Reading Time: < 1 minute An Alberta veterinarian has been named the recipient of a national award for outstanding contributions to animal health. Dr. Duane Landals of Onoway has been given the 2017 Carl Block Award by the Canadian Animal Health Coalition. For more than 37 years Landals has “contributed significantly” to veterinary medicine, both in Canada and internationally. He […] Read more
Duane Landals named 2017 Carl Block Award recipient
Nominate an exceptional livestock welfare leader
Deadline for nominations is Feb. 15
Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta Farm Animal Care initiated its awards of distinction in 2001 to recognize individuals or groups who have made exceptional contributions in the field of livestock welfare. These individuals or organizations work hard to advance the mandate of AFAC and the welfare of livestock in Alberta. They apply new, innovative ideas and management practices to […] Read more
Talk to family, friends about farming
This holiday season Melodie Chan wants producers to avoid what she calls the “spiral of silence,” which can happen around the dinner table, over beers or even in the gentle lull between turkey and pie if farmers don’t speak up when they hear misinformation about agriculture. “What are we afraid of?” asked Chan, speaking at […] Read more
AFAC appoints new executive director
Reading Time: < 1 minute Annemarie Pedersen is the new executive director of Alberta Farm Animal Care. Pedersen is an agricultural communications expert and a former industry relations director with Canada Beef. The livestock welfare organization, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary next year, promotes best practices in livestock care and handling. Among the programs it supports is the ALERT […] Read more
Veterinarian school funding decision creates controversy
School’s dean says it makes sense to consolidate in Calgary but association says it’s capping training in the midst of a vet shortage
Reading Time: 3 minutes The dean of the province’s vet school is defending the NDP government’s decision to consolidate veterinarian education in Alberta — but the association representing the profession says it’s short sighted. The province announced last month it will be pulling its $8 million in funding from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon to expand […] Read more
When the temperature soars, feedlot cattle can suffer
Beef 911: Charges that beta-agonists caused severe lameness prompted a study that found a very different reason for fatigue cattle syndrome
Reading Time: 3 minutes A few years ago cattle in an American feedlot went down during transport to a packing plant and others developed severe lameness. This condition was eventually labelled fatigue cattle syndrome and became a huge animal welfare issue due to the appearance of severely lame, non-ambulatory cattle. Initially beta-agonists were incriminated but numerous studies have essentially […] Read more
Horse owners and riders urged to take survey
Survey closes Oct. 31
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Horse Welfare Alliance of Canada is conducting a survey to gauge awareness, implementation, and compliance with the Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Equines. The code, released in 2013, is a comprehensive guideline covering basic food and water needs; shelter; freedom of movement; companionship; veterinary and farrier care; husbandry practice; and […] Read more
Public input sought on sustainable beef indicators
Ranchers, consumers and others who have thoughts on how beef and its cattle should be sustainably produced in Canada are asked to speak up again, this time by early November at the latest. The Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB), in the midst of developing a Verified Sustainable Beef Framework, has released its new draft […] Read more
Alberta feedlot vet wins animal welfare award
Reading Time: < 1 minute Dr. Joyce Van Donkersgoed is the winner of an award from the Canadian Association of Bovine Veterinarians and Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) for her leadership in improving the welfare of feedlot animals. The Coaldale veterinarian was instrumental in the development of the Canadian Feedlot Animal Care Assessment tool for auditing animal welfare, the first certified audit […] Read more
Getting (a digital) read on how animals are feeling
Sophisticated camera technology can pick up subtle signs of cows in heat, and may one day be able to ‘read’ emotions
Reading Time: 2 minutes What do “The Lord of the Rings” movies and a study on animal expressions have in common? Both used motion capture technology — albeit for very different reasons. “Generally, we found that we could detect when the cows were in heat by using motion capture,” said Mirjam Guesgen, who recently completed her post-doc studies at […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
