Pasture rental rates in Alberta can vary significantly depending on the year, the contract, location and whether or not the landowner will take a supervisory role in livestock management. In 2012, Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development published a survey that showed a range  in pasture rental from $10.50-$33.50/AUM. In this video (also available as audio only), we speak… Read More

This week, I had the distinct pleasure of experiencing a Beefbooster bull sale. I thought I was a veteran at bull sales, and was looking somewhat forward to the blast of the auctioneer’s voice through the speakers, being enveloped in the smell of a crowd, hamburgers and coffee and the fast pace of a heated… Read More

To mark Antibiotic Awareness Week,  The Lancet published an editorial last November entitled Antibiotic resistance—the need for global solutions. In it, the twenty-six contributors addressed the need to move on from “blame and shame” and collaborate on the growing issue of antimicrobial resistance. RealAgriculture published an article shortly thereafter to summarize the points made in the editorial, focusing on the… Read More

The Western Livestock Price Insurance Program (WLPIP), announced by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Western provincial ministers on January 24, 2014, is now taking applications. Cattle and hog producers may now use this new livestock price insurance product to help manage unexpected livestock price declines. This new insurance product offers protection against an unexpected drop… Read More

On-farm data collection is invaluable and collecting it, though time-consuming, isn’t all that difficult. It’s that journey the notepad needs to take to get to the computer that can be more than treacherous. By the time said notepad makes it to the office, it’s often a few years old, all but sanitary and open for… Read More

Apps continue to grow and evolve in all aspects of agriculture, with crop commodities eons ahead of their livestock counterparts. Discussions are no longer bound by the confines of a physical community, with information being shared on Twitter, Google+ (check out #cattle and the Cattle Community for a taste of each), Facebook, Instagram and others. If you’re reading… Read More

As evolution should dictate, there are substantial benefits to social behaviour in animals, provided that behaviour increases their fitness (or likelihood to reproduce). We see unique social behaviour in many species, including ourselves and our bovine counterparts. In cattle, social behaviours range from grooming to bonding, and witnessed accounts of cows protecting their young and… Read More

When I buy beef from my neighbourhood butcher in Guelph, I don’t chisel him on price. He sells excellent beef, and he and his suppliers deserve decent money for connecting with the cattle farmers who produce it. If I have to cut corners, I’ll save on some other part of the meal — for example,… Read More

 

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