For some ranchers procedures like dehorning/disbudding, castration and branding are necessary evils of the job. But necessity doesn’t make the work any easier. In an effort to improve animal welfare, and to respond to consumer concerns, the beef industry is addressing procedures like these with pain mitigation, and improved genetics. The Code of Practice for the Care… Read More
Category: Cattle
With blurred lines between how pets and food animals should be treated, concerns about the use of growth promotants and antimicrobials, serious questions about environmental impacts, and let’s not forget, the cringeworthy moniker ‘pink slime,’ the beef industry has its work cut out for it when it comes to helping consumers understand how beef gets… Read More
One of the pillars of Canada’s National Beef Strategy — a strategic plan released in early January, 2015 — is connectivity. Saskatchewan’s Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence fits nicely with this goal, by “bringing together every link of the livestock production chain.” Plans for the Centre were announced in July of 2015, when it received $10… Read More
A beef research scientist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Lethbridge research facility was recognized with the 2016 Canadian Beef Industry Award for Outstanding Research and Innovation on Wednesday. Tim McAllister was honoured by his beef industry colleagues at the inaugural Canadian Beef Industry Conference in Calgary. “His ongoing impact on animal agriculture is monumental,” said… Read More
The inaugural Canadian Beef Industry Conference is underway in Calgary, Alberta this week, and this morning, RealAgriculture’s Shaun Haney and Gateway Livestock’s Anne Wasko took the opportunity to film a Beef Market Update in-person, in our studio on the trade-show floor. The duo started off talking about some of the good news in the industry, how we’re… Read More
With fat cattle prices in Alberta $40 lower than they were a year ago, the view from where the cattle feeders will be sitting come this fall’s sale season will look different than it did in 2015. “Estimated losses in July for cattle finishing in Alberta on a spot-to-spot basis are about $350 to the… Read More
The word “biosecurity” can conjure up some interesting images, not limited to an overabundance of showers, hard-drives of paperwork and hazmat suits. But, ensuring good levels of on-farm biosecurity doesn’t have to be overwhelming. “There’s been so much focus on biosecurity as a word,” says Franklyn Garry, professor at Colorado State University, “that it does, it… Read More
It’s a diagnosis no cattle producer wants to hear, and it’s likely much more prevalent than we realize. Caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP), Johne’s causes chronic enteritis (inflammation of the intestine), diarrhea and progressive weight loss in cattle. Despite the seemingly obvious symptoms in infected animals, the disease has characteristics that can make it difficult… Read More
There are many potential stressors for cattle during transport, as Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein pointed out at the recent Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association conference and annual general meeting. Animals have to contend with handling (often by unfamiliar people), a unique environment, mixing with new animals, feed and water restrictions and the energy/focus required to remain on… Read More
As with other aspects of farming, automation is finding its way into the process of managing mortalities. Dutch Industries, based at Pilot Butte, Saskatchewan, has designed what looks like a big top-heavy green box that it calls the “BioMulcher.” The unit heats, grinds and mixes, composting up to 2,500 pounds of material per batch. “After… Read More