BENTLEY, Alta. — It is less than a month before Doug and Katie Roxburgh’s fifth annual cattle sale, and there is plenty to do at Dun-Rite Stock and Stables. The sale calves must be weaned, groomed and halter broken and a video showing the sale offerings must be on the farm website in time for […] Read more
Barbara Duckworth
Stories by Barbara Duckworth
World youth tackle hunger issue
Food production, waste | Delegates developed strategies to improve production and distribution
Young people from around the world were recently asked to solve the biggest question of the century: how to feed nine billion people in less than 40 years time. The 118 delegates to the 4-H Youth Ag-Summit in Calgary met Aug. 19-25 to talk about what needs to be done by 2050. Most of them […] Read moreTriticale nudging out corn, barley
Rye-wheat hybrid | Trials show triticale retains its nutritional value and has improved disease resistance
ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOUSE, Alta. — Triticale could replace barley as the feed of choice for western Canadian cattle. “It is because of its tonnage, consistency and its ability to gobble up lots of nutrients,” said Ken Ziegler, a beef and forage specialist with Alberta Agriculture. “We are finding triticale is a very consistent producer for […] Read moreExperts tally river otter population
COW LAKE, Alta. — River otters have never been abundant in Alberta, but their numbers seem to be increasing. Wildlife officials are trying to count them but they can be elusive in the lakes and rivers of the boreal forest, northern foothills and eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. “The problem with otters is there […] Read more
Timber continues to stand tall
CLEARWATER COUNTY, Alta. — The timber industry is a big part of the Alberta economy, and the public is able to get a close look at it by visiting the Des Crossley demonstration forest. The 160 acre site was established in 1951 by forestry researcher Des Crossley in Clearwater County in west-central Alberta. The intent […] Read more
Alberta government urged to make plans to avert next major flood
Variable climate | Land planner says some decisions will be difficult and must involve all levels of government and the public
Brad Stelfox was travelling on the Danube River studying the effects of flooding in Europe when he received a phone call from his son in Calgary June 20. The police had given him 10 minutes to evacuate the family home in Sunnyside, an inner city Calgary community hard hit by flooding. The flooding of the […] Read moreFeds provide $14 million in beef research funding
Growing Forward II The funding will go to 28 research studies to be completed by March 31, 2018
AIRDRIE, Alta. — The federal government has committed $14 million to beef cattle research over the next five years. The Beef Cattle Industry Science Cluster will manage the money to improve beef quality and food safety, animal health and welfare, disease detection, forage production and feed efficiency, federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz said in an […] Read moreWest Hawk Lake checkpoint closed
The West Hawk Lake livestock movement checkpoint has been closed. The site, which opened in 2006, was located at the Manitoba-Ontario border to collect information on livestock moving across the country. The information was part of a health monitoring program. The plan is now to divide Canada into health zones. If a disease is found […] Read more
Straw Man plan aims to promote beef sector, sales
For more than a century, players in the Canadian beef industry have often ridden separate trails, but as the world’s food demands change, they say it is time to ride together. The Straw Man Canadian Beef Industry Strategy was born at a meeting in Calgary last spring to get people talking about how to seize […] Read more
U.S. cattle producers leery of expanding
Rebound from drought | Greener pastures and a promising corn crop may encourage growth
Better pastures and a promising corn crop are good news for the United States beef industry, but there is little appetite for herd expansion, says an agricultural economist at the University of Kansas. “There is reason for some renewed optimism in the cow-calf sector compared to maybe six to nine months ago,” said Glynn Tonsor […] Read more
