Livestock
Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta’s cattle producers will have until individual cattle are 10 months old to apply radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to their animals, starting March 1. The provincial government said in late December that it would repeal its Traceability Livestock Identification Regulation and replace it with a new Traceability Cattle Identification Regulation taking effect March 1, […] Read more
Province Extends Deadline For RFID Tags To Mar. 1
Taiwan Seeks Talks With U.S. After Banning Beef
Reading Time: 2 minutes The beef issue has handed Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou one of his biggest crises since he took office in 2008. Taiwan, eager to mend trade ties with the U.S. a day after overturning part of a deal to import U.S. beef products, said Jan. 6 it would seek to reopen talks with its biggest ally. […] Read more
Gene Technology Revolutionizing Swine Breeding
Reading Time: 4 minutes New DNA analysis techniques, which have developed rapidly in recent years, are starting to revolutionize livestock breeding, geneticist Dr. Patrick Charagu, with Hypor Inc, told delegates at the recent Saskatchewan Swine Symposium. These new technologies will speed up genetic progress dramatically and deliver huge benefits to producers, he says. Over the last 20 years, the […] Read more
New Test For Sheep Parasite
Reading Time: < 1 minute Researchers at Oregon State University and the University of Georgia say they have developed an improved, more efficient method to test for the most serious of the parasitic worms in sheep. The researchers say the test will allow a faster, easier and less expensive way to test for the presence and quantity of Haemonchus contortus, […] Read more
Care And Feeding Of The Healthy Alpaca
Reading Time: 2 minutes “All I’m looking at is balance, and it starts with a forage level of 14 per cent” For a healthy, lustrous alpaca fibre on the outside, start with the inside, says a Kentucky veterinarian who spoke at seminars during Farm Fair. “Nutrition is important for you to manifest and maintain those genetics,” said Norm Evans, […] Read more
If You Want To Breed Your Alpaca…
Reading Time: 3 minutes “We have breeders in the States that are going out of business because they can’t control the parasites.” It turns out that humans aren’t the only ones attracted to alpacas, those cute South American imports that are increasingly common on the Prairies lately. Parasites love them as well, and control can be tricky, says Norm […] Read more
U.S. retailers build up Canadian beef under COOL
The mandatory country-of-origin labelling (COOL) requirements that now hang over Canadian beef in U.S. retail meat cases are being leveraged in some regional-level stores to build “unique” store brands. That’s according to the Beef Information Centre, a marketing and communications arm of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, which said in a release Friday that it’s been […] Read more
Sask. to dump hatchery, poultry licensing rules
Saskatchewan’s agriculture ministry has plans afoot to repeal the provincial regulations requiring licensing in the hatchery and poultry industries. In a “red tape reduction update” report issued Wednesday by Enterprise Saskatchewan, the province said the ag ministry is “currently working toward” repealing the Saskatchewan Hatchery Regulations and Saskatchewan Poultry Regulations. According to the report, the […] Read more
Quebec ag minister Bechard hospitalized
A recurrence of previously-treated pancreatic cancer has put Quebec’s agriculture minister in hospital for at least the next 10 days. The provincial government reported Thursday morning that Claude Bechard, 40, had entered hospital due to a tumour on his pancreas obstructing his small intestine near the bile duct. “This obstruction has provoked an infection that […] Read more
New operators sought for Stanley Park Farmyard
The Children’s Farmyard in Vancouver’s storied Stanley Park is in need of a new operator and business plan if it’s to stay in business past the end of April. The Vancouver Park Board recently voted to put forward a “request for expressions of interest” for any parties to submit written business cases or concept plans […] Read more
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