Livestock
Reading Time: < 1 minute More than 15,400 of Canada s 80,000 beef producers have now participated in Verified Beef Production (VBP), the national beef on-farm food safety program, says Terry Grajczyk, manager of the VBP program for the Canadian Cattlemen s Association. Using a weighted average approach, that means that 55 to 60 per cent of Canada s beef […] Read more
VBP Participation Increases
Gate To Plate Beef School
Reading Time: < 1 minute Agriculture and Rural Development and Olds College are again offering a course for beef producers, restaurateurs, food editors and food service representatives interested in learning more about quality, fabrication and marketing of beef. Topics being covered during the workshop include: live animal evaluation, quality grade, yield grade, dressing percentage and cutability. Workshops are being held […] Read more
Cutting The Volume And Odour From Feedlot Manure
Reading Time: 2 minutes Too much, and too smelly. Those are the two objections raised to manure from large feedlots, but August Liivam and his brothers Ken and Harold have a solution. The Liivams have run a manure-composting business for more than five years. The Grey Wooded Forage Association worked with them to start the operation. Manure was initially […] Read more
Increasing Canola Meal For Weanlings
Reading Time: 3 minutes With the current high feed prices, hog producers are continually looking for ways to cut costs without compromising pig performance. Nowhere is this more true than in the nursery, where the most expensive diets are consumed. Many producers are cautious about substituting cheaper raw materials for the traditional protein source of soybean meal because they […] Read more
Using Anti-Inflammatory Drugs To Reduce Pain In Cattle
Reading Time: 3 minutes With the advent of the increasing consciousness in animal welfare, any products which can relieve pain, decrease inflammation and reduce fever are a welcome addition to the repertoire we as veterinarians have to treat clinical disease. They also may have a place in controlling post-surgical pain or inflammation such as with castration or dehorning. With […] Read more
Invasive Plants Encourage Wildfires
Reading Time: < 1 minute Invasive species are contributing to an increase in rangeland wildfires in the U.S., says a special feature of six articles in the September issue of the journalRangeland Ecology &Management. One article says that in the Great Basin region, invasive cheatgrass has spread among sagebrush sites. As cheatgrass becomes dominant, this fine-textured, early-maturing fuel multiplies, increasing […] Read more
Sheep, goat breeders get access to Serbia, Malaysia
The governments of Serbia and Malaysia have reached agreements with Canada that are expected to boost access for Canadian exporters of sheep, goats and their genetics. Trade can start “immediately” now that the federal government has reached new agreements on export certificates with the two countries, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said in a release Friday. […] Read more
Arrest made in cattle auctioneer’s alleged abduction
Charges including abduction and extortion have been laid against a man from the same Alberta community as his alleged target, prominent livestock auctioneer Blair Vold. Larry Hugh McClelland, 49, of Ponoka was arrested “without incident” at the community’s RCMP detachment late Wednesday night after turning himself in, the Mounties said in a release Thursday. McClelland […] Read more
Alta. 4-H makes helmets mandatory on horseback
Alberta 4-H members in horse programs will be required to wear helmets when taking part in mounted 4-H events, starting next month. The Alberta 4-H Council last year said it would consider such a policy, which at that time was already in place for 4-H members in British Columbia and Nova Scotia and several states […] Read more
RCMP seek cattle auctioneer’s alleged abductor
A suspect in what’s alleged to be a botched abduction of prominent Alberta livestock auctioneer Blair Vold has been seen on candid cameras. RCMP at Ponoka, Alta., north of Red Deer, on Monday released new colour photos of a man allegedly trying to use Vold’s bank card at a CIBC branch at nearby Wetaskiwin. The […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
