Reading Time: 3 minutes What keeps you up at night? Up and down commodity prices? Weather? Finding (or keeping) rental land? For accountants Ryan Stevenson and Dean Gallimore, it’s the thought of farmers getting whacked with a tax bill they could easily avoid. “One of the best things about farming is that farming companies can transfer from one generation […] Read more
Are you keeping your accountant awake at night?
The thought of farms getting hit with a huge — and unnecessary — tax bill is a scary one, say two tax experts
What’s in a name? Quite a lot for young female cows
‘Second-calf heifer’ doesn’t sit right with some, but the important thing is recognizing they’re different from mature cows
Reading Time: 3 minutes Cattle producers, there seems to be some disagreement as to what a female is called after she delivers her first calf and is pregnant with her second. Is she a cow? Is she still a heifer? Is she something else? What do you call her? A Twitter poll with 144 respondents revealed that 39 per […] Read more
Father-son farmers win Ag Innovation awards
One pair found a better way to unplug the combine, the other a quick way to measure harvest losses
Reading Time: 4 minutes The newest agriculture equipment, services, and technologies — not just in North America, but in the world — are set to hit Red Deer in November. One of the highlights of Agri-Trade is the Ag Innovation awards. “It is always difficult to get it down to three winners,” said Rod Bradshaw, an Innisfail-area crop and […] Read more
All the iron is still there, but Agri-Trade has a new dimension
There’s still acres of farm equipment to be seen, but also an opportunity to upgrade your personal skill set
Reading Time: 4 minutes When you think of a farm equipment show, a motivational speaker talking about personal development might not spring to mind. But it’s exactly what women who attend Agri-Trade said they wanted to see at the popular Red Deer event. “Attendee surveys brought a strong message that there were a lot of women in agriculture who […] Read more
You want pollinators to make their home on your range
There are scores of native pollinators in Alberta — and the more you have on your rangeland, the better
Reading Time: 3 minutes There is a buzz on range- and pasture lands. And we really need to pay attention to native pollinators and the benefits that they provide, says a rangeland ecologist. “Pollinators are critical to rangelands themselves, and the plants that are there,” said Cameron Carlyle, an assistant professor at the University of Alberta, who is not […] Read more
Green grass and newborn calves a perfect match, says longtime grazer
The list of pluses is long, says Jim Bauer, including easier calving, reduced feed requirements, and calves that outgain their winter-born cousins
Reading Time: 3 minutes Assisting a cow with her calf is much nicer when the weather is pleasant — and matching calving season with the onset of green grass makes you more money, too. “When you can line up that reproductive cycle with the grass production cycle, that’s huge,” said Jim Bauer, an Acme-area rancher and former manager of […] Read more
Call (the conservation board) before you build
You may not need a permit, but water setback and manure management rules still apply
Reading Time: 2 minutes If you’re considering relocating livestock facilities, make sure you call the Natural Resources Conservation Board early on. “(We can) see if what (the producer) is planning needs a permit and if there are any other requirements they need to meet before they start doing anything and spending a whole lot of money,” said Andy Cumming, […] Read more
Ready to relocate? Don’t just jump in, says livestock facility expert
A successful move means checking off a lot of boxes, but there’s lots of help available to ensure the move goes smoothly
Reading Time: 4 minutes Do your corrals flood every year because you are close to a water body? Does your manure storage area have a river running near it? If so, the chances are you need to relocate your facilities — although you might also be eligible for funding to help you out. But the first step is to […] Read more
You need to think about shrink long before the transport truck arrives
Training your cattle to stay calm and properly preparing them for the stress of transport pays big dividends
Reading Time: 4 minutes Practising low-stress handling techniques has its benefits — it may actually help reduce shrink during transportation. “It’s about how we set animals up to interact with humans — any time you interact with them you’re training them how to respond and what to expect from humans,” said Christy Goldhawk who did her doctorate work on […] Read more
The lowdown on how buyers calculate shrink
‘Pencil shrink’ is actually designed to make the system fair and no buyer wants to see excessive shrink
Reading Time: 2 minutes What is shrink? And how is it calculated? “Actual shrink can be made up of two components,” said Sheldon Wilcox, manager at Direct Livestock Marketing in Edmonton. “One is gut fill (sometimes called excretory shrink) — which is the feed and water the animal consumes. The second one is tissue shrink.” Read more: Think about […] Read more
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