Reading Time: 3 minutes There are calls for more separation between domestic and wild sheep following the death of several Bighorn rams in Bluerock Wildland Provincial Park and Sheep River Provincial Park. The animals were infected with Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae (Movi), a disease common in the airways of domestic sheep and goats. The disease is bacterial and there is no vaccine for […] Read more
Bighorn deaths attributed to sheep contacts
Wild Sheep Foundation calls for domestic flocks to be tested and kept separate from wild population
Take precautions when using heat lamps for newborn livestock
They’re a valuable tool for warming calves and lambs, but also a fire hazard
Reading Time: 2 minutes As spring approaches, many ranchers prepare a clean, dry and warm place for newborn animals. Frigid temperatures make it a challenge to keep newborn livestock warm and protected from harsh winter elements. One option is to provide supplemental heat from heat lamps but severe risks can accompany their use inside a barn. “As livestock producers, […] Read more
Quebec company aims to boost Alberta’s lamb sector
Meat processing giant says it wants to grow the sector and ensure everyone benefits
Reading Time: 4 minutes The new Quebec owners of the province’s major lamb processing plant are vowing to revitalize the sheep sector in Alberta. “The pie is going to get bigger — and we want everyone to benefit from it,” said Stéphane Beausoleil, an executive of Préval Ag who is now running the former SunGold lamb processing plant in […] Read more
Préval closes deal for Alberta lamb processor, feedlot
Quebec firm picks up defunct NALCO's Alberta assets
Quebec agrifood firm Préval Ag has wrapped up its deal to buy the Alberta processing and production assets of the defunct North American Lamb Co., marking Préval’s first move into the lamb sector outside its home province. As per Alberta Farmer’s report last week, Préval confirmed Monday its divisions Westfine Meats and West Excelamb are […] Read more
Alberta lamb sector gets boost as Quebec powerhouse moves in
Fast-growing Préval Ag buys troubled Innisfail processing plant and major lamb feedlot
Reading Time: 3 minutes A Quebec company that is an emerging powerhouse in the meat sector has struck a deal to purchase the Alberta lamb processing plant and large feedlot of the defunct North American Lamb Company. “They seem to run a fair-sized conglomerate of businesses related to agriculture and the livestock industry,” said Neil Narfason, an official with […] Read more
Refundable checkoff for lamb producers stays
Reading Time: < 1 minute A bid to make the checkoff for lamb producers non-refundable has been defeated in a plebiscite. “Most producers that voted were in favour of the status quo, a refundable service charge model,” Alberta Lamb Producers said on its website. Just over 15 per cent of eligible producers voted, with 147 in favour of keeping the […] Read more
U.S. sheep herders’ suit alleges cartel-like wage suppression
Reuters –– Sheep herders in the U.S. West have banded together to sue their employers, accusing them of operating an illegal cartel that artificially suppresses their wages, according to court documents filed Wednesday in Nevada. The case could have implications for how antitrust laws are applied to labour markets, according to legal experts, as the […] Read more
U.S. to lift BSE-related rules off sheep, goat imports
New scrapie-specific rules take effect next month
U.S. restrictions that have hindered that country’s imports of live Canadian sheep and goats, going back to the start of the BSE crisis in 2003, are set to be scrapped and replaced with rules applying specifically to scrapie. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service (APHIS) on Friday published a new […] Read more
Britain, New Zealand strike free trade deal
London/Wellington | Reuters — Britain and New Zealand have reached agreement in principle on a free trade deal designed to reduce tariffs, improve services trade, and take London one step closer to membership in a broader trans-Pacific trade agreement. Prime ministers Boris Johnson and Jacinda Ardern sealed the deal in a Zoom call on Wednesday […] Read more
StatsCan sees higher cattle, hog inventories at July 1
Full impacts of West's drought not yet counted
Nationwide head counts of livestock from the “early stages” of Western Canada’s ongoing drought won’t yet show the weather’s full impact, but showed slightly larger herds heading into this summer compared to last year. Statistics Canada on Monday reported the first year-over-year increase in the size of the country’s cattle herd as of July 1 […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
