Data shows a three percent improvement in beef cows and 16 percent in beef bulls body condition from the 2007 audit
Cows and bulls in the United States travel an average of nine hours on their way to slaughter plants, according to the 2016 National Market Cow and Bull Beef Quality Audit released last week. Among many topics within the survey, the audit included trailer and travel information for cows and bulls via potbelly trailer, the […] Read more
Barb Glen
Stories by Barb Glen
Ranchers focus on rebuilding from the ashes
Jennifer Jenkins has seen what remains of her five-generation cattle ranch on the edge of southwestern Alberta’s Waterton Lakes National Park. Hers was one of five ranches destroyed in a wildfire that as of Sept. 18 continued to burn out of control and had already burned about 70 percent of the national park. The latest […] Read more
Varieties showing promise head to potato trials, buyers
BROOKS, Alta. — More than 100 separate bushel baskets of potatoes, each containing the production from 10 hills, are lined up on the grass at the Crop Diversification Centre South. Each contains a different variety of potatoes, some of them tried and true and others being considered for multiplication and future production. “Breeding is a […] Read more
Source of TB in Alta. herd may remain unknown
The source of bovine tuberculosis found in six Alberta cattle last year may never be found. It’s a perplexing aspect to a situation that affected many ranchers in Alberta’s southeastern region near Jenner and Saskatchewan ranchers along the nearby provincial border. Approximately 11,500 animals have been killed to ensure eradication of the disease, and another […] Read more
Livestock owners told to be proactive
TWIN BUTTE, Alta. — It is so dry in southern Alberta that ranchers contemplating a cattle roundup under threat of wildfire must ask themselves a question: does the horse have shoes? The spark from a metal shoe against a rock is enough to start a fire that, given windy conditions and heat, could quickly and […] Read more
Spud research looks at greenhouse gas emissions
BROOKS, Alta. — Potato plants need a lot of nitrogen to produce tubers at optimum levels, but with more applied nitrogen comes an increased risk of nitrogen loss to the atmosphere. Guillermo Hernandez Ramirez, an assistant professor at the University of Alberta, is studying the use and loss of that fertilizer in potato crops. He […] Read more
Fire damages ranches in southwestern Alberta
Damage has been reported to farms and ranches on the perimeter of Waterton Lakes National Park as a wildfire continues to burn in southwestern Alberta. Residents in the region east and north of the park were evacuated last night and the area under mandatory evacuation was expanded twice as the fire doubled in size, fed […] Read more
Mission accomplished: Tag reader designed for producers
CALGARY — As wish lists go, it was long. Cow-calf producers love the idea of using their smartphone to read cattle tags but conditions in the field call for hardy equipment. Canadian Cattlemen’s Association technical services director Mark Klassen was up to the challenge and after the CCA undertook a producer survey and developed a […] Read more
Beef sector looks at how to satisfy shoppers
While social media implies consumers demand hormone and antibiotic-free meat, some meat buyers say it’s not an issue — yet
CALGARY — The rows of steaks, roasts and hamburger in the grocery store meat case are near the end of the beef food chain. But what does that final link, the consumer, want from the array? They want it free of added hormones, for one thing, says former Costco merchandising manager Claude Gravel. “Hormone-free beef, […] Read moreCarcass audit shows increase in ‘significant abscesses’
The examination of 30,000 carcasses revealed more animals dehorned, which reduces bruising and labour at slaughter
CALGARY — Preliminary results from a 2016-17 beef carcass quality audit show fewer horns, more tag, more liver abscesses and about the same number of brands compared to the last audit in 2010-11. Mark Klassen, director of technical services for the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, gave early results of the audit Aug. 16 at the Canadian […] Read more
