Just in time for Christmas, the Beef Cattle On-Farm Biosecurity Standard is complete and available online for that hard-to-please bovine on your gift list. And if all goes to plan, an owner’s version should by ready by then, too. "The standard has been published. We’re still working on a producer’s manual that will be an […] Read more
Canada-wide cattle biosecurity standard ready to roll
All Alberta potatoes aren’t grown around Taber
Reading Time: 3 minutes Helmet Leili has had a lot to learn in a short period of time as the new executive director of the Potato Growers of Alberta (PGA). “There’s been a lot to learn, but it’s very interesting,” he said. Headquartered in Taber, the PGA represents 135 potato growers in the province. In 2012, a total of […] Read more
Alberta Beef Producers meeting calls for inquiry into CFIA handling of XL Foods recall
MEDIA INATTENTION While the media couldn’t get enough of the safety aspect of the recall story, ABP’s chairman says the cattle industry wasn’t given a proper chance to tell its side of the story
Reading Time: 2 minutes There should be an independent inquest into the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s handling of the E. coli contamination and meat recall at XL Foods, say members of Alberta Beef Producers Zone 2. “I appreciate that the Beef Value Chain Round Table is going to review this, but that’s not good enough,” said Bill Newton, the […] Read moreNine grizzlies in one day scare Beaver Mines family
TOO MANY BEARS A rancher in the southwest corner of the province is applying to carry a handgun for his own protection
Reading Time: 3 minutes Ryan McClelland likes bears, but he doesn’t want to end up in the belly of one. “I don’t leave the house anymore without packing a gun with me,” he said. He lives near Beaver Mines, a small hamlet southwest of Pincher Creek, with his wife Jessica and their three children. McClelland is the fourth generation on […] Read moreScience broadcaster calls chronic wasting disease “a slow-motion epidemic”
MEDICAL MYSTERIES Jay Ingram reprises popular lecture tour on prion diseases, which include CWD, BSE and scrapie, as well as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
Reading Time: 2 minutes Albertans will get a chance to learn more about the “fascinating” world of prions when well-known author and broadcaster Jay Ingram hits the road for a second lecture tour on prion diseases. “Last time we went to Medicine Hat, Grand Prairie and Red Deer and there were good turnouts, and very interested audiences with good […] Read moreNot all cattlemen happy with JBS deal
Reading Time: < 1 minute R-CALF USA says it’s not happy with the news JBS USA will operate and perhaps purchase XL Foods, now reopened after several weeks of being shut down due to E. coli contamination. It wasn’t just XL’s Brooks plant on the table — the deal comes with a plant in Calgary and two cow-killing plants in […] Read more
National on-farm biosecurity standard for cattle completed
GROWING TREND Biosecurity plans started in Canada as the result of avian influenza, but have now spread to all sectors
Reading Time: 2 minutes Just in time for Christmas, the Beef Cattle On-Farm Biosecurity Standard is complete and available online for that hard-to-please bovine on your gift list. And if all goes to plan, an owner’s version should by ready by then, too. “The standard has been published. We’re still working on a producer’s manual that will be an […] Read morePrion institute granted three more years of funding
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Alberta Prion Research Institute (APRI) was founded in 2005, and given an initial seven-year mandate which recently expired. “Our funding has been continued by the Alberta government for three years, which we’re very pleased about. There are still some challenges there, it’s a bridge not completely built by any means,” said executive director Kevin […] Read more
Glenwood’s cheese plant now a powdered milk plant
Reading Time: < 1 minute It’s no longer a cheese plant and the workforce has dropped from more than 80 to 20, but the dairy plant here is still in business. Located in the County of Cardston, Glenwood is a village nestled south of Highway No. 3 and home to just 300 people or so. “We make skim milk powder […] Read more
The world’s top plowmen and women descend on Olds in 2013
SERIOUS BUSINESS The 60th World Plowing Championship is a big deal to people and fans all around the world
Reading Time: 2 minutes The countdown until the 60th World Plowing Championship is on, and Alberta’s very own Olds College is hosting the event as part of its centennial celebrations. Olds College turns 100 in 2013, and a series of major events is being held to commemorate it throughout the year. The international plowing event will be held on […] Read moreCyber-Savvy Farmer
