Livestock
Reading Time: 2 minutes Environmental factors clearly affect the health of leafcutter bees and colony development, but more research is needed to determine which factors affect what aspects of the bee’s life cycle, according to an American bee expert. “The last questions left are always the most difficult to answer,” Theresa Pitts-Singer of Utah State University told alfalfa producers […] Read more
Leafcutter beekeepers urged to keep a close watch on their colonies
New processing plant will make rabbit sector “a major player”
Reading Time: 3 minutes A new processing plant is just what Alberta’s rabbit sector needs to hop to the next level, says Marion Popkin, who has been the spark plug for developing the sector. Popkin has been raising rabbits at her operation in Valleyview since 2008, one of about 20 producers in the region, and helped form the Alberta […] Read more
Alta. backs ag societies for youth leadership work
Agricultural societies in Alberta will get extra funding this year toward farming-related leadership development activities for youth in the province. "Currently, the average age of Alberta’s producers is 51; we need to change that," Agriculture Minister Evan Berger said in a release Friday. Berger pledged $2 million this year for ag societies, with a portion […] Read more
Sask. cattle producers to double checkoff
Members of the Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association have approved a plan to double the provincial checkoff levy on cattle sales to $2 a head. The decision came in the form of a resolution passed at the SCA’s recent annual meeting in Saskatoon, noting lobbying expenses and international marketing expenses "continue to increase" while the provincial checkoff […] Read more
Dairy farmers to pilot animal care assessment plan
Canada’s dairy farmers plan to draft and test-pilot an animal care assessment model that would help ensure treatment of animals on farms within an accepted code of practice. Dairy Farmers of Canada said Wednesday it will conduct a pilot program using a draft animal care assessment model (ACAM) being developed through the National Farm Animal […] Read more
Dairy farmers launch new supply-management defense
Their system of revenue under renewed jabs from various angles, Canada’s dairy farmers have compiled their retorts into a new online campaign. Dairy Farmers of Canada on Wednesday launched a website dubbed YourMilk.ca, which organizes the case for the country’s dairy industry into three sections: one on the industry’s benefits to the public, producers and […] Read more
Drozd: Cattle rally to new historical high to begin 2012
Live cattle and feeder cattle rallied to a new historical high last week. In reaching $150, feeder cattle prices achieved a technical measurement derived from a rectangle pattern. Rectangles, or box formations as they are sometimes called, are found frequently on futures price charts. Most of the time, they are continuation, or sideways consolidation patterns, […] Read more
Former Molson, Dollarama exec to lead Agropur
Major dairy co-operative Agropur has found its new chief executive sitting on its own board of directors. The Montreal-based co-op on Wednesday named Robert Coallier, a former executive with Molson Coors and Dollarama, as its new CEO effective Feb. 27. He replaces Pierre Claprood, who retires effective March 1 after eight years as CEO and […] Read more
Top Sask. cattle auctioneer Sheldon Nicholson, 45
Memorial services are planned for Thursday at Tugaske, Sask. for noted livestock auctioneer and market manager Sheldon Nicholson, who died Monday at age 45. Manager of the Yorkton, Sask. marketing centre for Heartland Livestock Services, Nicholson was also a competitive auctioneer, placing in the top 10 in the annual Livestock Markets Association of Canada championships […] Read more
CN train strikes loaded cattle truck in SW Man.
Thick fog is blamed for the deaths of an unknown number of cattle when the semi-trailer carrying them was hit by a freight train Tuesday night in southwestern Manitoba. According to RCMP at Carberry, Man., a semi-trailer carrying 82 cattle was southbound on Highway 5 north of the town around 11 p.m. when the trailer […] Read more
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