Reading Time: < 1 minute The new season of Beef Cattle Research Council webinars kicks off Oct. 28 with a session on combating invasive weeds. The other five webinars will look at using financial tools, dealing with reproductive failure in a cow herd, using benchmarking to boost productivity, achieving breeding goals, and record-keeping for forage and grassland management. The webinars, […] Read more
Beef webinar season kicks off for October
Beef sector aims for new 2030 targets
Organizations involved in Canada's National Beef Strategy have announced new goals for the beef sector for the next decade
The Canadian beef industry has new benchmarks to reach for in the next decade. The organizations involved in Canada’s National Beef Strategy — the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, Canada Beef Breeds Council, Beef Cattle Research Council, Canada Beef, The National Cattle Feeders’ Association, Canadian Meat Council and Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef have announced new 2030 […] Read more
Cattle ranchers paired up with researchers in mentorship program
Pair of Lethbridge scientists matched with cow-calf producers from Alberta
Reading Time: 2 minutes Two AgCanada researchers in Lethbridge — a soil microbial ecologist and an expert in greenhouse gas emissions — are among the six scientists selected for a mentorship program put on by the Beef Cattle Research Council. The program pairs the researchers with innovative cattle producers and industry professionals — many from Alberta — for a one-year […] Read more
Alberta hay situation much improved
Reading Time: < 1 minute After hitting a record high in June 2019, hay prices in Alberta have come down and there should be ample supplies in most of the province, the Beef Cattle Research Council said in a recent blog. However, prices in the north may stay strong because of limited supply and increasing demand. “Northern producers may wish […] Read more
Everyone wants healthy soil… even if they can’t define it
Different farms have different needs, but all fall under the five principles for improving soil health
Reading Time: 2 minutes Soil health has been defined as “the continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living system, within ecosystem and land-use boundaries, to sustain biological productivity, maintain the quality of air and water environments, and promote plant, animal, and human health.” The challenge with this poetic definition is that, while it does describe the functional abilities […] Read more
Double cropping and low-stress handling pay dividends
Short Grass Ranches benefits from grazing a second feed crop and a new low-stress handling system
Reading Time: 3 minutes Editor’s note: The Beef Cattle Research Council has launched a new series looking at the innovative practices and strategies of producers who are members of the council. (There are 14 council members representing provincial beef organizations.) Here is an excerpt from the first instalment of the series, which can be found in the blog section […] Read more
Using hooves instead of harrows to rejuvenate pastures
Cow-calf operation that relies solely on forages uses cattle and stockpiled feed to reseed tired pastures
Reading Time: 2 minutes As forage stands age, plant species composition shifts and production declines over time. There are many different methods of rejuvenating or renovating forage stands and strategies vary in intensity, effectiveness, and cost. Breaking old stands and reseeding forages, while effective, is among the most expensive rejuvenation methods. So more producers are opting to improve their older tame […] Read more
Record-keeping tool for beef producers available
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Beef Cattle Research Council has released Level 2 of its online record-keeping and benchmarking tool. The tool allows producers to collect and save data so it can be analyzed and used for better management decisions. Level 1 was designed for producers who are new to record-keeping or who keep records but are unsure of […] Read more
Carrying capacity: You gotta know if it can hold ’em
Overgrazing can really hurt productivity, so it pays to know how many cows you can put on a pasture
Reading Time: 3 minutes Struggling with finding the right amount of cattle to graze on a pasture or not sure how many cattle a new rented pasture will hold? The Beef Cattle Research Council now has a calculator to help you with that. There are four basic principles of range management: Balancing forage supply and demand; managing for uniform […] Read more
Beef research mentorship program still going strong
Nearly two dozen beef researchers have participated in the six- year-old initiative
Reading Time: < 1 minute Applications for the 2020-21 term of the BCRC Beef Researcher Mentorship Program are now being accepted. Four researchers were selected to participate in the program during this past year, each paired with two mentors — an innovative producer and another industry expert — for a one-year term. They are also given a travel budget so […] Read more
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