Operators of the West Hawk Lake livestock checkpoint are trying to get federal funding through the Growing Forward 2 program to reopen the project. Federal government money ran out earlier this year and the project closed Jan. 13. The checkpoint, near the Manitoba-Ontario border on the Trans-Canada Highway, is designed to contain an animal disease […] Read more
Barbara Duckworth
Stories by Barbara Duckworth
Persistence pays off: stubborn cattle virus focus of study
Bovine viral disease Persistently infected cattle can result in substantial feedlot costs. Vaccination programs must be tailored for each farm
Frank van der Meer has never seen the micro-organism that causes bovine viral disease, but he knows the damage it can do to beef and dairy cattle. The virus responsible for a host of serious illnesses in cattle is a rapidly changing organism only visible under the most powerful electron microscopes. It can cause losses […] Read moreCalgary Co-op urges suppliers to make changes
Farming practices | Local suppliers will have to alter systems within five years
Calgary Co-op members have voted in favour of the co-op buying its eggs and pork from farmers who do not use battery cages for laying hens and gestation stalls for sows. The resolution was passed 97-67 at the Co-op’s annual meeting March 13. The original resolution asked for change within three years, but the resolution […] Read moreHereford sales average $4,462at annual Medicine Hat bull sale
The 55th annual bull sale in Medicine Hat, Alta., March 13 posted respectable averages on a good offering of 70 Hereford and 40 Angus herd sires from southern Alberta. The Hereford sale averaged $4,462. Bar Pipe Hereford Ranch of Okotoks, Alta., consigned the high selling bull for $15,000 to Durbin Creek Ranch in Wyoming. Bar […] Read more
Alta. farmer named outstanding young farmer
OLDS, Alta. — A grain farmer from Gibbons, Alta., is the region’s outstanding young farmer for 2013. Michael Kalisvaart, a partner in the family owned Kalco Farms north of Edmonton, will compete in the national competition in Regina in November. He and his wife, Karen Jansen, and their three children farm with his father, Jack […] Read more
Ag Canada researcher recognized for animal welfare work
Alberta Farm Animal Care has presented Agriculture Canada researcher Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein with its farm animal care innovation award of distinction. Based at Agriculture Canada’s Lethbridge research centre, her work has focused on animal welfare, feedlot health, pain management and livestock transportation. The award, presented at the AFAC annual meeting in Calgary March 23 recognizes those […] Read more
PrioNet Canada wraps up at month’s end
PrioNet Canada is no more. The national research network, which formed eight years ago, studied diseases such as BSE and other brain wasting conditions. It will be officially stop operating March 31. The network, which was based at the University of British Columbia, connected researchers who studied prions and prion like diseases as well as […] Read more
Twelve-year-old cow grand champ at dairy show
Competing against the bloom of youth was no problem for the 12-year-old cow that was named grand champion at the annual Calgary Stampede Dairy Classic show March 23. CRF Lheros Rudolph Pete Joel has never been flushed and has produced eight natural calves throughout its career. Most were bulls that were sold to Hutterite colonies […] Read more
Mailbox theft growing in rural Alberta
Community mailboxes are new targets for thieves in rural areas. Increased reports of stolen parcels and mail are occurring from rural mailboxes after thieves broke into individual compartments or the parcel box, said RCMP const. Willy Henry of the Strathcona County detachment in central Alberta. Rural residents are advised to pick up their mail more […] Read more
U.S. label plan irks Canada
Changes proposed by the United States to its country-of-origin labelling law could widen its rift with Canada and Mexico. The U. S. Department of Agriculture published on March 11 the 44 page rule to amend the legislation. It would require more specific labelling at retail outlets to identify originating countries for cattle and hogs, where […] Read more
