“I think that we’ve come to a very solid revised code,” David Wiens, DFC’s vice-president, said in an interview.

The National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC) on Thursday released its revised Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Dairy Cattle, to take effect on April 1, 2024.

The code forms the backbone of DFC’s proAction quality assurance program, to which all dairy farms must adhere.

Key changes to the code involve a timeline to eliminate tie-stall housing for cows, a system in which the animals are tethered continuously or for long periods. Effective April 2027, cows may not be tethered continuously. New barns will be required to allow “daily, untethered freedom of movement and social interactions year-round,” the code says.

By 2031, calves will be required to be housed in groups or pairs by four weeks of age. If they’re housed outdoors or in hutches, they may only be tethered if they can move in and out of the hutch. They must also be able to have physical contact with another calf, unless they need to be separated for health and safety reasons.

“Both of these changes are supported by science in terms of promoting good overall animal welfare,” Wiens said.

Both changes garnered praise from Humane Canada, a federation of humane societies and societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals (SPCAs). Humane Canada is one of the founding members of the NFACC and sat on the committee that oversaw the code’s revision.

“Overall we feel positive about the improvements in the code,” said Kathy Duncan, director of national programs with Humane Canada.

Nearly two thirds of Canadian dairy farms use tie-stall housing, Duncan said, and the previous code of contact took no steps toward eliminating the practice. Though Humane Canada is disappointed in the length of the phase-out periods for the changes, she said they are steps in the right direction.

“There are a number of areas of improvement,” Duncan said.

She highlighted added requirements that are intended to address animal abuse and work to ensure low-stress handling.

“We’ve seen some pretty horrific video of different types of handling on-farm and in slaughter,” Duncan said.

There are also stronger requirements and recommendations for oversight of farm workers.

Allowed stocking density will also decrease to 1.1 cows per stall in a free stall system from 1.2 cows per stall, effective April 2027. As of April 2031, that will be reduced to one cow per stall.

Wiens said he already stocks below the allowed rate.

“We find that cows are actually more productive at a slightly lower stocking rate,” he said.

The 2023 code notes that with lower stocking rates, cows have more access to feed bunks and can spend more time lying down — particularly for less dominant cows.

The code doesn’t include requirements for emergency preparedness planning, which is a disappointment, said Duncan. She pointed to the 2021 floods in B.C., which inundated many farms, including dairy farms. Many animals died, and other were left stranded and in dire need of food and water, according to one CBC report from November 2021.

The code contains many recommendations for emergencies, including the suggestion to develop a plan for evacuating cattle. It references “comprehensive resources to support emergency planning” that are separate from the code.

The code attracted “overwhelming interest” from Canadians, Duncan said.

Nearly 6,000 individuals or groups responded during the public consultation for the code, NFACC documents show. Forty per cent identified as dairy producers, just over 31 per cent were concerned citizens or animal welfare advocates, and just over 17 per cent identified as consumers.

— Geralyn Wichers is a reporter for the Manitoba Co-operator.

CLARIFICATION, April 4, 2023: A previous version of this article stated the updated code would require the elimination of tie stalls as of April 2027. Specifically, the code calls for elimination of tie stall housing, meaning the continuous or lengthy tethering of dairy cows in their stalls. The article has been edited to further clarify.

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“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 get involved. I’ve always seen the importance of the next generation, the younger generation, to truly have their voices heard. Things just aligned and the opportunity presented itself and I couldn’t say no. It was once in a lifetime to have this opportunity,” said Haugan, who was elected chair at the ABP annual general meeting March 1.

Haugan is a fifth-generation rancher who works with his parents at Haugan Land and Cattle, a commercial cow-calf operation. It grows all of its feed and cash crops and works with several feedlots to background and finish their cattle.

Haugan is no stranger to ABP. He has been a delegate for eight years and is closing in on his fifth year on the board. He just finished serving two years as finance chair.

Haugan sees several issues to watch in the cattle sector.

“Coming off of a couple years of severe drought, we’re really keeping our eyes on the mother cow numbers in the province. What we see on the ground is that we’ve seen a lot of mother cows going to sale. The numbers haven’t really shown that yet, but we’re expecting them to show this year, a decrease in the mother cow herd.

“That will have a major effect on our industry as a whole. We’re really focusing on that, and that leads into focussing on the profitability of our industry and trying to figure out ways to support and mitigate that comes along with being producers.”

Beef producers must continue to stay profitable and relevant, Haugan said.

“Our operations need to continue long-term. It’s not just trying to survive one or two years. It’s trying to ensure that our operations are viable and profitable for many years, which then creates opportunities for the next generation as well as investment into our sector.”

Staying relevant

Haugan said it’s hugely important for ABP to stay relevant and be the voice of producers. This includes being transparent about where producers’ dollars are being spent, letting them know about the organization’s activities and successes, and what issues ABP continues to work on. As things are heating up for the provincial election, the organization hasn’t yet planned any campaigns or initiatives.

But Haugan said it’s an exciting time.

“We’ve had a lot of pressure in the past couple of years. There are some negative things that are happening, where we are seeing a lot of people potentially leaving the industry. At the same time, I see it as a massive opportunity and there’s positive potential in the coming months and years. We’re seeing some record prices. At the same time, our input costs are extremely high.”

Haugan said those in the cattle industry are working to ensure the cow-calf sector remains viable.

“I think we’ll see a lot of focus on the cow-calf industry specifically in the coming years and months. Everyone knows it’s extremely important for more than just the cow-calf guys. It’s about the small communities and it’s all the other industries who are connected to it. I’m excited. There’s a lot of really interesting discussions and things coming up.”

Haugan wants producers from all walks of life to get involved.

“The voices of producers are so important. It’s critical to ensure that Alberta Beef Producers hear what is happening on the ground and what the issues are. It’s more important than ever. That helps guide our conversations and the direction we take as Alberta Beef Producers.”

The other executive members are Sheila Hillmer, vice-chair, who operates a mixed farm near Del Bonita and Fred Lozeman, finance chair, who ranches and grows oilseeds, grains and forage near Claresholm.

Haugan takes over as chair from Melanie Wowk, a producer from Beauvallon.

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“I think there could be some merit,” said Dr. Cody Creelman. “I’ve had several clients over the years try it. Several have thought it’s perhaps a good feeding method and they think that it does have the desired effect.”

While not having to get up in the middle of a bitterly cold night has obvious appeal, nighttime feeding can quickly become tiresome, said the central Alberta veterinarian.

“It seems like most people just end up going back to standard feeding practices, probably mostly because of logistics,” he said.

However, cattle producers can rest assured there’s no harm in the practice, said Creelman.

“I’ve heard some people argue against it but I haven’t really put stock in it being harmful. Every once in a while, we come across someone passionately arguing for or against but I don’t think any of those arguments for or against really hold up.”

The method has a made-on-the-Prairies origin story as well as its own name: The Konefal Method.

Gus Konefal was a Manitoba rancher who, in the 1970s, discovered that 80 per cent of his cows calved between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. when fed later in the day — a first feeding at 11 a.m. to noon with a second feeding between 9:30 and 10 p.m.

Reasons aren’t really known, but one theory is that the feeding method produces a hormonal effect that puts pressure on the cow’s rumen.

An Iowa State study found some success using a variation of the method, with 82 per cent of cows calving between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. when fed once a day at 4 p.m. Ninety per cent of the heifers in a control group also calved within the same time frame.

Another survey of 15 cattle producers in Iowa and Missouri found that feeding pregnant cows once daily between 5 and 10 p.m. resulted in 85 per cent of them calving between 5 a.m. and midnight. (It was 50/50 for cows not on that system.)

It’s not clear if randomized, double-blind clinical controls were employed but calving doesn’t exactly lend itself to robust research, said Creelman.

“That can be really, really difficult to do in a biological system at calving season,” he said. “There’s so much herd-to-herd variation, it’s very hard for researchers to control. It’s probably one of those things that anecdotal data could prove but proving it scientifically is probably hard.”

It doesn’t help that the idea has gained some urban legend (or more accurately, rural legend) status.

“I’ve heard some people talk about some of the other, potentially extrapolated evidence (such as) if you feed a cow at night and it’s cold, that rumination causes a lot of heat to develop so potentially you’re having a cow that could be a little more weather resistant on the coldest nights of the year,” said Creelman.

“But I don’t think that it gets that cold that often over most of Canada during the wintertime for that to be too much of a factor.”

Nanita Blomquist said she’s used the Konefal Method with some success.

“It’s something we’ve used from time to time,” said the cattle producer from Big Valley. “We’ve found it’s made a difference for us sometimes — I would say 75, 80 per cent of the time. We don’t necessarily do it on the purebred side of things but we do it in our commercial side.”

It’s a decision the Blomquists make on a season by season basis.

“It’s something that definitely affects how busy we are and different things in our lives so (it depends on) whether it fits in with that or not,” she said.

“It’s not something we do year after year because it doesn’t always work. Sometimes it works for us and sometimes it doesn’t.”

Jay Hager, who runs a cow-calf operation near Provost, has never fed his cattle at night and doesn’t plan to start.

“I get my butt out of bed in the morning and feed mine. If I ever break down or anything like that, I can still get my chores done in the daylight,” he said.

“I don’t want to start feeding right before dark. I don’t know if they calve better in the day if you feed them at night. I just like to get my stuff done and not have to worry about it, basically.”

There are tips available for cattle producers interested in trying the Konefal Method.

Iowa State advises staying as close to the same feeding schedule and amount as possible each day. Deviating more than 15 minutes or providing too much feed will yield less desirable results. The method may be most effective when started one month prior to calving.

South Dakota State University suggests these efforts pay off in the long run and that a first-calf heifer that calves during the day will tend to continue doing so for the remainder of her productive years.

The post Feed cows at night, birth calves by day? It might work, but is it worth it? appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“This is pioneering work — no one has ever at this scale linked together the productivity and associated economics, genetics and environmental outcomes of free-range grazing,” professor of rangeland ecology and management Edward Bork said in a recent article in the University of Alberta’s Folio website.

Bork and a team of 10 researchers will use GPS ear tags and pedometers to track movement of cows at the Roy Berg Kinsella Research Ranch and then conduct a sophisticated testing of manure samples that uses DNA markers to determine what plants they’ve been eating, according to the article.

“Questions to be addressed include, for example, what habitats do cattle select in a given landscape?” said Bork. “Are they willing to walk to the top of a hill to preferentially graze? Do they select forest, grassland or shrub plant species while meeting their optimal nutritional requirements? What individual plant species are they more willing to consume given that there are hundreds of species to choose from, and how does this affect their weight gain and environmental footprint?”

Linking those forage choices to the genetics of the cattle could open the door to breeding cows that are best suited to particular types of pastures and “align their forage demand with what is available,” he said.

“These animals are out in natural landscapes and continually make decisions on where to go, how far to travel and what to eat,” Bork said in the article. “Those decisions can affect some factors of ultimate productivity.

“We want to try to identify animals that are going to select the right habitat, the right forage species to optimize their weight and productivity, while at the same time not overgrazing pasture resources.”

Better matching cattle to the land they graze would improve the health of large pastures, which would then store more carbon and better support wildlife, he added.

The article can be found at the University of Alberta Folio website.

The three-year research project also involves researchers from Ag Canada and the universities of Saskatchewan and Thompson Rivers. It has several funders, including Alberta Beef Producers and RDAR (Results Driven Agriculture Research).

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While some auction crowds were caught up with the negative news coverage, other auction barns appeared to shrug off coronavirus fears. Sellers don’t appear to be altering their marketing schedules. Some cow-calf producers may be selling earlier than expected on ideas the epidemic will get worse. This behaviour may be offsetting those producers holding back on sales in hopes of an improvement.

Feedlot margins continue to erode with losses exceeding $200 per head in many cases and probably won’t see an improvement over the next couple of months. Short-keep cattle weighing above 900 lbs. were taking it on the chin while 800- to 900-lb. yearlings experienced limited slippage. In central Alberta, light barley ration Simmental-blended steers weighing 950 lbs. were quoted at $163; medium-flesh red mixed steers averaging 830 lbs. were quoted at 178. Heifers were all over the map, with buyers focusing on flesh levels and frame characteristics. In southern Alberta, Angus-blended heifers with medium to lower flesh weighing just under 900 lbs. were quoted at $155 while similar quality 840-lb. heifers were valued at $162. In central Saskatchewan, Charolais-based steers weighing 895 lbs. were valued at $175 and in Manitoba, steers averaging 900 lbs. traded in the $151-$155 range. The yearling market took a severe beating in Manitoba last week.

Demand for grassers was very strong last week, with the calf market recouping losses from earlier in February. The market may have felt sluggish early in the week. By Friday, there was no doubt that merchants were focused on calves with “just get ’em” type orders surfacing. In central Alberta, pre-conditioned mixed steers weighing 622 lbs. were quoted at $226 and red-white-face steers averaging 530 lbs. were reported at $241. In east-central Saskatchewan, black steers weighing 600 lbs. reached up to $230.

Cattle inventory reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Statistics Canada both showed a year-over-year decline in the 2019 calf crops. We’ll probably see a marginal drop again in 2020 given the number of beef cows and retention heifers. Buyers are counting on this coronavirus pandemic to be history come fall.

— Jerry Klassen manages the Canadian office of Swiss-based grain trader GAP SA Grains and Produits Ltd. and is president and founder of Resilient Capital, specializing in proprietary commodity futures trading and market analysis. Jerry consults with feedlots on risk management and writes a weekly cattle market commentary. He can be reached at 204-504-8339 or via his website at ResilCapital.com.

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Occasionally chronic infected quarters (probably emanating from the year previous) are highly visible as large swollen quarters compared to the other three. They will often flare up a few weeks before calving as the colostrum is being formed.

Usually the cow is not sick but even if it is, I will go over treatment and the potential to dry up that quarter. The cow, depending on how she does together with teat conformation, may or may not be culled then or at weaning time. You have options.

My experience tells me that the majority of mastitis occurs in older cows with larger, poor conformation teats and those in which calves have a hard time milking out all the time. The larger producers may even leak milk when nursing and, again, this leads to mastitis problems.

Producers who pay attention to teat and udder conformation rarely encounter a cow with mastitis. We see a much higher incidence on the trader-type cows that go through the auction markets in open cow sales. One large teat indicates there has been milk retention the previous calving season and these cows have a good possibility of having problems in subsequent years.

Producers may calve these cows out with the goal of stealing their calf and grafting it onto a cow that has lost her calf. Just to be sure I like to strip these big-teated cows out to make sure the test canal is patent and that there is no mastitic milk present.

You will find blind teats which will eventually dry up and shrivel up — which is not a bad thing. It has been found that three-teated cows have some compensatory increase in production, so they may not produce that much less milk than a four-teated one. So there might not be a reason to cull unless the other teat conformation is bad.

The Angus association has a teat and udder scoring system which everyone should look at when selecting bred cattle. I say bred as yearling heifers become very difficult to select this way, but those with obviously too large a teat size may be removed.

I would hazard a guess many other criteria are looked at first during yearling heifer selection. Cows with good udders on average should raise heifers with good udders so look at the mothers.

If I find a chronic mastitis, I do what I would do with dairy cattle and treat the cow with recommended antimicrobials and NSAIDs. A one-time treatment dry cow intramammary preparation is often recommended. Check with your veterinarian to see what their exact recommendations are.

In severe cases, I have seen the entire quarter slough off but the cow go on to do OK and be salvageable. Ideally, we don’t want the infected milk leaking and contaminating the area. These may take a long time to heal over and it is best that the cow is treated, dried up and shipped when drug withdrawals are met.

If a cow is producing well, you may want to try and chemically dry up the infected quarter. This is difficult as the other three quarters are trying to produce milk. If you don’t notice the badly infected quarter until fall when weaning, that is an ideal time as the cow is naturally drying off.

The goal is simply to essentially create a chemical mastitis in the infected quarter. You need to strip out the infected milk as much as possible and then infuse the recommended solution (common products are a copper sulphate or silver nitrate solution) into the udder and leave it there. This is often stripped out again in seven to 10 days and the procedure repeated.

The end result next calving would be a fully functional three-teated cow. But I would only recommend this for valuable breeding stock on a high-end cow in the herd. Keep in mind treatments will have various slaughter withdrawals, and the concentration and volumes used of the chemicals will vary between veterinarians so closely follow their recommendations. The udder will swell and get sore on that quarter as you are causing the chemical mastitis.

I have done fewer and fewer of these treatments as producers have selected better and purebred breeders of all the breeds have paid close attention to teat and udder conformation.

However, it happens from time to time and at least you may have a game plan if it happens in your herd. Many early cases of this can be detected if stripping out the teats at calving or if you notice a swollen quarter in the herd at any time.

Happy calving 2020 everyone.

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Aside from a few slight increases in 2012, 2013 and 2018, Canadian cattle inventories have moved lower since 2005.

At 11.2 million head, the reported number of cattle on farms in the country as of Jan. 1, 2020, was down 1.9 per cent from the previous year and showed a 24.8 per cent decline off its January 2005 peak.

Breeding stock numbers were down 6.3 per cent on the year, to 515,000 head. Beef cows were down by 2.6 per cent, to 3.6 million head, while feeder heifers were down 1.9 per cent and steers 7.1 per cent. Calves were up 0.2 per cent, to 3.7 million head. Dairy cow numbers also increased 0.7 per cent on the year, to 1.4 million.

Hog inventories in the country were down by 0.6 per cent on the year, StatsCan reported, with 13.9 million hogs in the country as of Jan. 1, 2020. While that number was down slightly on the year, it still represented a 11.3 per cent increase over the past decade.

Canada exported 2.5 million hogs in the second half of 2019, down 1.4 per cent from the same time period the previous year. Total hog exports in 2019, at 5.1 million hogs, were down 2.8 per cent from 2018 and down about 49 per cent from their 2007 peak.

Sheep and lamb inventories in Canada on Jan. 1, 2020 came in at 802,300 head, down four per cent on the year and representing a 19.3 per cent drop from the high hit in 2004.

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Blood and tissue samples related to reproductive issues in cattle submitted to participating network laboratories during this time may be tested for brucellosis at a CFIA laboratory.

Brucellosis is a contagious disease and clinical signs in cattle usually include late-term abortion, retained placenta, reduced milk production and stillbirths or weak calves.

There is no charge for brucellosis testing at a CFIA laboratory for this pilot. For more info, Google ‘Brucellosis Abortion Screening.’

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This may be because there is an abnormal pregnancy, the cow has a life-threatening condition, the pregnancy has gone on too long leading to health issues or other reasons. All require careful thought and examination as every case is unique and the ultimate goal is to have both the cow and calf survive.

If very close to the end of gestation, there are a few protocols. The use of prostaglandins and dexamethasone in combination will give induction generally within 30 to 36 hours. I like to use the regular dose of prostaglandin (two cc of Estrumate or an equivalent product) and about 25 mg of dexamethasone, but your vet should have a formula they like for these prescription products.

In every case where induction was contemplated, so too was an emergency C-section — it’s often a consideration of the time needed to induce and the gestational length with the odds of both the calf’s and dam’s survival. Sometimes the dam is in grave health and our main goal is trying to salvage the calf. Other times the pregnancy is abnormal, so one is trying to remove the calf to save the cow.

Conditions where I have induced cows or heard other veterinarians induce cows with success are fetal anasarca (collection of fluid in the fetus), hydrops (abnormal amount of fluid accumulation in the uterus making it life threatening), severe peritonitis, heart failure from hardware disease, severe pyelonephritis (kidney infection) and even severe pneumonia.

Cases where cows go down close to calving (perhaps from getting too thin when carrying twins) are other examples where inducing a bit early may get rid of the weight of the calves and uterine fluids allowing the cow to get up again.

Downers pose their own set of management headaches. Management of downers is a whole other topic to discuss and as far as induction goes may be a day-by-day collective decision as to if, when and how induction will happen.

Viability and closeness to due date for the calf’s sake is always a big factor. Do we have a breeding date (AI date or visualized breeding)? How is the udder fill? And what does your veterinarian think of palpation?

These are all very subjective calls and even if a breeding date is known, breeds have quite a range and variation in gestational length. Any earlier than two weeks ahead and the calf is usually not viable. It is much easier if one is simply bringing on cows a bit earlier to tighten the end of the breeding season or for other management reasons.

Here it is absolutely imperative to check that the cow has good-quality colostrum. The thick, yellow, sticky colostrum in all four teats indicates the cow/heifer is close enough to induce. If the colostrum looks like mucus, it is still too early and you must wait. If inducing, you know they should calve within about the 36-hour window, but they may have been going to calve within the next few hours naturally so watch them closely. In other words, the induction process was too late as calving was occurring naturally. Be warned, the sick, toxic, and thin cows usually do not produce much milk, so udder fill is not an appropriate indicator.

With all inductions, observe them closely. One must keep in mind the calf in utero is sort of mimicking what is going on with the cow. If the cow is short of breath because of pneumonia, the calf’s blood is not oxygenated normally. If she is toxic from bad mastitis or peritonitis, the calf will be suppressed.

There is a big risk and reward with inducing. I have seen on some occasions where both cow and calf are lost, but I have also seen live twins delivered from a downer cow and she subsequently got up, so all three were saved. One never knows.

If the cow is lost, do a BSE test as the autopsy may give more of a clue as to the diagnosis. Usually these are individual animal problems but sometimes as in the cases of hardware disease (heart failure) or thinness from lack of nutrition, herd issues may be detected.

When inducing cows for management reasons, they should always be very close to their due date and have good-quality colostrum. They should also not retain their placentas if done properly as we are only talking about bringing them on a few days early.

Here’s hoping calving goes well and we don’t run into many cows we need to induce. If there is the need, make sure and have your herd veterinarian help determine the most appropriate time.

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One of the bovine bodysurfers was seen soon after the Category 1 storm struck on Sept. 6 and now two other cows have joined her at Cape Lookout National Seashore, park ranger Karen Duggan said on Thursday.

All are members of a wild herd of cattle that lives in marshes on an interior island known as Cedar Island, about two to three miles closer to the mainland than the barrier island park.

“The water picked them up, carried them, they managed to stay afloat and come to rest on our island,” Duggan said.

“They can all swim, but they are not the best swimmers. Of the cattle that got swept away — and I don’t know how many that was — only three of them have managed to find footing on the islands that remain.”

A cow typically weighs 600 to 2,500 lbs., and the swell was deep enough to carry at least three of them across the waters to the sands of the federal seashore.

Since no one owns the cows, Duggan said, authorities are still deciding the animals’ fate, including whether they may continue to while away their hours on the beach, feeding off nearby marshes.

“We have not been able to locate anyone who claims them. They were just allowed on property. No one took care of them, no one gave them vet care, no one handled them. Therefore they are wild,” Duggan said.

While it’s unclear how the rest of the wild cattle herd fared, wild horses that live on nearby Shackleford Banks island not only survived but thrived despite the deadly storm that ravaged the Bahamas and killed at least 50 people.

“We didn’t lose any horses during the storm,” Duggan said. “We’ve got 115 wild horses, including the newest foal, which was born during the hurricane.”

— Jonathan Drake is a Reuters photographer at Raleigh, N.C.; writing and additional reporting for Reuters by Barbara Goldberg in New York.

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