — travelled to the Kinsella […] Read more
Alberta Pork optimistic despite Russia’s tit-for-tat sanctions
Numerous agricultural products are being shut out of Russia, but pork is most affected
Reading Time: 3 minutes Russia’s ban on Canadian pork will have some impact, but the executive director of Alberta Pork says the hope is that it will be more of “a big hiccup” than a severe blow. “We had the same problem with our ractopamine last year, where almost half of the pork that was shipped from Canada to […] Read more
Alberta farm leader says rail system fix is on track
Ordering the railways to move more grain has grabbed the spotlight, but Kent Erickson says newly enacted legislation will bring long-term gains
Reading Time: 3 minutes New federal rail legislation is the first major step in building a sustainable and reliable rail transportation system, says the chair of the Alberta Wheat Commission. But in the meantime, extending an order-in-council that penalizes the railways if they fail to move a million tonnes of grain a week is the best short-term fix, said […] Read more
Fungicide spraying on the rise
Shorter rotations and humid conditions are making fungicide more popular
Reading Time: 3 minutes It seems people don’t question the need to spray fungicide any longer. “A lot more producers are more aware of diseases and are making the decision to spray fungicide a lot more than they used to,” said Mark Cutts, a crop specialist with Alberta Agriculture’s Ag Info centre in Stettler. “That goes across the province […] Read more
Don’t take a chance on porcine plasma
Reading Time: < 1 minute Some Canadian pork veterinarians do not recommend feeding porcine plasma to nursery pigs, because pigs that have ingested it have the risk of developing porcine epidemic diarrhea. “We know that the porcine plasma found in the initial cases in Ontario was PCR positive for PEDv,” said veterinarian Egan Brockhoff. When those positive samples were fed […] Read more
Officials hopeful in PEDv battle
The number of new cases of the deadly pig virus is falling, but experts fear it could soar again
Reading Time: 3 minutes The number of new cases of porcine epidemic diarrhea is falling, but it’s too soon to say if the corner has been turned, says Alberta veterinarian Egan Brockhoff. “One of the key things for all of us as we move into the summer will be what happens in the U.S. this fall,” the owner of […] Read more
Open Farm Days ready to roll
Reading Time: 2 minutes The coffee pot’s on and everyone in Alberta is invited. Alberta Open Farm Days is the perfect opportunity for rural and urban residents to learn more about food production in this province. For Debbie and Ed Matters it’s a chance to show off Speckle Park cattle, a unique breed created on farms along the Highway […] Read more
Grain marketing: Is it time to pull the trigger?
Grain is moving, elevators are buying, and price forecasts aren’t rosy. Is it time to start selling this year’s crop?
Reading Time: 5 minutes Rimbey farmer Greg Service avoided the worst of the winter’s grain backlog. Although you couldn’t call him lucky — half of his acres were hailed out last year. “We got paid out by hail insurance, so cash flow wasn’t a big concern,” he said. “Mother Nature did my marketing for me.” So far, this year’s […] Read more
A rare steak is rare indeed in China
Reading Time: 2 minutes China is famous for dishes — from snake to thousand-year-old eggs — that are alien to palates of westerners. But Cheryl Hazenberg found it all depends on your viewpoint. The director of technical services at the Canadian Angus Association, who is travelling the world studying traceability as a 2014 Nuffield scholar, spent two weeks in […] Read more