EPDs Help Make The Sire-Selection Decision

Reading Time: 3 minutes When it comes to sire selection, it is important to keep in mind that the capacity of the sire is made up of both what you can and what you cannot see. The phenotypical traits that distinguish the physical attributes of the bull are what you can see – feet and legs, frame size, testicular […] Read more

Small Towns Have Something To Teach The Beef Industry

Reading Time: 3 minutes I recently attended Aida, a musical with lyrics written by Tim Rice, one the world’s most renowned lyricists with familiar cinema and Broadway hits such as The Lion King, Evita, Beauty and the Beast, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and scores of others. His songs are intense and emotional. Put that together with the […] Read more


Cattle Industry And Researchers Need To Have A Talk

Reading Time: 2 minutes The ultimate purpose of research is to serve the industry for which it was designed. The transfer of information from the lab through to the field is what links the research to the farm. It is in this transfer that the system has failed. Often, researchers may feel distanced from the industry and industry may […] Read more

Trust Still Has To Be Earned

Reading Time: 3 minutes Consumers aren’t easy to figure out. On one hand, they want green, hormone-free product from family farms with the highest environmental and animal-care standards. On the other, they will eat supper out of a bag on the way home. To illustrate this behaviour, let us take a hypothetical look at the day in the life […] Read more


There’s Nothing Wrong With Starting Small

Reading Time: 3 minutes Alberta is unique in the fact that it is economically sound and has a highly driven working population. Many consider this province to be the Texas of the North, where folks are 10 feet tall and bulletproof – you know – big oil and big farms. With that tag is a perception that one must […] Read more

AFAC Conference A Proactive Step For Animal Welfare

Reading Time: 3 minutes We focus on animal care and welfare every day in Alberta but spring is especially important. It is the time when the industry unites to learn, debate and plan a road map for animal care and welfare in the province. The Alberta Farm Animal Care (AFAC) conference highlights research, regulations, codes of practice, economics and […] Read more


Agricultural Education At 35,000 Feet

Reading Time: 3 minutes On a return flight home recently I was seated by two very nerdy young men. I say that with all respect, as a lot of folks that develop software are not just cool but they play with their cell phones and computers a lot and speak another language. Seeing an opportunity for someone to teach […] Read more

Forage Associations Provide Many Benefits To Producers

Reading Time: 3 minutes When cowboy tales are told about the history of the cattle industry in Alberta, they often revolve around the massive cattle drives from the south or the thriving feedlot industry. This romanticizing often glazes over the real reason behind the cattle industry in the West – forage. At the start, a small herd was driven […] Read more


Feeder Cattle Prices Look Good, But For How Long?

Reading Time: 3 minutes At this time last year, feeder cattle prices were struggling under the yoke of sluggish fed cattle prices and pressure on all commodities. A six-and-a-half-weight steer traded from $90-$105 cwt. with heifers trailing at $81-$94. The dollar had already gained momentum. Feeder cattle pricing acted independent of the swings in the value of the Canadian […] Read more

Know Your Full Yardage Costs

Reading Time: 2 minutes Perhaps one of the most misunderstood terms in the cattle industry is yardage. What is yardage? Yardage is your fixed costs, such as machinery and facilities, and the variable costs related to those fixed costs. These include interest, depreciation, taxes and insurance, repairs, utilities, custom work, and labour. Yardage then is your daily non-feed costs […] Read more