Water management | Creeks feed gravity irrigation system and water is collected in reservoir
OKANAGAN FALLS, B.C. — Casorso Ranch is well hidden at the end of a winding gravel road in the hills towering over the southern end of British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley. Located between Okanagan Falls and Oliver, the ranch is a desert beauty with steep terraces of rock that jut out over fragile grasslands and irrigated […] Read more
Barbara Duckworth
Stories by Barbara Duckworth
Show develops cattle skills of youth
Youth event | Simmental association members take what they learned in grooming, judging and showing into the ring
OKOTOKS, Alta. — A seasoned showman and a young woman attending her first big cattle show were the grand champions at the national youth Simmental show held in Okotoks July 18. Wyatt Miller of Saskatoon had the grand champion bull with a solid red calf. At 14, he has a firm handshake and talks like […] Read more
Improving welfare reduces stress, risk of BRD in herd
Calves often victims | Weaning, vaccinating and castrating the same day overwhelms immune system
BANFF, Alta. — Bovine respiratory disease remains a major cause of sickness and death in beef and dairy calves, despite the availability of respiratory vaccines and treatments. “How much bovine respiratory disease you get varies from year to year,” said veterinarian Anthony Confer of Oklahoma State University. Most severe and fatal forms of BRD resulting […] Read moreEagle eye, love of land keys to success
Contestants from around the world | Competitors plow precise furrows without laser tracking or GPS equipment
OLDS, Alta. — A world plowing match is like a United Nations gathering place for farmers. This year’s annual event held July 19-20 in Olds, displayed the bond between man and machine and the pride in plowing the perfect furrow without laser tracking or GPS. An eagle eye, a measuring tape and a love of […] Read moreSock maker keeps on spinning
BARRIERE, B.C. — Anne Carmichael takes 20 minutes to make a sock on her 104-year-old knitting machine. Carmichael, who raises Corriedale and Dorset sheep on her farm near Tappen, B.C., is part of a knitters’ guild and makes socks of every shape and size on a cast iron unit that she found in Ontario. The […] Read more
No rainbows in economic outlook
Analyst stresses caution | Get debt under control, tap ag export opportunities in China, Asia
Canadian agriculture depends on trade, but exporters need to consider how to carry out international business if the dollar hovers between 95 cents and $1.05. As well, a soft domestic economy with less than two percent annual growth and continuing low interest rates should be enough warning to the business community to proceed with caution. […] Read more
$265,000 heifer tops retirement sale
Doug Blair recognized | Other owners plan to carry on Rocky Mountain Holsteins ranch
COCHRANE, Alta. — Selling a young dairy heifer for a record price in Western Canada was like a farewell toast for Doug Blair. The July 9 sale marked Blair’s friendly goodbye to his partnership with David Chalack and Glenn Hockley, who will continue the Rocky Mountain Holsteins brand at the Cochrane area farm. The 10-month-old […] Read more
Youth excel at Calgary Stampede shows
Future farmers | Teenage winners honour family heritage while working toward their own futures
A world class show like the Calgary Stampede often brings out the best in the livestock world. This year, a group of high achieving teenagers won the big prizes with their beef cattle. The beef business has been part of their lives since they were born and many were showing cattle before they started school. […] Read more
Rancher helping to preserve breed
Soay sheep | B.C. breeder building a flock of sheep originally from northern Scotland
BARRIERE, B.C. — Erin Wilson feels a special affinity with an ancient breed of sheep. The Soay, with their brown woolly fleeces and curving horns, have lived in northern Scotland for centuries. Wilson’s ancestors tended those sheep, and she is now striving to build a breeding flock of this rare breed at her farm near […] Read moreCOOL lawsuit launched
A lawsuit to block the implementation of the newest version of country-of-origin labelling has been filed in a U.S. court. Eight groups representing packers and livestock organizations have joined the challenge, arguing the amendment released May 23 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture is unconstitutional and should be stopped. The suit was filed July 9 […] Read more
