Reading Time: < 1 minute Bob Lowe is the new chair of Alberta Beef Producers. The Nanton producer was elected at the organization’s meeting earlier this month. The other executive board members are vice-chair Roland Cailliau (Valleyview), finance chair Charlie Christie (Trochu), and past chair Greg Bowie (Ponoka). The other members on the 2016 board of directors are Howard Bekkering […] Read more
Bob Lowe new chair of Alberta Beef Producers
ABP and government partner on new research initiative
The five-year agreement has a series of specific goals to reduce costs and boost productivity
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Beef Producers and the provincial and federal governments have agreed to a five-year partnership to advance research and extension activities related to the forage and beef sectors in the province. The agreement has specific, measurable, long-term strategic goals: Build and maintain research and extension capacity; Reduce winter feeding costs by 50 per cent; Reduce […] Read more
Alberta Beef Producers 2015-16 delegates
Election results from October and November
Reading Time: < 1 minute The results are in from Alberta Beef Producers delegate elections that took place in October and November. Zones 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 had elections, with the remaining four zones electing delegates by acclamation. Zones 4, 6 and 7 have vacancies. “We were happy with the high voter turnout for elections in five zones […] Read more
Tom Lynch-Staunton joins Alberta Beef Producers
Reading Time: < 1 minute Tom Lynch-Staunton is the new manager of government relations for Alberta Beef Producers and issues manager for the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. He took up the shared position on Oct. 5. A previous owner and manager of his family’s cattle ranch in southern Alberta, he was director of industry relations for Livestock Gentec. Lynch-Staunton will continue to […] Read more
The new world of ‘sustainable’ beef
Rancher Cherie Copithorne-Barnes has dealt with the movers and the shakers in the sustainable beef movement – and they're not all the same
Reading Time: 5 minutes Who’s driving this bus? Amid ‘grocery wars,’ Jamie Oliver, ‘hormone free,’ Walmart, and a storm of related debate, this is the core question many producers and others in animal agriculture have about the new swath of expectations and ‘sustainability’ programs taking hold in the industry and the marketplace. One person with a unique, up-close perspective […] Read more
Alberta Beef seeks delegates for fall elections
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Beef Producers is accepting nominations for delegates to run in the 2015 fall elections. “Our effectiveness is very much influenced by the quality of the producers who become our leaders. The producers who are elected as ABP delegates provide leadership to the organization and a critical connection to the grassroots producers in their respective […] Read more
Wildlife damage is a problem — but not reporting a bigger one
Program changes aren’t going to happen if producers don’t start reporting wildlife losses
Reading Time: 2 minutes Wildlife damage is a big problem across Alberta — but you wouldn’t know it from the number of beef producers reporting losses to the Alberta government. About 60 per cent of producers recently surveyed about wildlife damage said that they never reported losses from predators, while 80 per cent never reported forage competition from ungulates. […] Read more
Sell or hang on? Cattle producers facing tough choices
Some have already pulled the trigger and sold cattle, others are holding back and hoping they’ll have enough feed
Reading Time: 3 minutes It was supposed to be the year to grow the cattle herd — but Mother Nature and dry conditions across Alberta have changed all that. A lack of hay and pasture makes for tough choices and some are taking cattle to market. Viking Hutterite Colony usually buys calves, backgrounds them until spring, and then turns […] Read more
Wildlife, predators costing Alberta beef producers millions
Reading Time: < 1 minute Ninety-four per cent of Alberta beef producers have suffered losses because of wildlife, a two-year survey by Alberta Beef Producers (ABP) and the Miistakis Institute has found. Eighty-one per cent of these were from ungulates such as deer or elk, 74 per cent from predators (such as wolves, grizzly bears, and including coyotes) and six […] Read more
Hefty checkoff rebates put squeeze on Alberta Beef Producers
Marketing and research are suffering because one-third of voluntary checkoffs are being rebated, say officials
Reading Time: 4 minutes Checkoff refunds continue to hobble Alberta Beef Producers, which had to give back $2.5 million in the past year, mainly to cattle feeders. “The $2 service charge that we have here would be sufficient if we were able to invest it all, but we lose about a third of it,” said Rich Smith, the organization’s […] Read more
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