Livestock
Saskatchewan ranchers who move cattle temporarily to other provinces for summer grazing will now be reimbursed for the mandatory per-head inspection fee charged on the way out. The province has announced a new policy that will see the $1.65 per head fee refunded when those same cattle come back to the province at the end […] Read more
Sask. to cover inspections for cross-border grazing
CARGILL SETTLES E. COLI LAWSUIT
Reading Time: < 1 minute The U.S.-based Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation has reached an out-of-court settlement with a 22-year-old former dance instructor from Cold Spring, Minnesota who wound up paralyzed after eating a hamburger contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 in 2007. The confidential settlement will secure the woman’s rehabilitation and care for life. The company said in a release it […] Read more
Raising big cattle in a small space
Reading Time: 3 minutes “Some say it’s a problem, but right now it’s not an issue.” DRIES TIMMERMAN BELGIAN BLUE RANCHER Near Ostend, Belgium – Dries Timmerman is one beef producer who does not boast that his animals are “easy calvers,” but he can claim a pretty good calving percentage – 99.9 per cent. Timmerman raises purebred Belgian Blues […] Read more
TAXPAYERS, NOT COWS BEING MILKED?
Reading Time: < 1 minute Taxpayers are being milked to the tune of nearly $1 million to buy milk for three Ontario prisons after the federal government’s decision to close down the country’s network of prison farms, the NFU says. A government tender worth $990,000 is out for a milk supplier to replace the milk now supplied by the Frontenac […] Read more
Alberta withdrawal harms beef industry
Reading Time: 3 minutes The refundable beef checkoff in Alberta is still a hot topic. It does not focus on the province, but rather on the impact of refunding the checkoff to the nation. The checkoff has several layers. The first is Alberta’s contribution to the work of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA). As Alberta represents 65 per cent […] Read more
Equine Ranching Industry Has Almost Disappeared
Reading Time: < 1 minute Another round of cutbacks may see the number of equine ranches in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and North Dakota slashed to around 25, down from 64 last year. The decline in the local industry that produces pregnant mares’ urine (PMU) for use by drug manufacturing giant Wyeth in a range of medications since the turn of the […] Read more
Keep track of early calvers, and keep them in the herd
Reading Time: 3 minutes As the cattle head to the cool-season grass pastures, spring breeding plans are well underway. While most of the cows have calved, spring grass means breeding time is not far away. The other day was sunny and all the cattle felt good. Walking around the ranch, the bulls were pretty feisty and the heifers were […] Read more
Lamb and wool outlooks may be a double blessing
Reading Time: 2 minutes …the price increase (is) “some improvement” compared to a few years ago, when things were “pretty grim.” ERIC BJERGSO GENERAL MANAGER -CDN CO-OP WOOL GROWERS Wool prices have been in the doldrums for so long that sheep producers tend to ignore it as they prepare their budgets. If anything, shearing is a cost rather than […] Read more
Improving The Genetic Impact Of AI Boars
Reading Time: 3 minutes Improved assessment of the fertility of commercial AI boars and a move to single-boar AI programs would have significant economic benefit for the swine industry, says Dr. George Foxcroft of the Swine Research and Technology Centre at the University of Alberta. Identification of the most fertile boars would enable lower numbers of sperm per AI […] Read more
Research deal aims at CWD vaccine for elk, deer
Development of an injectable vaccine against chronic wasting disease (CWD) in farmed elk and deer is the first goal of a new licensing deal for further research in Saskatoon. The Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization-International Vaccine Centre (VIDO-InterVac) at the University of Saskatchewan on Wednesday signed an exclusive agreement with Pan-Provincial Vaccine Enterprise Inc. (Prevent) […] Read more
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