DENVER, Colorado – Canadians entered in the Gelbvieh and Balancer Show at the National Western Stock Show on Jan. 12 performed well with red ribbons and some division wins. They are as follows: Scott Severtson, Innisfail, Alta. at the Balancer Show (crossbred Gelbvieh) won first and second place in the spring heifer class with SLC […] Read more
Barbara Duckworth
Stories by Barbara Duckworth
Sask. ranch has grand champion bull three years in a row
CORRECTION – January 23, 2015 – The correct owners of the grand champion Red Angus bull at the National Western Stock Show held Jan. 12 in Denver Colorado was Triple L Angus, Viscount, Sask., Wright’s Livestock Melfort, Sask., Breed Creek Angus, Mankota, Sask. and Six Mile Red Angus, Fir Mountain, Sask. Triple L Angus, owned […] Read more
Survey reveals few U.S. shoppers aware of COOL law
Canadian livestock producers continue to suffer while awaiting the U.S. appeal of a WTO ruling against COOL
The ongoing fight against country-of-origin labelling law in the United States has cost Canadian pork and beef producers billions of dollars. Yet a recent consumer survey on food demand from Oklahoma State University found limited knowledge about the law. It found that fewer than a quarter of those surveyed knew that meat animals’ country of […] Read moreHeifers rule at Friday Night Lights
OLDS, Alta. — It wasn’t so long ago when people couldn’t give a heifer away. That was not the case recently in a sales barn at Olds, Alta., where the bidding was fast and furious for a select set of registered Simmental females. The Friday Night Lights sale, held Dec. 19, offered 50 bred and […] Read more
Farmers grapple with proving sustainability
Commodity groups have joined forces to develop a crops sustainability certification pilot project in Alberta
BANFF, Alta. — Sustainability can sometimes be a hazy concept, yet farmers are often forced to comply even if they don’t always know what it is or how much it might cost. Jason Lenz is one of those farmers. He believes his central Alberta farm is sustainable when it comes to continuous improvement, socially responsible […] Read more
Long-term solution to predation sought
Alberta beef producers want more government compensation when livestock and forage supplies are lost to predators. The problems with wildlife are found throughout the province, and producers are increasingly frustrated as they try to protect their livestock and forage. More fences and hunting have been ineffective. “The government has to look at the wildlife problem […] Read more
No more lagoons
Livestock water recycling system breaks down manure and produces water that can be used for on-farm jobs
Imagine pouring thousands of litres of soupy manure through a series of filters and generating clean, clear water. It is the premise of Livestock Water Recycling, a Calgary company that has sold its patented units to dairy and hog farms in Canada and the United States. Milking parlour technology has advanced over the years, but […] Read moreCalgary project recycles construction waste materials
What is composting?
LETHBRIDGE — Composting is an environmentally creative way to dispose of undesirable waste. Ten to 15 percent of construction waste in Alberta is recycled, and the rest is dumped into over-burdened landfills. A project organized by the City of Calgary and Agriculture Canada is composting construction waste such as drywall and lumber. The wood is […] Read moreResearcher perfects compost recipe
LETHBRIDGE — Frank Larney notices dry material swirling in the wind when he climbs on top of a fully cured compost pile at Agriculture Canada’s Lethbridge Research Centre. “One of the things we learned is this stuff will blow,” he said. After researching the art and science of composting for 20 years, he and other […] Read more
Sickening statistics
A review written 10 years ago by Merle Olson of the University of Calgary’s faculty of biology estimated that 1,415 infectious organisms are known to cause disease in humans and 616 pathogens cause disease in livestock. One-third of the livestock pathogens are zoonotic, which means they can transmit disease between animals and humans. The diseases […] Read more
