Winning the grand champion banner never gets old, says Norm Parrent. The Clyde, Alta., Hereford breeder has won the grand prize at the Calgary Bull Sale four times since 1995, an affirmation of the 35-year-old breeding program he runs with his wife Joanne and sons Marc and Michael. This year’s winner and high seller at […] Read more
Barbara Duckworth
Stories by Barbara Duckworth
Alta. food education campaign gets smart
RED DEER – If it takes a car to help Alberta city residents get smart about where their food comes from, then that is a publicity stunt farm groups are willing to pull. The nine members of the Alberta Livestock Industry Development Fund have developed a website and newspaper campaign to tell people about the […] Read more
Livestock commodity groups review ag marketing council
RED DEER – An Alberta marketing council that governs 20 agricultural boards and commissions is under review. The Agricultural Products Marketing Council was established in 1965 to set up boards and commissions and oversee their operations. The legislation for the council was last reviewed in 1987. The latest review involves all commodity groups represented by […] Read more
Disease control requires diligence
RED DEER – There is no substitute for elbow grease applied with diligence when controlling diseases on a poultry farm. “Ninety-nine percent of a successful clean-out is what you put into it; one percent is chemicals,” says veterinarian Scott Gillingham of the poultry breeding company Avigen Inc. He told the Alberta Turkey Producers annual meeting […] Read more
Farmers monitor poultry bacteria
RED DEER – Alberta poultry producers are working together to assess the prevalence of a severe form of salmonella. Salmonella enteriditis cases must be reported in Alberta so hatcheries and those involved in turkey, chicken and egg production are co-operating in a blind study about the prevalence of the disease. Salmonella enteriditis has been found […] Read more
Canada’s labour shortage likely to last
RED DEER – A workforce analyst predicts Canada’s labour shortage will grow worse as the country’s population ages. “This is something we are going to have to work with for the rest of our lifetimes,” David Baxter told an Alberta beef industry conference in Red Deer Feb. 23. He presented Statistics Canada figures that link […] Read more
Ranchers question surface rights deals
RED DEER – It is time for Alberta agriculture groups to decide whether the provincial surface rights act serves its mandate. “We need to have a study to determine if the act and the surface rights board as they exist today are meeting the original intent. It is my position that they are not,” said […] Read more
El Nino brings winter misture
RED DEER – A feeble El Nino this winter has left footprints as it dies away. There was no ensuing drought in California, the Pacific Northwest or southwestern Canada. “This was not a normal El Nino,” said climatologist Art Douglas, who provided a weather report to the Alberta Beef Industry conference held in Red Deer […] Read more
Scientists examine CJD risks, identification
No risk has been detected linking neurological surgical instruments with the transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, but a British doctor recommends a better safe than sorry policy. Transmissible spongiform enceph-alopathies are a challenge for public health because the agents causing these brain-destroying diseases are nearly indestructible, Dr. Robert Will of Western General Hospital in Edinburgh said […] Read more
Shipment of breeding cattle may open doors
When 80 Holstein heifers left Canada March 2 for Barbados, they became the first shipment of breeding cattle to be exported from this country since BSE closed borders to trade in 2003. The bred heifers came from Shore Holsteins Corp of London, Ont., owned by Hardy and Bill Shore. The company has exported dairy cattle […] Read more
