Reading Time: 3 minutes It was supposed to be the year to grow the cattle herd — but Mother Nature and dry conditions across Alberta have changed all that. A lack of hay and pasture makes for tough choices and some are taking cattle to market. Viking Hutterite Colony usually buys calves, backgrounds them until spring, and then turns […] Read more
Sell or hang on? Cattle producers facing tough choices
Some have already pulled the trigger and sold cattle, others are holding back and hoping they’ll have enough feed
Get your timing right with PGRs
By increasing or decreasing hormone production, plant growth regulators can either promote or limit growth
Reading Time: 3 minutes Plant growth regulators may offer some benefits, but the timing and staging of their application is critical. “Plant growth regulators change the hormone relationships within plants and can increase or decrease hormone production,” Phil Bernardin, a technical rep with Engage Agro, said at Farming Smarter’s recent field day. In cereals, plant growth regulators act as […] Read more
Researchers invent their own version of the great white combine
Farming Smarter has created a hail simulator so it can test ‘hail rescue’ treatments
Reading Time: 3 minutes What can you do when your crops get pounded by hail? How do crops recover from hail damage? There are a lot of questions about this subject, and little information available. That’s why the team at Farming Smarter developed its own hail damage simulation machine, which it unveiled at the organization’s recent field school. “We […] Read more
Hefty checkoff rebates put squeeze on Alberta Beef Producers
Marketing and research are suffering because one-third of voluntary checkoffs are being rebated, say officials
Reading Time: 4 minutes Checkoff refunds continue to hobble Alberta Beef Producers, which had to give back $2.5 million in the past year, mainly to cattle feeders. “The $2 service charge that we have here would be sufficient if we were able to invest it all, but we lose about a third of it,” said Rich Smith, the organization’s […] Read more
Cancer-fighting drugs in your pasture?
University of Lethbridge researchers have already found one native plant — buffalo beans — that offers early promise
Reading Time: 2 minutes Plants you see every day in your pasture could contain valuable components for cancer-fighting drugs. Scientists from the University of Lethbridge recently found that buffalo beans, a plant commonly found in pastures in the south, contain compounds that may be beneficial to people fighting cancer. “We’ve always been interested in my lab in looking for […] Read more
The damage to crops is done — but how much worse will it get?
It’s not a writeoff yet, but recovery potential is limited and a late harvest seems inevitable, says crop expert
Reading Time: 3 minutes After one of the “driest Mays on record,” producers across the Prairies are wondering how their crops are going to fare this growing season. It’s not looking good. “The crops are going to be substantially smaller than they have been over the past few years,” Bruce Burnett, CWB crop and weather specialist, said in an […] Read more
McDonald’s ‘sustainable beef’ pilot project ramps up
Alberta visit of McDonald's global CEO signals a sea change in the beef industry
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s full speed ahead for McDonald’s “verified sustainable beef” project. The country’s largest buyer of beef is finishing up the first phase of its groundbreaking pilot project in Canada, and earlier this month the head of the global fast-food giant paid a visit to Alberta to get a first-hand look. Recently appointed CEO Steve Easterbrook […] Read more
How the ‘verified sustainable beef’ process works
Reading Time: 2 minutes McDonald’s has started verifying producers, as part of its promise to start selling sustainable beef in 2016. Here’s what’s been happening on Alberta farms so far: Earlier this year, McDonald’s said it had a list of 40 “indicators” that will be used to rate a beef operation. The indicators — which cover areas such as […] Read more
Do you know what to do in an animal emergency?
It’s all about making it real and keeping rescue efforts simple, American expert says of upcoming Olds workshop
Reading Time: 3 minutes When a truck carrying livestock flips, or there’s a need to rescue horses or cattle during a flood, most people don’t know what to do. That’s where Rebecca Gimenez comes in. Gimenez, who hails from Macon, Georgia, will be teaching a workshop on animal rescue and emergency preparedness in Olds on June 25 and 26. […] Read more
Soil carbon challenge coming to Alberta
The Soil Carbon Coalition Challenge is a North American-wide initiative founded on the premise that carbon is key to soil health
Reading Time: 3 minutes Measuring your soil carbon is the ticket to improving soil health and can usher in dramatic productivity gains. That’s the message that Peter Donovan is bringing to Alberta this month — part of the American expert’s efforts to promote the Soil Carbon Coalition Challenge, a North American-wide initiative to show how you can improve your […] Read more