Under investigation by SPCA | The province has no rules governing the operation of animal rescue facilities
An Alberta livestock rescue organization being investigated by the provincial SPCA has closed its doors. The Forgotten Farm, owned and operated by Tara Davies near Springbank, recently posted notices about the operation’s closure via social media. The SPCA began an investigation after two former volunteers at the farm called with concerns about animal welfare. “We […] Read more
Barb Glen
Stories by Barb Glen
What happened to processor expansion plans?
Canadian plants needed | Border closures showed that overdependence on one market is a bad idea, say cattle producers
The pitfalls of relying on one major market became painfully evident in May 2003 when the United States closed its borders to Canadian cattle. News of Canada’s BSE case sparked the closure of virtually all export markets for live cattle and beef, which was a crisis because the country exported 60 percent of its annual […] Read moreAlberta to increase minimum wage
Alberta’s minimum wage will rise to $9.95 per hour from $9.75 effective Sept. 1, the province announced today. That is a 2.1 percent increase to the general minimum wage. No change is planned to the liquor server minimum wage, which is $9.05 per hour. Human services minister Dave Hancock said in a news release that […] Read more
Livestock rescue farm closes in Alberta
An Alberta livestock rescue organization that was being investigated by the provincial SPCA has closed its doors. The Forgotten Farm, owned and operated by Tara Davies near in Springbank, recently posted notices about the operation’s closure via social media. The SPCA began an investigation after two former volunteers at the farm called with concerns about […] Read more
BSE: 10 years later
There is before and there is after in the Canadian cattle industry. Time has been neatly divided between the span before the BSE crisis and what came afterward. Everyone in the industry remembers where they were at the seminal moment when they heard that Canada had a home-grown case of the disease. “I was sitting […] Read more
Seed inoculants popular this spring
Seed inoculant is selling fast as seeding gets underway across the Prairies. Some brands and formulations are already unavailable to producers. However, Novozymes and Becker Underwood say inoculum supplies are adequate, even if farmers’ preferred types and formulations are not. Novozymes’ Tag Team, its multi-action line, is sold out at the manufacturer’s level, said Lethbridge […] Read more
Plants will turn waste into fertilizer, biogas
Conversion process | Two facilities in Alberta will process specified risk material from cattle
A plant that will convert specified risk material from cattle into fertilizer and biogas may break ground later this year in Lacombe, Alta. BioRefinex Canada has received environmental and regulatory approvals for a $35 million plant in Lacombe’s industrial park. Now it’s a matter of completing the financing, said BioRefinex president Chris Thrall. “We are […] Read moreB.C. fruit blossoms bountiful, but some areas hit with frost
Soft fruits may be affected The season is off to an early start and growers are already working to expand export markets
The wealth of blossoms on fruit trees in British Columbia’s prime Okanagan Valley fruit growing region bode well for a good crop, according to growers. “I probably had the best blossom I’ve had in three years, at least, maybe four,” Kelowna fruit grower Fred Steele said last week. “But it came quick so we’ve got […] Read moreEarly detection method of bison respiratory disease sought
New research funding Veterinarians are hoping to develop a vaccine for mycoplasma bovis and a way to detect the illness through blood samples
Additional funding has been secured to continue studies on a fatal respiratory disease in bison. Mycoplasma bovis is considered one of the most significant diseases affecting bison in North America and the number one killer. Considered a secondary disease in cattle, it has lethal effects on bison. Some prairie herds have seen up to 30 […] Read moreBSE ripple effects reverberate
A laboratory, a microscope, a scientist and a slice of bovine brain that would change the world. That’s how the BSE crisis began May 20, 2003. Dr. Stefanie Czub of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed Canada’s first homegrown case of the cattle disease at midnight in Winnipeg’s National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease. She […] Read more
