two hogs

Worker shortage handicapping ag sector

Plants have jobs but not enough Canadians interested in them

Reading Time: 5 minutes A chronic shortage of workers isn’t just a problem for meat packers, but all of agriculture, say experts. Mark Chambers sees the impact every day at Sunterra Farms, but also knows his experience is being mirrored across the country. “If we can’t get enough labour to produce the value-added products or to expand and grow, […] Read more

cattle grazing corn in winter

New forage resources available

Reading Time: < 1 minute Foragebeef.ca has added new fact sheets and a research paper. The fact sheets are: Oats, Triticale and Corn Winter Grazing Comparison — an update on winter grazing; Triticale Swath Grazing Demonstration Project; and a financial analysis entitled Will a hay shed pay? by Alberta Agriculture economist Dale Kaliel. Also available is a paper titled: Effect […] Read more


man standing with a herd of bison

Death of bison industry leader leaves ‘huge void’ in Canada’s bison industry

The death of Bison Producers of Alberta chair Thomas Ackermann in a 
tragic farm accident is being felt across Canada’s entire bison industry

Reading Time: 3 minutes Thomas Ackermann had a way of making people feel like they mattered to him. With a single smile and a warm greeting, he drew you in, and his enthusiasm kept you talking far longer than you ever expected. To him, you were important, someone who mattered, no matter who you were. And he made everyone […] Read more

two men standing with a bull

Sherwood Park man invents new cattle tracker with multiple uses

Wireless rumen bolus can track cattle and other livestock and also 
measure their temperature to predict sickness or fertility cycles

Reading Time: 2 minutes It all started with a simple idea. Neil Helfrich, a Sherwood Park inventor, had a moment of inspiration when his wife brought home a puppy in 2007. The dog had a microchip implant, which identifies the animal but can’t track it if it runs away. A device able to do the latter, Helfrich realized, would […] Read more


Festival visitors will get ‘a complete picture’ of the bison industry, says Thomas Ackermann.

Elk Island National Park to host bison festival

Reading Time: < 1 minute They’re calling it a “celebration of conservation, culture and cuisine,” and that’s an apt description of the province’s first bison festival, said the chair of the Bison Producers of Alberta Association. Parks Canada approached his organization and the Canadian Bison Association to have a bison event at Elk Island National Park, and the scope of […] Read more

Bison producers need to make the switch to RFID tags as of April 1

Reading Time: < 1 minute Bison that are still sporting dangle tags as of April 1 will need to be retagged with radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags before being moved. “Traceability is always a concern for the livestock industry, so effective April 1, the RFID tag is the only legal tag for bison,” said Terry Kremeniuk, executive director of the Canadian Bison Association. […] Read more


Man standing in a field of buffalo.

Alberta bison producers putting out the welcome mat for new entrants

Bison Producers of Alberta says demand outpacing production and newcomers 
can make a good living with low-maintenance livestock

Reading Time: 3 minutes If you’re looking for low-maintenance livestock, strong profits and a bright future, the Bison Producers of Alberta has a proposition for you. That’s the gist of the association’s enthusiastic new promotional video, but the organization isn’t trying to buffalo anyone — it’s all true, says chair Thomas Ackermann. “We’d like to see if we can […] Read more

ice-age bison skull compared to modern-day bison

Ice-age bison makes modern ones look tiny

Reading Time: < 1 minute If you were raising bison, wouldn’t you love some of these genetics in your herd? This “bad boy” was found two years ago in a gravel pit located between Edmonton and Fort Saskatchewan, said Chris Jass, curator of quaternary (a.k.a. ice-age) paleontology at the Royal Alberta Museum. As the photo comparing the partially intact skull […] Read more