Join Northlands on November 8 and 9 for BeefTech presented by RealAgriculture — an interactive beef industry learning event. BeefTech is a comprehensive agriculture conference focusing on state-of-the-art practices and technology in the beef industry. Hands-on workshops and labs Technology demonstrations Technical learning sessions Agriculture experts will share knowledge on a range of topics from… Read More
Tag: BeefTech
It’s easy to overlook the resources post-secondary institutions provide outside of formal education, but facilities like Olds College’s Technology Access Centre for Livestock Production offer much more than a typical education track. “The Technology Access Centre is a new initiative made possible by NSERC [the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada],” says manager… Read More
Without a little office time, it’s almost impossible to know which enterprises are profitable, and which aren’t. As a result of collaboration with the federal government, the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta, the Western Beef Development Centre (WBDC) has developed templates to help producers in the process of calculating cost of production. RealAgriculture’s Debra Murphy sat… Read More
From checking-in all visitors to showering-in/showering-out of production facilities, for many livestock operators, strict biosecurity protocols are top of mind. For the rest of us, even asking visitors about their recent travels seems unnecessary, and, perhaps, like an invasion of trust. But doing all we can to protect our animals from the introduction and/or spread… Read More
We often focus our efforts on what to add to a total mixed ration in order to offer our animals the highest plane of nutrition necessary for their life stage. But, what about the substances that could create serious health concerns, or even death? “Moulds are a fungal growth, and the mycotoxins are actually a… Read More
For some, technology like autonomous tractors and unmanned aerial vehicles offer great interest; for others, the quick advancements in robotics and data are overwhelming and intimidating. Will we soon see job losses? Will human presence on farms be made obsolete? Not at all, says Christine Su, co-founder and CEO of PastureMap, a company that makes… Read More
Differentiating products through marketing has long been a goal of commodity groups. The Alberta Beef Producers have (according to their website) promoted the Alberta Beef brand for thirty years. It featured widely-recognized advertisements like that of three female ranchers leaning on a fence, with text that read, “If it ain’t Alberta, it ain’t beef.” Increasingly, the… Read More
For many involved in the production side of the cattle business, sitting down to office work isn’t our idea of a good time. But, says Sandy Russell of Spring Creek Land and Cattle Consulting, developing a business plan is a critical part of the job. “It’s key for any successful business — doesn’t matter if we’re… Read More
The inaugural BeefTech conference was held in Edmonton this week, where Agri-Trend founder and “outspoken advocate for agriculture” Robert Saik delivered the keynote address. Saik’s presentation focused largely on the metaphor of swimming in a river — we can either swim with the current of scientific evolution, or try to fight against it. In this… Read More