Reading Time: 3 minutes The biggest challenge on Steve Snider’s organic farm is weeds — and killing them properly isn’t a one-size-fits-all operation. “The key to remember in organics is there’s no one answer,” said Snider, who has been growing organic grain on his farm near Edberg for 30 years. “It’s not like conventional agriculture. You can’t control weeds […] Read more
Three ways to manage tough weeds on organic farms
Using green manure, increasing seeding rates, and incorporating mechanical weed control can help organic producers manage weeds on their operations
They’ve got your back — meet four new Alberta researchers
Ag Canada’s newest researchers are working on issues that hurting or holding back producers today — or will in the future
Reading Time: 4 minutes Agriculture and Agri-food Canada hired four new scientists in Alberta this past spring. Here’s a quick introduction to the newest additions to the research community: Nitynanda (Nitya) Khanal Integrated forage crops management, Beaverlodge The forage research position at Beaverlodge had been vacant for years following a retirement. But not any more — although it was […] Read more
Are there healthier calves and higher profits in your future?
Preg checking, pain mitigation, and preconditioning all open avenues to better and more profitable performance
Reading Time: 5 minutes The cows have come home from summer pasture and the fall run is well underway. So how was your year? If you’re not happy and want better performance and more profits next year, here are three top tips from two experts. Precision feeding and targeted marketing Just 60 per cent of producers pregnancy check their […] Read more
U of A researcher first Canadian to win major international award
Lorne Babiuk, vice-president of research at University of Alberta, has helped develop six vaccines and made major contributions to animal health
Reading Time: 2 minutes He’s helped pioneer the development of vaccines used by livestock producers worldwide, and now he’s the first Canadian to be named a World Agriculture Prize Laureate. Lorne Babiuk, world-renowned virologist and vice-president of research at the University of Alberta, was awarded the prestigious prize in recognition of his lifetime achievement. “Vaccines, whether for producers or […] Read more
Deadly cattle condition called fog fever returns to the Prairies
Cases of fog fever, a type of pneumonia that causes severe cattle mortality, have been recently diagnosed in Alberta
Reading Time: 2 minutes Fog fever — a condition that causes cattle to suddenly drop dead — has returned to Alberta and Saskatchewan. “Fog fever isn’t extremely common” said Nathan Erickson, a veterinarian and assistant professor at the University of Saskatchewan. “Some of these old diseases, we start forgetting about them because we’ve managed our way out of them. […] Read more
University of Saskatchewan develops vaccine for PED
Reading Time: < 1 minute It has taken Saskatchewan veterinary researchers less than a year to develop, test and prototype a vaccine for PEDv, a devastating hog disease that has killed more than eight million pigs and cost pork producers $400 million worldwide. PEDv hit the United States in 2013 and spread to Canada in 2014. It was first discovered […] Read more
Field testing underway on Canadian PED vaccine
Field testing is underway and a corporate partner on board for development of a made-in-Saskatchewan vaccine to protect pigs against porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED). The University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization-International Vaccine Centre (VIDO-InterVac) said Monday its prototype vaccine, first announced last year, has moved into field testing in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Manitoba […] Read more
Working with horses offers a lifeline to vets
Alberta-based equine therapy program teaches veterans how to communicate with their loved ones
Reading Time: 3 minutes Horses can be a mirror for human behaviour — act aggressively or refuse to communicate and it will let you know. “You can lie to a human, but you can’t lie to a horse,” said Steve Critchley, co-founder of Can Praxis, an Alberta-based equine therapy program that uses horses to help Canadian military veterans and […] Read more
New Swedish machine slices problem weeds down to size
Organic grain growers have been snapping up CombCut machines ‘like crazy’
Reading Time: 3 minutes A new piece of machinery is helping crop growers control broadleaf weeds on their farms — especially on organic operations. “Organic growers are buying these CombCut machines like crazy,” said Steve Shirtliffe, a professor of plant sciences at the University of Saskatchewan. “There’s a real buzz in the organic farming community. I’ve never seen equipment […] Read more
Researchers join forces to dig deep into state of Prairie cow herd
The five-year project has researchers collecting hard data on topics such as antibiotic use, trace minerals, and Johne’s disease
Reading Time: 3 minutes Cattle in Western Canada tend to be deficient in copper, have a low incidence of Johne’s disease, and cow-calf producers don’t use antibiotics excessively. Those are three of the findings from the cattle health network, a five-year project begun in 2012, and based on the National Animal Health Monitoring System in the U.S. “This year […] Read more
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