Reading Time: 3 minutes On the evening of Remembrance Day, 15 students from Eaglesham School will march to a field on the outskirts of their hamlet to dig chest-deep trenches. Then they’ll pull their blankets around themselves and try to sleep. The Night in the Trenches — a tradition at the K-12 school since 2008 — is the brainchild […] Read more
Under the northern stars, students remember the fallen
Night in the Trenches is a Remembrance Day event that gives students a glimpse into what war is really like
Hay! Guess who’s hiring a forage researcher?
New forage research job at Beaverlodge is a pleasant surprise after years of funding cutbacks
Reading Time: 4 minutes The forage industry has been asking for more researchers for a long time and finally, it seems the federal government has listened. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada recently issued a job posting for a forage researcher at its Beaverlodge research farm. It’s a term job — running until 2018 — but a step in the right […] Read more
The nitty-gritty of becoming a ‘verified sustainable’ beef producer
Alberta Beef Producers chair Greg Bowie, who was verified in May, explains what’s involved
Reading Time: 4 minutes Thinking of becoming a producer of ‘verified sustainable beef,’ but wondering just what it involves? There are 31 indicators (available at vsbpilot.ca) that cow-calf producers must meet to qualify for McDonald’s program — and at first glance, it can all seem overwhelming. But it’s actually not that challenging, says Greg Bowie, a seedstock producer from […] Read more
Everyone will benefit if calves are preconditioned, says vet
Preparing calves for the feedlot reduces antibiotic use and improves feed efficiency and animal health
Reading Time: 3 minutes While preconditioning your calves may not always put extra dollars in your pockets, it’s good for the health of the entire beef industry. That was the message from veterinarian Cody Creelman during a recent Beef Cattle Research Centre webinar. Preconditioning includes anything a producer does to a weaned calf that reduces shrink and chance of […] Read more
Should you precondition your cattle?
Reading Time: 2 minutes While preconditioning makes sense from a health perspective, it’s far from standard practice. In fact, a western Canadian cow-calf survey found only nine per cent of producers preconditioned in 2013. And those who do typically have a clear financial incentive, said Canfax Research Services manager Brenna Grant. “Frequently, producers consider preconditioning when they have extra […] Read more
Egg-laying barn produces as much energy as it uses
Brant Colony’s new barn will also be a learning project about ‘what it takes to get to net zero’
Reading Time: 3 minutes A new egg-laying barn currently under construction at the Brant Colony in Vulcan County will be the first such ‘net-zero’ facility in the province. “The thought was that if we had a barn designed from scratch and we put all these different things in it, we could get to the point where the energy inputs […] Read more
New pain control medication for livestock hits the market
Calgary-based company creates affordable medication for horses and cattle
Reading Time: 2 minutes A Calgary-based company has created a pain control drug that could be a game changer for the North American cattle and horse industries. Oral Meloxicam, a tasteless liquid that can be administered orally or added to feed, is the first pain control medication developed for livestock in North America. “The most common procedure we can […] Read more
Lessons Learned: Three takes on what worked — and didn’t — in 2015
Seed into the dust, the bins will bust? That one sure didn’t work this year, but there were happy surprises
Reading Time: 5 minutes This growing season was a challenge for many farmers. Alberta Farmer asked some experts about the lessons learned during the 2015 growing season. Dallas Van Den Driessche is account manager and precision agronomist with Farmer’s Edge in Vermilion. His territory runs from Bonnyville to Oyen and Lavoy to the Saskatchewan border. What specialty crops did […] Read more
It’s an adrenaline rush when the Ranch Tracker is on your trail
Reading Time: 2 minutes When people see Joel Martens and his horse Hummer, they often start running — and for good reason. The Red Deer rancher is the Ranch Tracker — operating his version of “Mantracker,” a Canadian reality TV show in which contestants try to avoid capture while traversing the wilderness to a ‘finish line.’ “It’s quite fun,” […] Read more
Crop 2015: Parched to soaked
From super dry to super wet — it’s been quite a year
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s been anything but a normal year — and Justin Bell is just one of hundreds of Alberta farmers who can attest to that. The Rosebud producer was praying for rain in June and praying for it to stop in September. “We were ready to start on Sept. 7, but then we got two inches […] Read more
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