LivestockRAISING THE BAR Ensuring the bottom wire is 45 cm off the ground means animals can safely pass under the barbed wire
Reading Time: 2 minutes Like raised welts from a brutal whipping, barbed wire fences crisscross Alberta’s native grasslands as far as the eye can see. Many landowners are aware of the injury and mortality the unforgiving fences can cause wildlife, but the prospect of switching all bottom barbed wire for the safer smooth variety is a daunting task. “For […] Read moreSmall changes can make a big difference
Pound Maker ram sale draws large crowd
Top seller A Suffolk consigned by Bert and Andrelei Grisnich sold for $1,650 to Paul Preston of Hays
Reading Time: < 1 minute Attendance was up and the bidding action was hot at the Fort MacLeod Auction market where the sixth annual Pound Maker Yearling Ram Sale was held on May 24. Warren and Norine Moore, who operate Second Chance Livestock Company near Stavely, hold the event every year, with Andy and Frances Pittman, Bert and Andrelei Grisnich, Graham […] Read moreFourth case of BSE discovered in the U.S.
Two types H type and L type were discovered as a result of better science and testing methods
Reading Time: 3 minutes The USDA announced on April 24 it had discovered its fourth case of BSE in a California dairy cow — the first animal to test positive in the U.S. since 2006. Trade disruptions are not expected as a result of the latest American case. Within 12 hours of the announcement, some South Korean retailers were […] Read moreAlberta Angus breeder elected V-P of Canada Beef Breeds Council
BULL MARKET It’s been a long time coming, but the market looks strong for all cattle sectors
Reading Time: 2 minutes David Bolduc says Canadian purebred cattle raised today aren’t as good as they used to be. They’re better, says the newly elected vice-president of the Canadian Beef Breeds Council (CBBC). “We all think that the cattle we raised years ago were really good cattle, and they probably were, but I truly believe that the cattle […] Read moreChinese-backed pork plant in Montana may be coming
Reading Time: 2 minutes Montana pork producers are taking a wait-and-see approach in regard to a new pork-processing plant at Shelby that could draw large numbers of Canadian hogs. Governor Brian Schweitzer announced in February that Chinese investors were interested in developing a facility capable of processing 800,000 pigs. But additional details are scarce. “At this point there’s no […] Read more
New, nationwide co-op to pay more for lambs
Reading Time: 3 minutes A new, federally incorporated co-op that pledges to eliminate the $20-$25 western freight discount on lambs and breathe new life into the Canadian sheep industry will be ready to launch this fall. The Canadian Lamb Producers Co-operative (CLPC) grew out of the Saskatchewan Sheep Development board’s 2010 Canadian Lamb Initiative, which tested the feasibility of […] Read more
Organic feed grain prices may have soared too high
backfire? Brokers warn farmers holding out for even higher prices that they may miss the boat
Reading Time: 2 minutes Prices for organic grains prices may be too good and could end up pushing the organic industry over a cliff like they did in 2008-09, some buyers fear. “I’m concerned that these prices are getting too high,” said Roger Rivest, an Tilbury, Ont.-based buyer for Keystone Grain. “We’re getting a lot of resistance from feed […] Read moreIn a dugout, oxygen and light are key
Reading Time: 2 minutes In real estate, it’s all about location, location, location. For dugout water quality, it’s all about aeration, aeration, aeration, says Brandon Leask, agricultural water engineer with Alberta Agriculture in Red Deer. Speaking to Clearwater County’s West County ag tour, Leask encouraged his audience to think of dugouts as independent ecosystems. “Any time you’re adding something […] Read more
Learning to identify plants poisonous to cattle
Timing and location Toxic plants are more dangerous in the spring and alongside waterways
Reading Time: 3 minutes On the banks of the Beaver, where seldom if ever, any poisonous herbage doth grow.” That description from one of the lesser-known verses of “Home on the Range” is pretty much true in Alberta, but there are a few nasty plants out there, says Donna Lawrence, boreal forest specialist with the Rangeland Management Branch of […] Read moreSeeing the grazing forest through the rangeland trees
Stocking rate It needs to be calculated basis what cattle will eat, not total production
Reading Time: 2 minutes Forests provide 45 per cent of public grazing land in Alberta, but many graziers don’t see their potential, says Donna Lawrence, a boreal forest rangeland specialist with the Rangeland Management Branch of Alberta Environment. “Forested rangelands are more susceptible to grazing, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be grazed sustainably,” Lawrence told the 10th annual […] Read moreCyber-Savvy Farmer
