New animal care officials
The new chair of the Alberta Foundation for Animal Care is Peter Schuld, a dairy and beef farmer from Iron Springs.
Vice-chair is turkey farmer David Blackwood of Wetaskiwin and Dan Sych of Hay Lakes is executive director. AFAC is a producer-run organization that oversees farm animal welfare concerns in Alberta. There are 20 member organizations that include livestock and poultry growers as well as affiliated industry supporters.
Farm facts series
A series of eight booklets on backgrounding cattle is available to farmers at all Saskatchewan rural service centres. Published by Sask-atchewan Agriculture, the series includes: Marketing Backgrounded Cattle; Economic Losses to Shrink; Health in the Feedlot; Beef Backgrounding Facilities; Pencil Shrink; Business Plans – A checklist for beef backgrounding enterprises; Backgrounded – Feeder Cattle Nutrition; and Sources of Operating Credit for Backgrounding Feedlots.
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Alberta researcher helps unlock the economics of farming
Lethbridge Polytechnic researcher helping agriculture producers with decision-making tools in economic feasibility
Ethanol research
The University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon recently received an $80,000 contract to test the efficiency of ethanol production from wheat, barley, triticale and oats for Agriculture Canada.
The project will lead to one new job and will maintain two post-university research jobs over the life of the contract.
Scheduled to be completed in February 1998, the experiments will test the efficiency of various chemical compounds and enzymes in improving ethanol production. Measurements from the fermentation of the best, worst and typical varieties of each cereal are expected to help determine the best utilization of available feedstocks.
Winning auctioneer
Ross Taylor, of Melita, Man., won the Livestock Auctioneering Cham-pionships in Winnipeg June 1 and will now represent Manitoba at the International Livestock Auctioneering Championships in Calgary this summer.
Sheldon Nicholson, of Winnipeg, placed second and Gordon Cam-eron, of Brandon, took third spot.
