The Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture hosted the 2014 Agriculture Trade Summit in Saskatoon in early February. It was there that I met Jennifer Higginson, deputy director of the trade negotiations division of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Higginson’s presentation dealt largely with the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), citing an eventual elimination of over 95%… Read More
I ventured out to the University of Saskatchewan for a nice change of pace this week, meeting up with Eric Micheels, assistant professor, and Eduardo Pina, graduate student. Pina had just returned from a trip to Mexico, where he was interviewing dairy farmers for his masters project (and made it back to Canada just in… Read More
Could something as simple as a gate be driving down the average number of lactations per cow in your herd? Some would say, yes. Ontario field editor Bernard Tobin was on hand at this year’s Canadian Dairy Xpo at Stratford, Ont., and sat down to talk barn design, herd health and more with Joep Driessen, of… Read More
Research out of the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI) suggests that radio frequency identification (RFID) tags inserted into an animal’s ear cold not only require more strength to install, they are also much weaker than those installed at room temperature. These findings will no doubt be a warm message on a cold day to producers… Read More
In the battle for agriculture song parody supremacy, Derek Klingenberg has released his newest track. This time it is a spoof on the Miley Cyrus’s hit Party in the USA. This new parody transforms the song into one about feeding cattle. I betcha Miley did not have this version in mind when she wrote the… Read More
The business of food retailing is undergoing significant changes. There is significant consolidation happening, new entrants like Whole Foods, the growth of WalMart and all of this is happening while the consumer market is not growing overall. Just like farming technology is allowing food retailers to lower costs and gain more insight into its operations… Read More
Activists (some would say anarchists) seem to be routinely using the method of releasing shocking undercover videos that attempt to create the perception that all producers are using horrible practices. Whether it be the W5 Poultry video, Ohio Hog Farm Video or any other, this undercover scenario is something that not many producers would be… Read More
If you’ve been wary when fall-grazing alfalfa because of the risk of nitrate poisoning, you’ve been right to be careful, but for all the wrong reasons. Because alfalfa is a perennial legume, nitrogen is fixed and stored in the nodules of its root system and doesn’t actually accumulate in the tissues (something that can be… Read More
It’s an unfortunate truth, but most dairy farmers are likely to come across a a few tough to explain instances of cows that aren’t do well. A cow that’s dropping in weight and production, but eating well may be a head-scratcher of a case until the vet arrives and confirms that the cow is suffering… Read More
If you’ve got livestock, eventually you’ve got deadstock, too. Disposing of that deadstock can be a source of disease transmission or environmental contamination if not done properly, so it’s very important that ranchers and feedlot owners have a plan in place to deal with deadstock. There are several options available, all with pros and cons,… Read More
By Michael Grant, Director, Research, Centre for Food in Canada This post first appeared here, and is re-posted here with permission. An upcoming report for The Conference Board of Canada’s Centre for Food in Canada argues that it is time for the Canadian dairy sector to transition from playing defence to playing offense. The notion… Read More
Preg-checking cattle can feel a little bit like heartbreak when the vet yells, “open!” But the disappointment of selling a good cow is nothing compared to the devastation that can occur from an undetected breeding problem. Feeding cows over winter is not cheap, nor is it always easy (as some of us newbies learned from… Read More
When you’ve got many hungry mouths to feed, efficiency counts. And while a big tractor or TMR mixer may help, the process of creating rations and feeding cattle can be made faster and more efficient through the use of a piece of equipment engineered specifically for the task at hand. The Faresin Ecomdoe self-loading TMR… Read More
The Canola Council of Canada recently announced the findings from an Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada-funded Chinese study that suggests dairy cattle fed canola meal significantly increased their total milk production. The study shows that when used in dry rations, meal from Canadian canola can increase daily milk production by .6 kilograms per cow, according to… Read More
There are two things you’re always going to have with livestock — deadstock and manure. Both byproducts, if you will, present their own type of challenges. And then there are rules and regulations to contend with. Unlike some other byproducts of beef production, however, manure is a truly valuable resource if handled, stored and used… Read More