Lee Smith, inventor of The Water Box cattle watering system, is recipient of the award of distinction for innovation from the Alberta Farm Animal Care Council. The rancher from the Consort, Alta., area devised the trademarked invention as a way to provide water to livestock throughout the winter without the need to constantly chop holes […] Read more
Barb Glen
Stories by Barb Glen
Aquaculture interest grows
John Derksen and his colleagues at the Lethbridge College aquaculture centre have been fielding two or three inquiries every week from people interested in setting up operations. That has been happening since last April amid burgeoning interest in local food production. Derksen, chair of the Aquaculture Centre of Excellence at the college, has worked in […] Read more
Prairie biodiversity considered under threat
Nature Conservancy of Canada identifies nine ‘crisis ecoregions,’ including aspen parkland and mixed grasslands region
It is all too easy to take prairie landscapes and the beauties of aspen parkland for granted, says one Canadian conservation biologist. Campaigns to save the Amazon rainforest and protect endangered African gorillas resonate with the public but Canada’s native prairie grassland and aspen parkland are among the most threatened ecosystems in the country. Dan […] Read more
Report expected soon on meat processing
A draft report on Canadian meat processing capacity was to be considered March 23 by the federal standing committee on agriculture and the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association is hopeful it will include several requests made during presentations earlier this month. Among them is creation of a red meat development fund, a request that has been on […] Read more
Canada, U.S. agree on plan if ASF infects wild pigs
Wild pigs are a worry in Canada and the United States for reasons beyond the damage they do to farms, pasture land and ecosystems. They could be an uncontrollable factor if ever infected with African swine fever. Though the fatal swine illness has not yet arrived in North America, it devastated China’s hog population and […] Read more
Test forage to protect cow health
Producers advised to ask for a wet chemistry test on forage samples rather than near infrared reflectance spectroscopy
Low snowfall and relatively dry winter conditions are raising concerns about spring pasture conditions. Ensuring proper nutrition for cows after calving could be more of a challenge than usual. Livestock nutritionist Barry Yaremcio of Yaremcio Ag Consulting said there is a good quantity of hay available in most areas to get producers through to spring […] Read more
Consistent feed crucial in dry cows
It’s all about consistent feed intake and maintenance of rumen health for dairy cows in the transition period before calving. There was a time when producers believed a drop in feed intake in the high-straw diet was a natural process for cows in the days or weeks before calving, said Trevor DeVries, a professor and […] Read more
Research agency gets elected board
Results Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR), the one-year-old organization tasked with selecting and funding agricultural research in Alberta, has its first elected board of directors. The non-profit group functioned for its first year with an appointed board that was advised in part by a 50-member advisory committee comprising marketing boards and commissions, industry associations, applied research […] Read more
Canada nears return to pre-2003 BSE status
World animal health organization to vote in May on negligible risk application, but scientific committee signals approval
Canada is closer to reaching negligible risk status for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the illness that wreaked havoc in the cattle industry beginning in 2003 and still has repercussions today. If that status is achieved, it could lead to greater beef trade opportunities to countries that continue to restrict imports based on Canada’s BSE history. The […] Read more
Canada moves closer to improved BSE status
Canada is one step closer to reaching negligible risk status for bovine spongiform encephalopathy. The scientific committee of the World Organization for Animal Health has indicated Canada’s application for a change in BSE status, from controlled risk to negligible risk, fulfills the needed requirements. Canada was designated as a controlled risk country for BSE in […] Read more
