Milk fever is a concern not just in the dairy industry, but in the beef industry as well. It can occur when a cow cannot meet the demand for both milk production and colostrum, affecting her calcium levels. It can cause many different clinical signs, such as loss of appetite, muscle tremors and weakness in the early stages, which may progress into the animal being unable to stand.

WHY IT MATTERS: Understanding what causes milk fever could be a game-changer for both the dairy and the beef industry.

Because milk fever is such a prevalent illness, understanding what causes it is fundamental. Burim Ametaj, a researcher at the University of Alberta has proposed a hypothesis he calls the Calci-Inflammatory Network. His scientific model is looking more deeply at the causes behind the condition, and, more specifically, how it may be a biological response to inflammation.

Milk fever

Milk fever is also known as hypocalcemia, which is low levels of calcium in the blood. A lot of calcium is necessary when calving to meet high milk production.

Ametaj says milk fever has been a problem for more than 200 years. It was first documented in 1793, but since then, it has been found in almost every dairy herd. Though it is more common in dairy cattle, it can occur in beef females after calving, more frequently in older cows or cows that have a high production of milk. It is also more common in beef herds when the forage quality is low, like after drought or excess rain, according to research by the University of Manitoba.

“That persistence tells us we’re missing something fundamental,” Ametaj said in an emailed interview.

“But milk fever isn’t just one disease. It’s the tip of the iceberg. Cows with hypocalcemia are at dramatically higher risk for mastitis, metritis, ketosis and displaced abomasum. Fixing milk fever could be the key to unlocking healthier transition periods and more profitable herds.”

Burim Ametaj, researcher
University of Alberta

Currently, milk fever is treated through supplemental calcium, either intravenous or oral, or both. Generally, a veterinarian will start with intravenous calcium and then move to the oral supplement once the animal can stand. Usually, the response is pretty immediate. Risks associated with treatment, in the long term and short term, are minimal. One of the main concerns is relapse.

This is why dairy and beef producers have often been told not to supplement with calcium before calving, because it can exacerbate the chance of milk fever and limit the animal’s natural calcium creation.

Ametaj believes this kind of treatment isn’t necessary if more work is done on the front end — and during his research found himself questioning why things are done the way they are.

“If something is truly a deficiency, you should feed it to cure the health effects of that deficiency. Yet here we were telling producers: ‘It’s a calcium deficiency, but don’t feed calcium.’ No one questioned this paradox.”

This is one of the many reasons Ametaj started looking deeper into milk fever and ultimately came up with the Calci-Inflammatory Network.

Calci-Inflammatory Network

The start of his research began many years ago, when Ametaj was working on his post-doctoral studies in 1999 at Iowa State University. At the time, he wanted to investigate the potential association between milk fever and inflammation and proposed the hypothesis that endotoxin was causing hypocalcemia in cattle.

But it wasn’t until he started at the University of Alberta in 2004 as an assistant professor that he had the freedom to pursue his idea. Over the years he has continued his research on this topic, creating an oronasal vaccine and an intravaginal probiotic intended to prevent uterine infections. From the research with those treatments, Ametaj saw a 50 per cent reduction in milk fever incidence.

“This wasn’t about feeding calcium, it was about controlling inflammation,” Ametaj said.

In 2020, he conducted research showing when you prevent the calcium drop and maintain high calcium levels during inflammation, the inflammatory response actually gets worse.

This is what eventually led to him creating the Calci-Inflammatory Network, his scientific model that suggests calcium can be directly correlated with inflammation.

“The Calci-Inflammatory Network was born from synthesizing a quarter-century of research, starting with my original hypothesis in 1999, validated by experiments in 2003, and developed through my own work over two decades,” he said.

And Ametaj thinks it can change the way milk fever is viewed.

“For a century, the prevailing paradigm has been to treat hypocalcemia as a deficiency. But it’s actually a protective, life-saving response — a withdrawal of calcium to ease inflammation, not a deficiency.”

Potential benefits

Ametaj hopes that as he continues his research, the way milk fever is approached and understood will change. The framework of the Calci-Inflammatory Network is just the first step.

For example, he believes treatment can be adjusted so calcium isn’t used to just fix a deficit, but to better align with the cow’s immune state, genetic profile and stage of recovery in each case-by-case scenario.

Ametaj said there are many new approaches that can be derived from this theory, such as better prevention — like the intravaginal probiotic — and limiting transition diseases, such as mastitis, metritis or ketosis by focusing on inflammation.

“Stop thinking of calcium as just a mineral. Think of it as the brake pedal on inflammation. Inflammation appears during dry-off, weeks before hypocalcemia. When calcium drops, your cow is trying to survive. Forcing calcium up, especially pre-partum, might be cutting the brake lines. Not all hypocalcemia needs treatment. What matters is why calcium dropped — protective response or mobilization failure?”

He said this could help the bottom line of an operation as well. Producers may be able to limit their antibiotic use, improve herd health overall and see fewer losses on their operations.

Future plans

Ametaj said the Calci-Inflammatory Network could benefit not just the agriculture industry, but also diseases that might affect humans. Low blood calcium can be found in many serious human illnesses, and he believes his research will correlate.

This is still speculative, but it is something he is hoping to look into more deeply in the future.

“This isn’t just about cows. Human critical care doctors see identical patterns in sepsis patients. … There’s much more coming in the next few months — several new concepts about both cow and human health that will challenge conventional thinking even further.”

Ametaj is planning on continuing this research and finding more tangible ways to use his findings to create treatment.

“From vaccines to probiotics to immunometabolomics — we’re just scratching the surface. There are exciting developments ahead that will provide producers with better tools and strategies.”

The post Is inflammation the real cause of milk fever in cattle? appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

This is why researchers at the University of Manitoba and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada are examining the role arthropods play in anaplasmosis, as well as designing better tests.

“There’s a potential that it exists in cattle herds in certain parts of the country. So we want to get an idea of that, because until we have an understanding of some of those baseline risks, we don’t know maybe where to go, or if it’s really important to spend much time looking at this disease,” says Shaun Dergousoff, a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

Anaplasmosis is caused by a bacterial parasite called Anaplasma marginale, which attacks the red blood cells. It affects cattle, sheep, goats and deer, but in Canada, it is more commonly seen in cattle.

Clinical signs of anaplasmosis include fever, anemia, weakness, weight loss and issues with breathing. It is rare for it to affect calves under six months of age and symptoms will be mild in calves younger than a year. It is rarely fatal for animals under two years old. In animals older than two years that have shown signs of illness, mortalities can range from 29 to 49 per cent.

Anaplasmosis is usually treated with an antibiotic, which helps with the symptoms but won’t get rid of the disease.

“Once an animal’s infected, it pretty much always stays infected, even if they’re not sick. But then the problem is they could become a source now of transmitting and moving that bacteria to other animals,” Dergousoff says.

Anaplasmosis is transmitted by anything that can spread infected blood, such as needles, dehorning tools, castration tools, etc. Biting pests also spread anaplasmosis. Arthropods well known for spreading anaplasmosis include the Rocky Mountain wood tick and the American dog tick.

Ticks and flies

Kateryn Rochon is an entomologist at the University of Manitoba and is working alongside Dergousoff on this project. She is focused on the insect side of the research, looking specifically at ticks and flies.

When it comes to ticks and flies spreading anaplasmosis, it is not really known how often it is transmitted from those sources, and how often from livestock management practices. That is part of Rochon’s work.

While ticks are known biological vectors, biting flies are not. However, they could still transmit the disease as a mechanical vector, which means the bacteria does not multiply inside them, but might be passed on from the blood around the fly’s mouth parts after feeding on an animal.

The question is whether they are transmitting the disease this way.

“We might not be able to find it in the ticks or the flies, but we’re looking because we’re trying to determine what role they play,” Rochon says. “For me, as an entomologist, there’s the interest of just what’s going on out there.”

To conduct this research, Rochon would collect ticks and flies in producers’ pastures. She’d collect ticks by dragging a white piece of flannel through the grass. This attracts the ticks because of something they do called questing, which is when they climb to the top of the grass and wave their claws in the air to latch on more easily. The light colour of the flannel attracts them.

Fly traps

They used two different types of fly traps for biting flies: horse fly traps and a Manitoba trap.

The Manitoba trap is an inverted canopy trap with a black yoga ball dangling below the canopy, and a container of some sort at the top. The ball attracts the flies into the trap because the colour and the gleam trick them into thinking it’s an animal. They then fly up, are caught within the canopy, crawl into the container and are trapped.

Rochon says this trap has been very successful, but sometimes, not even necessary.

“There’s some places where we go, there’s so many horseflies, we can just catch them with a net.”

During the summer of 2024, they caught over 1,300 flies at two different locations in Manitoba. After the insects were collected, they were taken back to the lab to be frozen and identified.

Then, after identification, each fly was dissected so their gut could be tested for the bacteria that causes bovine anaplasmosis. Since only females bite, they examine the flies’ ovaries to find out how many batches of eggs each female fly has laid. This is because each batch of eggs requires a blood meal. So, the researchers can see which species bite more, are more likely to spread diseases among cattle and at what point in the season.

This study will end in 2027.

A new anaplasmosis test

Alongside this research, another project is underway to create a reliable anaplasmosis test.

Currently, the diagnostic tests used for anaplasmosis are Giemsa-stained blood smears and serologic tests, according to Merck Animal Health. The bovine blood smear tests blood samples from the animal for the bacterial parasite that causes anaplasmosis.

Serologic tests are used to identify antibodies against Anaplasma marginale in cattle, which suggests past or present infection. These tests can help diagnose carrier animals who may be spreading the disease and not showing clinical symptoms, but it is not very accurate. The tests often misdiagnose anaplasmosis because the bacteria are similar to those from other diseases. This is why Dergousoff wants to make a more reliable, accurate test.

“A rapid test would be very beneficial, but also because some tests have had the problem where they’ve said that animals are infected with Anaplasma marginale, but it really was something else or not at all,” he says. “So they’re not perfect, and no test is, but we’re looking for an improvement.”

Dergousoff is working with beef producers and their veterinarians to take blood samples from their herd and test them for the presence of Anaplasma marginale. This will determine which animals are infected, even if they are not showing clinical signs of infection.

To create the new test, Dergousoff says they have to look closely at the molecules present and at the Anaplasma marginale bacteria.

Then, they will develop a method for testing and preparing the blood and start making a prototype for a device for blood testing. The goal is to create a device that can be used by producers so they can determine the health of their animals while doing other things, such as branding or vaccinating.

“It could potentially be simple enough for anybody to use and quick enough so that it can just be that chute-side rapid test,” he says.

They are working in areas of the country with the highest risk: Manitoba and south-central B.C. Manitoba was picked because of the historical context of the disease in the province. Southern B.C. was selected because they have seen misdiagnosed cases there.

“We don’t necessarily suspect that there will be Anaplasma marginale there,” Dergousoff says. “You can always be surprised, but they may be very useful samples to use in the development of our test if there’s a bacteria present there that’s very similar that we want to exclude from the test.”

The timeline for this project is less concrete — there are many things to accomplish before it can become commercially available. Dergousoff says he hopes to have a prototype in the next few years.

Anaplasmosis impact

Though anaplasmosis is a disease not many think about and was removed in 2014 from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s list of federally reportable diseases, it should still be on people’s radar.

“Sometimes the risk might be low, but also those things change over time. We’re seeing changes in the distribution of the ticks that can transmit this,” Dergousoff says.

Factors such as the number of ticks and flies are subject to change, which is why research like this is important.

Knowing about this issue is also important because that knowledge can help with prevention.

“Awareness is a big issue, because then we could take measures to maybe prevent these things before they become a big issue,” Dergousoff says. “So if we understand these things ahead of time, especially if we have a good, even better test … those kinds of things will help things from becoming a much larger issue over time.”

Rochon says while anaplasmosis isn’t currently an issue, that doesn’t mean producers shouldn’t be aware of what it is and what the effect might be.

“These little things can have an impact. And the little decisions sometimes can lead to problems that you don’t necessarily notice right away. And so I think being aware that this is something that is in Canada and might be becoming more prevalent, we don’t know.”

Dergousoff says they are currently looking for more producers in Manitoba and in southern B.C. to get involved in their research, to look at the risk and potential presence of anaplasmosis in the area. Data from B.C., specifically, would help them determine what other bacteria are confusing current diagnostic tests and eliminate them from their tests. There is financial compensation for involvement in the study.

If there is a positive test on an operation, researchers will notify the local vet and chief veterinary officer for the province. After a case of anaplasmosis is reported, the chief veterinary officer usually doesn’t require disease control measures. However, they may provide information and diagnostic support to help herd owners manage the infection and reduce the risk of spreading to other herds.

“It’s important to recognize these cases so we know what’s going on. But it’s also important to support the producers,” Dergousoff says.

The post Tick research focuses on insects and testing appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

It started when he was a child. While most kids his age would have been playing with their friends or involved in hobbies, Lawes was already looking forward to his future, hanging out at the auction mart and developing his chant. What he wanted to do with the rest of his life was never a question.

“I think I was 10 or 12 years old when I knew I was going to be an auctioneer,” Lawes says.

Now, he has achieved that childhood dream. This spring, Lawes won the Livestock Markets Association of Canada’s Canadian Livestock Auctioneering Championship in Brandon.

He grew up near Provost, Alta., and spent his formative years at the Provost Livestock Exchange.

His grandfather moved to Provost in 1972 and purchased the livestock exchange in 1976. The business remains in the family with Lawes’s father, Dean, now a co-owner alongside Darcy Lakevold. Both Lawes and his brother, Jesse, work at the livestock exchange as fieldmen while also nurturing their passion for auctioneering.

“Both my grandpa on my mom’s side and my granddad on my dad’s side were auctioneers, and my dad’s an auctioneer, so it was kind of bred right into me to be an auctioneer, and I feel very blessed that I do enjoy it,” Lawes says.

Before working full-time at the Provost Livestock Exchange, he attended Lakeland College in Vermilion, Alta., and obtained his ag business diploma. Following that, he moved to Billings, Montana, to attend auctioneer school.

He now lives in Provost with his wife, Makayla, and their four children.

Lawes also competes in rodeo in steer wrestling, and in 2024 he was named the Lakeland steer wrestling champion.

Part of the reason Lawes is so passionate about auctioneering is because of the role he plays in selling cattle.

“These ranchers trust in you to gather all the dollars available that day, and I take great pride in sitting up there and marketing their cattle.”

Lawes emphasizes the importance of the auction mart for true price discovery. He says it is the fairest way to get the best price for cattle. The auctioneer helps with that by talking about the reputation of the ranch and its breeding programs.

And, with the current cattle prices, it is a good time to be in the industry.

“It’s very satisfying as an auctioneer … because these ranchers are very hard-working people, and they appreciate every penny you get for them, and they appreciate your hard work.”

While there are many benefits to being an auctioneer and it is rewarding, it is hard to get your foot in the door.

Lawes says he was lucky to have access to the Provost Livestock Exchange and to have auctioneers who would let him have mic time.

“They really pushed us young guys to get up there and get better. Make yourself better, build a path, build a career.”

Other challenges for auctioneers are maintaining their voice throughout the sale and keeping the sale’s momentum going.

Lawes has been involved with the Livestock Markets Association of Canada for many years and has competed in the auctioneer competition many times. In 2019, he won Rookie of the Year, and in 2023, his brother, Jesse, won the championship.

Both of those events drove Lawes to chase his win.

“Winning Rookie of the Year, it built a lot of fire and gave me some confidence that I was able to compete there.”

Though Lawes went into the 2025 auctioneer competition with high hopes, when he was named the winner, the whole thing felt surreal.

Lawes competed against 38 other auctioneers from across Canada this year. Together, they auctioned 5,111 head of cattle for total sales of more than $16.8 million.

Tyler Slawinski was the reserve champion, Russell Allison was rookie of the year, Rob Bergevin won high point interview, Kody Lakevold was most improved auctioneer and Blaine Hutson took home contestants’ choice.

Lawes competed in the International Livestock Auctioneer Championship in Calgary in July. While he hopes to compete in the World Livestock Auctioneering Championship in the future, for now, he is focusing on spending time with his family.

Lawes is on the Livestock Markets Association of Canada board and plans to continue supporting the organization.

“I am thankful for my family, thankful for my mom and dad and my wife and my brother, Jesse, and thankful for the Lakevold family for allowing me to go to these competitions and represent us on a Canadian level.”

As an award-winning auctioneer, Lawes knows how hard it can be for up-and-coming auctioneers to reach a professional level.

“The biggest advice I could give for up-and-coming auctioneers is just be genuine. Be yourself. Be passionate and respectful. Humble and kind is going to take you a long, long way.”

The post Auctioneering runs in Lawes family’s blood appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Tessa Thomas, a livestock and feed extension specialist with the Government of Saskatchewan, spoke about biosecurity at the Livestock Happy Hour at AIM on Tuesday, July 16. She said while biosecurity in the beef industry is not as thorough as in other livestock industries, it is just as important.

“Disease spread may not be on top of mind,” she said.

Follow all of our Ag in Motion coverage at the Western Producer.

“You get kind of used to your day-to-day routine, but you never know when disease can strike, and just some of our day-to-day actions can be improved to prevent that spread.”

When certain diseases spread, they can impact the state of Canada’s imports and exports, which means it is important to know what is going on when it comes to disease on an operation.

Thomas recommends having a biosecurity checklist. Many small things can be done, such as:

• Disinfect your boots and trailer.
• Keep animal movement and health records.
• Work with a vet.
• Have a herd health management program.
• Avoid bringing in dairy calves or calves from other farms.
• Isolate new animals.
• Isolate animals showing signs of illness.
• Avoid shared fence lines with other ranches (if possible).
• Have a disease response plan and a plan for disposing of dead livestock.
• Clean drinking facilities and feeders/bunks.
• Have a written biosecurity plan in place.

“There are a lot of small steps that we can take to make our farms just a little bit more biosecure,” Thomas said.

When disinfecting your boots and trailer, using household bleach is good enough, unless the disease is parasitic. She advised using a 1:32 ratio of water to bleach, but if you are concerned about disease, use a 1:10 ratio.

She also highlighted investigating deaths to figure out exactly what may be going on.

“Investigating deaths is something I know some people struggle with. I know there’s no way to save that animal, so sometimes it’s hard to put extra money out when they’re already dead, but it’s key to understand why that animal died, and it could save you a lot of money in the end,” Thomas said.

Though the checklist may seem like it consists of a lot of things, Thomas said the biggest thing with a biosecurity plan is that it doesn’t have to be complicated.

“You don’t have to go out of your way to make a really complicated thing. It’s easier to make something simple that you can follow and follow through with because small changes become habits. With big changes, sometimes it’s hard to follow through with things, so it’s always better to start small.”

The post Ag in Motion speaker highlights need for biosecurity on cattle operations appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“Obviously a huge blow to the benchmark beef price,” said CCA vice president Tyler Fulton. “I think many of us would respond, ‘well, it’s a good thing we’ve got cattle prices where they’re at now in that event,’ but in any case, it will cause huge uncertainty.”

CCA presented findings from an economic study at the Saskatchewan Beef Industry Conference in Saskatoon this week. U.S. President Donald Trump has said he is considering levying 25 per cent tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico them early as Feb. 1. Potential effects of those tariffs was a major theme at the conference.

With the threat of tariffs looming, the CCA has been focusing its attention on the United States, attending as many different producer meetings in as many different states as possible.

However, Fulton was surprised by how little producers in the U.S. are talking about tariffs.

“This is not on their radar. This is not something that they’re concerned about, which I found shocking. So that’s the context.”

Because the U.S. is such a key market, Canada Beef is looking at contingency plans to deal with tariffs, including honing in on key markets such as Hong Kong, said Albert Eringfeld, the vice president of that organization. Canada has a 22 per cent share in the U.S. beef market – 80 per cent of Canadian cattle go south.

“Obviously, if that happens and it were to last long term and where we would shift our marketing, not only here in the domestic market, but also in the international markets, where there’s … potential outside of the US,” Eringfeld said.

While it is still up in the air if Trump will implement tariffs, market analyst Kevin Grier said he thinks it will happen. He said it’s important for producers to operate as if the tariffs will be implemented, to be best prepared.

When it comes to the cow-calf producer, tariffs don’t have to hurt right away said Grier. Instead, those producers are able to wait and see what happens.

“The industry should be able to wait it out,” Grier said. “They’re not like a cattle feeder that’s got cattle that have to move. It’s not like a packer that’s got meat that’s got to move. A cow-calf guy probably did most of the marketing already, and hopefully, they can wait it out. There’s no set reason why cattle have to move right now.”

Packers, however, are another story. Canadian packers are dependent on the U.S. for 20 per cent of their production. Canada is currently planning to counter with retaliatory tariffs despite opposition from Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. This means it’s likely that fewer cattle from the U.S. will be coming into Canada.

“Either we might put a tariff on their beef, let’s say, or we just wouldn’t import it because we got so much up here that could be sold. But even take into account the net exports, still 20 per cent of (packers) production goes to the United States,” Grier said.

“It’s all bad news on the fed cattle and on the beef side.”

The feeder side of things will be feeling the pressure too because of the need to move cattle. Grier said the amount of risk for feeders when buying cattle is larger than ever.

Will Lowe, the chair of the National Cattle Feeders Association, said he is concerned that tariffs could cause a crisis. However, he noted that it’s not just Canada that will feel the effects – the United States will, as well.

“The US has the risk of running those plants under capacity, and depending on how long that situation goes on, they run the risk of doing some major damage, especially in the Pacific Northwest,” Lowe said.

Canada exports a large amount of fat cattle into the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S.

There’s not a lot of opposition to Trump’s tariffs on the U.S. side of the industry. Lowe said he continues to push the effect they will have on both countries.

“The thing that needs to be highlighted to them is the impacts on their own industry. Telling them about the impacts on ours, you’re not going to have any weight with those arguments. It’s got to be weighed to the impacts on their economy, their industry because it’s such an integrated … business in North America,” Lowe said.

The post Threat of tariffs looms at Saskatchewan Beef Industry Conference appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Getting DNA samples is adding another task to an already exhausting to-do list, but some in the industry argue those samples could bring benefit and may become the norm in the sector.

According to Sydney Tuckwiller and Paige Pratt, the benefits of taking DNA samples are almost countless.

“It’s amazing what we can do with this technology, and especially the information that we can gather from an earlier age,” Tuckwiller says.

Both Tuckwiller and Pratt are genomics experts at Neogen Corporation, a Michigan-based food safety and animal health company. While Neogen serves both companion and performance animals, on the beef side of things they focus on genomics for cow-calf, feedlot and seed stock.

Both decision-making and the producer’s bottom line might be informed by a DNA test, allowing the producer to invest in the animals most likely to give them better bang for their buck.

“If we have a better idea of what that calf is at an earlier age, then we can start making decisions sooner and then not having to spend so much money on the input on those individuals, because at the end of the day, that’s what ends up costing us money,” Tuckwiller said.

“And we don’t want to have to hold on to something that is only going to cost us money in the long run and doesn’t meet our breeding objectives.”

Pratt also noted that, on her own operation, DNA testing allows her to be more confident in her cattle and to know the quality of the animals she is selling.

Sean McGrath is a rancher and consultant in Vermilion. He says implementing DNA testing has been one of the most beneficial things he has done on his operation.

“Especially from a seed stock perspective, the quicker you can figure out with a high degree of certainty the pedigree on that animal, it sets you up to have a good start,” he said.

Sampling logistics

There are multiple ways to get a DNA sample. The most common are a hair sample or tissue sample.

Hair, sourced from the tail, neck or poll, is the easiest to get, but also the most likely to fail. There must be enough root of the hair to test. It also can be more expensive than the tissue sample, because it requires lab technicians to separate the entire hair follicle, which is more labour-intensive.

Experts instead suggest that tissue sampling units (TSUs) are the recommended way to go.

“The TSUs have less fail rate, they speed up the process and… they are easier to take than any other method,” Pratt said.

The unit punches out a sample from the calf’s ear. It’s also not wasted labour. Many applicators have the ability to install an ear tag at the same time.

“I think every seed stock producer should do it if they’re serious about producing genetics for the marketplace,” McGrath said.

The producer advised his fellow farmers to make sure each sample is well labelled, avoiding calf identification mix ups, and sent for testing promptly.

“That sample doesn’t do any good sitting on the desk or sitting in a filing cabinet. So you need to have a system where you’re actually actively sending those things in and getting test results,” he said.

The cost of a DNA sample depends on where you get it and what you want the lab to test. For example, the AllFlex tissue sampling unit can cost around US$30 for a box of 10. NeoGen’s costs around US$20 for a box of 10. Neither includes the price of the applicator.

You will also have to pay to have the DNA samples processed in a lab. However, there are ways to save money.

“You don’t have to test for everything. You might want to do a high-density test and have the genetic evaluation of it more accurate to set EPDs (expected progeny differences) on a calf,” McGrath said. “You might not have to test homo polled or colour until that bull makes your bull sale.”

He says if you already have the sample collected and sent to the lab, you can ask them to test for other things in the future — you don’t have to pull the sample again.

A dry ear is also key, Pratt noted. “If mother’s fluids are still on that calf, we’re going to have cross-contamination…Do not clean it with any disinfectants or cleaners. Just wipe it dry with the towel and then take that sample,” she said.

Producers are also warned against leaving the unit in a truck overnight or in other places where it could freeze or (later in the year) get too hot, increasing failure risk.

When to sample

There is no hard-and-fast deadline for taking a DNA sample, as long as it is early enough in the calf’s life. During calving, however, is a logical choice, because you can tag the calf as you take the DNA sample. Some farmers also sample at weaning.

“Originally, we took them at preconditioning for weaning,” Pratt said of her operation. “And then by weaning we would have the results. We felt like maybe we needed to back that up in our operation to give us even more time to be able to kind of put it all together.”

Producers should give themselves enough time to take the sample, send it into the lab, and allow processing time before they start making decisions about the future of the calf.

Genomic record-keeping

When it comes to the importance of genomic record-keeping, Pratt says it’s becoming more and more widespread across the beef industry.

“You don’t have to do it (keep genomic records), but you do have to compete against the guy down the road that is.”

Dairy, poultry and pork have already been genetic testing for years, and it’s a staple in those industries. The grain industry, too, is constantly improving its technology. Pratt believes it’s time for the beef industry to catch up.

“You can get on the cart, or you can be left behind,” she said.

With more people using genetic testing, technology continues to improve as well.

“The same money you would have spent five years ago or 10 years ago, you’re getting way more powerful tests. And that’s not going to stop, that’s continuing. So, I think that’s pretty exciting,” McGrath says.

The post DNA sampling could be the next calving season norm appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Sarah Klopatek is the chief livestock scientist at JBS where she focuses on cattle system dynamics and sustainability in livestock. She spoke at the Saskatchewan Beef Industry Conference on January 29 in Saskatoon, Sask.

Frequently, the beef industry is criticized for being bad for the environment. Cattle are well known for the methane they produce and have been under fire for emitting more greenhouse gases than other forms of agriculture.

However, Klopatek says this isn’t the full story. In total, livestock equal about 4.8 per cent of all direct emissions in Canada, with cattle making up half of that number. If you include indirect emissions and how many greenhouse gases are emitted from farm to plate, the ag sector totals around 30 per cent globally.

“It’s going to be higher because it’s including all of the other sectors to get the food to your plate, and it includes the emissions from after you throw your plate out,” Klopatek said. “Globally, the systems are not nearly as efficient in developing nations as they are in Canada and the United States.”

Developed nations emit less greenhouse gases for the amount of beef they produce because of the focus on efficiency. Klopatek said it takes developing countries four animals to produce the same amount of beef as one cow in Canada.

“There is extreme variation in carbon intensities in different beef cattle systems across the world. And so we’re looking at ten to 15 to 50 to 100 times greater in different systems.”

So, when focusing on global emissions, the solution isn’t to eat less meat – instead, it is to help developing countries become more efficient, she said. This is why countries like Canada and the United States are producing more meat than ever, even though their cattle herds are decreasing.

And, from 2014 to 2024, the Canadian beef sector has decreased its greenhouse gas emissions by 17.5 per cent.

“We cannot let people wiggle out of the efficiency angle, because at the end of the day, yes, we need to lower emissions and we need to produce more food. If you put resources into these nations that are using four cows instead of one, that’s how you can help fix food security, and that’s how you can truly reduce emissions,” Klopatek said.

Overall, management style is what can significantly affect greenhouse gas emissions. Klopatek said if you want to make a difference in your carbon footprint, you should have goals that you adapt your management practices to achieve. Examples of this are health, grazing, genetics, etc.

She said it is also important to combat misinformation about the beef industry and spread the word about the good work that is being done by cattle producers.

“There is a great deal that can be done. And to be honest, it’s not going out and being like, here’s your CV. What it is management, is continued efficiency of the system, and it’s doing what the US and Canada has done over the last 50 years, and it’s getting that out to the world,” she said.

“Efficiency is so important, because it’s everything, it’s greenhouse gases, it’s profitability, it’s food security.”

The post Efficiency called key to reducing beef industry carbon footprint appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

That’s what CRSB executive director Monica Hadarits had to say at the Western Canada Conference on Soil Health and Grazing held this week in Edmonton.

In July of 2024, the CRSB’s consumer research found a positive outlook on the industry from consumers. They surveyed around 2000 Canadians asking for their thoughts on the industry and about the National Beef Sustainability Assessment, which CRSB put out in January of 2024.

They found that 92 per cent of Canadians eat beef, up two per cent from 2022. They also found that 55 per cent of people say the industry’s sustainability is excellent or good, 28 per cent called it acceptable, 11 per cent were unsure and six per cent say it is poor or very poor. That number has gone down four per cent from 2022.

Thirty-four per cent of respondents said they have a good idea of what makes beef sustainable, 46 per cent said they don’t know much about beef sustainabilty but are okay with that, and 20 per cent said they don’t know and would like to learn more

When asked what they most want to learn about the beef industry, 69 per cent said they wanted to know more about animal health and welfare, 57 per cent wanted to know about the safe production of food and 49 per cent said they wanted to learn how beef production contributes to maintaining or enhancing wildlife habitat and biodiversity, among other things.

Hadarits said this data will help them continue to teach consumers about the industry — especially about sustainability.

“The way that we use this information at CRSB is to share it with folks like yourselves, but also to help us in our communications and marketing strategies,” she said. “When we’re working through the next year, really focusing on those that say it’s acceptable because they’re kind of on the fence, and then those that are unsure.”

She said they also want to spend more time connecting with producers.

“We have heard pretty loud and clear the last year that we need to be in front of producers more, and so we’re working through strategies on that. We’re a very small staff … but you are the foundation of our industry, so that’s something that we’ve committed to working on and doing better on.”

The post CRSB consumer survey finds Canadians generally bullish on beef appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

In a one-hour presentation at the Western Canada Conference on Soil Health and Grazing in Edmonton, Alta. on December 12, he passed some of that knowledge on to conference attendees.

“If you own soil, we have to be able to look at what we’re doing and be able to see the changes. The power of observation is many times much greater than the data that goes with that observation,” Bieber said at the start of his presentation.

Bieber is a retired farmer from South Dakota, U.S. He travels the world, talking and teaching about soil health. Though his son has now taken over their operation, known as Soil Care, Bieber is still passionate about farming and soil.

When he started, though, it wasn’t to fix his soil – it was to cut costs and increase profits. The benefits to his soil came along with that.

To him, the most important part of soil health is letting the biology in the soil do what comes naturally.

“I’m just basically asking my soil biology, ‘do your job,’” Bieber said.

He said he saw the most success on their operation by doing a combination of long-term no-till and cover cropping. It’s important to keep the soil covered, to protect the biology, he said. If the soil is exposed, then the  soil’s biology will be disturbed by things like rain and chemicals.

“Look at tillage as being a disturbance, and it is,” Biever said. “That’s a physical disturbance. But we also have our biological disturbances, the herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, pesticides, they’re biological disturbances that cause the biology to not perform in balances.”

Bieber also used a version of adaptive rotational grazing, with both pastureland and on their cover crops. He said cows help with soil health because they move organic matter around with their grazing.

“These are our biological distributors because they’re taking what’s out on that native range land, and they’re bringing it out, and they’re spreading it very uniformly throughout our field,” he said. “That’s all we need. We don’t need to have that full coverage of manure out there, as long as we have it like that.”

Bieber said in addition to the cattle, the diversity of the plants grown has to support what the livestock bring to the land. He says it is important to listen to what your land is telling you and then to respond.

“We keep getting told, ‘Do it here, do it there. This is how to do it.’ But we never get the answers of why, and your soils will tell you the why.”

The Western Canada Conference on Grazing and Soil Health ended Thursday afternoon after three days and over 15 speakers. Topics ranged from cover crops and intercrops, grazing methods, types of forages to use, microbes and microbiomes and more.

The post South Dakota farmer focuses on soil biology appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Set around the events of the 2024 Ag in Motion, which takes place every July near Langham, Sask. and is one of the biggest farm shows in Western Canada, the first episode is called “Working Cattle,” and focuses on the cattle producers who attend Ag in Motion and the equipment that is shown at Ag in Motion for the cattle sector.

Rob O’Connor, show director of Ag in Motion, said at the launch that he was very excited to see the first episode of the documentary go live.

“To have something this dedicated to the show out there for people to see, and to listen to the different people who participate at the show and how it affects them, it’s kind of cool,” he said following the premiere.

The first episode features O’Connor both on his ranch and at Ag in Motion, working to make the event run smoothly. It also features Canadian Cattlemen editor Lisa Guenther, Glacier FarmMedia lead of exhibit sales and programming Melonee Ochitwa and many people within the industry.

O’Connor said Ag in Motion is a pinnacle of the agriculture industry, and so it is important to showcase it in this way.

“I think it’s an opportunity for the industry to showcase what’s out there for the people who are investing in that industry and producing the ingredients that go into our food,” he said.

“I just really like the focus on how the different aspects of the livestock industry, whether it’s the manufacturers or the livestock producers, are benefiting from (Ag in Motion). The trade show aspect is about business, but it does more than that. It’s not just creating business, it’s also supporting the lifestyle of those people.”

The episode went live on YouTube Nov. 27 following the launch event. The second episode, focusing on equipment, will be privately launched at the Western Canadian Crop Production show in January, with the third episode to follow in February.

“I’m really excited about how we’re going to probably see the next two episodes evolve into how many more people are affected by the show, and the positive outcomes that it gives to the community and to those people’s businesses,” O’Connor said.

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