Reading Time: 3 minutes The youngest-ever chair of Alberta Beef Producers says he’s excited to bring the voice of the next generation to the organization. “To be honest, when I first got involved with ABP, I had no intent of getting to the top position,” said 32-year-old Brodie Hagen, who ranches near Orion. “I just saw the opportunity to […] Read more
New chair takes the reins at ABP
Brodie Haugan says important issues include the decline in the cow herd and the long-term health of the cow-calf sector
Show me the money – and how to resuscitate a newborn calf
Profitability was a popular topic on the Beef Cattle Research Council website but not the most-read posting
Reading Time: 2 minutes Profitability was a recurring theme when it came to the most popular articles offered by the Beef Cattle Research Council in the past year. But the most popular blog post by far was a story and accompanying video offering calving tips, including why people shouldn’t hang calves upside down if they need help breathing. “The […] Read more
A computer program called BETSY could be your next ranch hand
It’s AI, but the other kind — an artificial intelligence system for detecting abnormal activity in animals
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s arrived: facial recognition and 24/7 video monitoring of every movement. That may sound like a science fiction movie, but don’t worry. It’s not for you. It’s for your cattle. An artificial intelligence system named BETSY has been developed by OneCup AI, an Alberta-based tech startup. The company is offering it to producers willing to […] Read more
Benchmarking for cow-calf producers
Reading Time: < 1 minute An updated AgriProfit$ cow-calf benchmark report is now available, with 2016-20 data from Alberta cow-calf operations. The AgriProfit$ beef program examines the profitability, financial and production efficiencies, and risk-bearing ability of the entire beef operation. It also sheds light on how each production stage contributes to overall profitability. It uses anonymized farm data to generate […] Read more
More calves in the first round is a winning formula
Research council urges producers to consider the payoff from tightening the calving season
Reading Time: 2 minutes According to experts, the winning numbers in the calving lottery are always the same: 60-25-10-5. And the Beef Cattle Research Council wants producers to test that theory by using its Value of Calving Distribution Calculator. Calving distribution is the percentage of calves born in each 21-day cycle during the calving season (which is 63 days […] Read more
Packing plants back on track, but future uncertain
With a huge backlog of animals to work through, cattle groups are fearful of what comes next
Reading Time: 3 minutes Alberta’s beef-packing plants are working at or near full capacity but the crisis is not over yet, say cattle leaders. “Our processing capacity has continued to increase over the past few weeks and cattle prices have been relatively strong, but markets are still vulnerable to a disruption in the processing plants,” Alberta Beef Producers chair […] Read more
Cow-calf producers needed for cost-of-production initiative
Reading Time: < 1 minute Canfax is undertaking an initiative to develop baseline cost-of-production statistics. The Canadian Cow-Calf Cost of Production Network will host 26 producer focus groups (each consisting of five to six producers in each) across Canada in 2020-21. Scenarios will be developed of what future farms could look like utilizing the Five Per Cent Rule approach of […] Read more
Cow-calf producers wanted for survey
Survey open until March 13
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta cow-calf producers are being asked to take a survey on the challenges they face. The survey is part of a study by the University of Alberta with participation from Alberta Farm Animal Care. “Producer mental health was a consideration as we know that it is closely related to animal welfare,” AFAC said in a […] Read more
Are you willing to share animal traits info?
Reading Time: < 1 minute Cow-calf producers in Alberta are being asked to take a survey aimed at improving the productivity of the industry. Researchers at the University of Alberta are conducting the survey on the willingness of commercial cow-calf producers to accept compensation for sharing their animal traits information and the willingness of breeding associations to pay to obtain […] Read more
Despite some stresses, ‘cautious’ optimism for cow-calf sector
Strong demand and prices are good news, but feed costs and tariffs are troubling
Reading Time: 3 minutes Alberta cattle producers have a few reasons to be optimistic as they head into the fall. “We’re still on the profitable side for the cow-calf guy,” said Charlie Christie, chair of Alberta Beef Producers. “I’m hearing some optimism on the market side. Whether that will translate into good calf prices in the fall remains to […] Read more
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