Beef prices soar | High beef prices and consumers’ demand for value are putting beef sales on the back burner
LETHBRIGE — Brent Chaffee hopes the tumultuous times experienced during his tenure are over as he hands over the reins of the Alberta Cattle Feeders Association to a new administration. An increasing number of feedlots in North America have called it quits in recent years because of elusive profits. “There have been enough years with […] Read more
Barbara Duckworth
Stories by Barbara Duckworth
Assessing water use can be expensive, difficult task
Systems to determine soil moisture Programming the soil probes or metering systems and interpreting data requires expertise
LETHBRIDGE — LeRon Torrie wanted to know what his water was costing him. The only way to find out was to install meters on his irrigation system near Grassy Lake, Alta. He also wanted to know how much the electricity cost to run his pumps because even though he analyzed his bill every year, there […] Read moreFew water quality problems in irrigated regions
Most score top marks Pesticide residue and fecal coliforms were found in five irrigation districts
LETHBRIDGE — Water in Alberta’s irrigation canals is getting top grades. The province has been testing water in the province’s 13 irrigation districts since 2011, and with a few exceptions the results have been good, said Jollin Charest of Alberta Agriculture’s irrigation branch. The most recent results produced an average score of 91.3 out of […] Read moreU.S. cattle industry fears retaliation over COOL
Amendments not made | Congress passed the farm bill retaining COOL which opens the door for Canada to impose tariffs
U.S. livestock groups and manufacturers fear punishing tariffs if the country-of-origin labelling law continues in its present form. Hopes faded that the law could be changed in the 2014 U.S. farm bill when the House of Representatives passed the Agricultural Act of 2014 with a vote of 251 to 166. The Senate is also expected […] Read moreProducers urged to watch for pigeon fever, West Nile Virus
RED DEER — Horse owners must watch for flare-ups of pigeon fever and West Nile Virus this summer. Dr. Kelsey Brandon, a veterinarian from Claresholm, Alta., who first diagnosed pigeon fever when it arrived in southern Alberta last August, said the first case was thought to be an accident in which a horse had been […] Read more
Make horses work for food to avoid boredom
Exercise good for digestion | Specialist advises using a grazing muzzle to extend eating time and prevent wood chewing
RED DEER — Horses left to their own devices spend most of their time eating. About 70 percent of a 24 hour period is spent either foraging or eating, said equine specialist Lori Warren of the University of Florida. Unlike other livestock, they will also eat at night. “These meals might last a few minutes, […] Read morePED here to stay in Ontario: veterinarian
Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus is probably a permanent disease in Ontario now that there have been five confirmed cases as of Feb. 2, say swine veterinarians. “PED is now endemic in the U.S.A. It is here to stay. I am wondering if Ontario is approaching that point,” Alberta provincial swine specialist Julia Kleenliside said in […] Read more
Bean trials examine ways to increase yield, profits
LETHBRIDGE — Beans are big business in southern Alberta. Up to 50,000 acres of irrigated land are planted each year to pinto, white, great northerns, red, yellow and black beans worth about $60 million. Alberta Agriculture agronomist Pat Pfiffner said it is the second highest valued irrigated crop on a per acre basis. Beans, which […] Read more
Vaccine not fully effective against disease targeting piglets
Pig farms are vulnerable to a host of nasty viruses, but in the case of porcine epidemic diarrhea, no immunity develops after the disease strikes. Transmissible gastroenteritis, similar to PED, is found on many farms but it does not provide immunity to PED, said Egan Brockhoff of Prairie Swine Health Services in Red Deer. “It […] Read more
Hereford study to help producers get biggest beef for the buck
OLDS, Alta. — Finding cattle that eat less and gain more could soon be easier than searching for that needle in a haystack. The Canadian Hereford Association is sponsoring a three-year residual feed intake trial on 900 bulls. The project is expected to be completed in 2015 and the results will be used to develop […] Read more
