Livestock
The United Nations has warned of a possible major resurgence of bird flu and said a mutant strain of the H5N1 virus was spreading in Asia and elsewhere. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Monday urged increased surveillance and preparation for a potential outbreak of the virus, which it says has infected 565 […] Read more
UN agency warns of possible bird flu resurgence
Ritz Responsible For Higher Cattle Prices: MP
Reading Time: < 1 minute Prince Albert MP Randy Hoback praised fellow Saskatchewan MP and minister of agriculture, Gerry Ritz for his hard work promoting markets for Canadian farmers, while speaking at the Canola Council of Canada’s annual meeting here July 27. “I think if you look at beef markets in particular and the price of cattle where they were […] Read more
Many Reasons For Lameness At Pasture
Reading Time: 3 minutes One of the most common conditions encountered in beef cattle during summer grazing is lameness. Neither calves, cows, yearlings nor bulls are immune from developing some types of lameness. Surprisingly, many are treated even though they really don’t require much for treatment. Producers often use the all-encompassing term of foot rot, yet most lameness at […] Read more
Ranchers Recognized For Environmental Stewardship
Reading Time: < 1 minute Brian and Glenys Weedon of the Weedon Ranch near Swift Current, Sask. are the 2011 recipients of The Environmental Stewardship Award (TESA) a national award presented by the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. TESA recognizes innovative sustainable management practices and stewardship initiatives that ensure a sustainable future for the beef cattle industry. The Weedons were one of […] Read more
U.S. Cattle Placements Surge
Reading Time: < 1 minute USDA reported Aug. 19 that the number of cattle placed at U.S. feedlots in July rose 22 per cent from a year ago, as an unprecedented drought in the southern Plains continued to fuel the exodus. It was the biggest increase on record in cattle placements in the month of July, and was well above […] Read more
Cattle Herd Down, Hogs Up
Reading Time: < 1 minute Statistics Canada reported last week that Canada’s cattle herd shrank as of July 1 to its smallest in 17 years, while the number of hogs rose by mid-year for the first time in five years. Farmers had nearly 13.9 million head of cattle on their farms, down 0.8 per cent from a year ago, continuing […] Read more
Tofield Auction Mart Specializes In Growing Sheep Business
Reading Time: 2 minutes Having one sheep auction market instead of many smaller sales makes sense for the province’s growing sheep industry. So says Doug Verstraete, owner of Beaver Hills Auction Services Limited, the only auction market in Western Canada that holds large, regular sheep auctions. There are other large sheep sales, but they are seasonal events. Beaver Hills […] Read more
Pellets And Fine Grind Most Efficient For Pig Diets
Reading Time: 3 minutes Pelleted feed made of finely ground ingredients is considerably more efficient than more coarsely ground feed provided in meal form, according to a recently published large-scale trial carried out in Northern Ireland. Reported by Dr. Elizabeth Magowan, the work was carried out by the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) at Hillsborough in conjunction with two […] Read more
Global Economic Instability And The Beef Market
Reading Time: 3 minutes As I write this in mid-August, the World Bank has just issued dire warnings regarding economic instability worldwide. The events in Europe and in the United States have spurred huge swings in investor confidence. So, what did happen anyway and why do we care? In Europe, the shift to one currency, the euro, set the […] Read more
Well, it could have come from the bull named ‘Dynamite’
A spill of frozen bull semen bound for a breeder in the state of Texas triggered a scare on Tuesday that temporarily shut down a U.S. interstate highway during the morning rush hour. The incident began when the driver of a Greyhound bus carrying the freight alerted the fire department he had lost a part […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
