Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia — Calving is done, but producers should keep certain things in mind if they have to work with calves in the pasture and in the presence of a nervous mother cow. Why it matters: Working on calves on open pasture can be tricky with a thousand pounds of anxious cow in your face. […] Read more
Safety key for working with calves on pasture
Tips and tricks for working with calves in the open
Wray family honoured for environmental stewardship
Irricana-area ranch earns ABP annual environmental award at Stampede Summit
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Wray Ranch near Irricana is the 2023 winner of Alberta Beef Producers’ environmental stewardship award. The operation is a century farm that, from 1910 to 1998, was a mixed farming operation with mostly annual cropland and some native pasture. In 1998, Doug and Linda Wray took over the operation and changed directions slightly by […] Read more
Sparing grassland from the plow — and from housing developments
A landowner-led group has more than 60 conservation easements covering about 40,000 acres of prime native grassland, foothills and riparian areas
Reading Time: 4 minutes A southern Alberta organization is having success with conservation agreements to keep the environment and cattle ranching intact. “The easement is very pro-grazing and ranching,” said Justin Thompson, executive director of the Southern Alberta Land Trust Society (SALTS). “There’s not a lot of restrictions around the actual operation. What we want to avoid is those […] Read more
Farmers change focus with holistic management
It’s not just about agronomics but also the finances and family dynamics, say advocates
Reading Time: 4 minutes Using holistic management principles can change lives, and farms. This was the message from five farmers who presented at the recent Western Canadian Holistic Management conference here. “We try to align our decisions with Mother Nature — it’s easier to work with her than to try to work against her,” said John Chuiko, who ranches […] Read more
Cowboys and conservation: The battle for the Eastern Slopes
The fight to stop new coal mines in this iconic Alberta landscape is far from over
Reading Time: 5 minutes Nearly three years after the province tried, and failed, to open the Eastern Slopes to coal mining, this iconic piece of Alberta is still under threat, say those who live and work there. “We have to make sure that this land is going to continue for generations,” said Laura Laing, a Nanton-area rancher and part […] Read more
Young and passionate: Why these ranchers are taking a seat at the table
It’s about focusing on things that matter now in order to build a better future, say these young leaders
Reading Time: 7 minutes Young producers are coming to the Alberta Beef Producers’ table — and they’re bringing their ideas and passions with them. Kaylee Chizawsky is one of them. The fourth-generation cattle farmer is one of a number of younger people serving as a delegate or board member for the five-decade-old organization. It’s important that her generation “advocate […] Read more
Project aims to put innovation to work on more ranches
Pilot program shows that with a little help, ranchers can easily put new ideas and technology to work
Reading Time: 3 minutes Morrie Goetjen was always bothered by one of the springs on his land and considered the muddy patch it made an eyesore. But he didn’t really know what to do with it until he was invited to participate in a pilot program that offered eight ranchers a chance to implement technology that would improve their […] Read more
Argentina says hit by second locust swarm, farmers on alert
Buenos Aires | Reuters — Grains powerhouse Argentina is getting hit by a second swarm of locusts arriving from neighbouring Paraguay, Argentina’s Senasa agricultural health inspection agency said on Tuesday, putting farmers on notice about possible crop damage. The new swarm is concentrated in the province of Formosa in north-east Argentina, on the Paraguay border. […] Read more
Video offers ranchers’ side of the environmental story
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta’s Kelly Hall and Hugh Lynch-Staunton are among the ranchers featured in a new video on environmental sustainability from the Beef Cattle Research Council. “What beef producers need to know about environmental footprint” offers both a cinematic look at Canadian cattle production and the sector’s response to its critics. Hall, Lynch-Staunton, and three Ontario cattle […] Read more
Census finds more technology and rotational grazing on ranches
Reading Time: < 1 minute More than half (52 per cent) of beef cattle farms say they use computer or laptops for farm management while 39 per cent indicated they use smartphones or tablets for farm management, according to the 2016 Census of Agriculture data. Some form of GPS technology is being used on 24 per cent of beef operations, […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
