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
Barbara Duckworth
Stories by Barbara Duckworth
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
Farmer cultivates unique marketing plan
It couldn’t be right. Chickens clucking on the third floor of one of Calgary’s poshest downtown hotels? There they were, larger-than-life animatronic chickens from the farm of Ontario farmer Jerry Howell. The clucking, singing chickens were on display at the North American Farm Direct conference in Calgary, a convention for those interested in learning more […] Read more
Beef quality could boost producer profit
RED DEER – Beef producers may be able to make money in an otherwise soft cattle market this year if they can raise a steer that grades high on quality. “If you can produce the higher grading cattle as far as quality grade, you’re going to have a readily available market to you and it […] Read more
Cattle trade controversy baseless, says CCA official
American claims of missing health documents and ear tags on Canadian cattle bound for the United States appear to be unfounded. John Masswohl of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association said the claims, reported in U.S. media last week, were taken out of context to discredit the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its efforts to implement a […] Read more
Britain whittling down BSE cases
With more than 189,000 reported cases of BSE in Great Britain since 1986, the main goal of scientists in that country is to stop recycling the fatal brain wasting disease, says a British veterinarian. “The truth is the origin of BSE is unknown and may never be known with certainty,” said Ray Bradley, a former […] Read more
New BSE strain baffles scientists
A new form of BSE has been discovered in a small number of animals. Atypical BSE has been found in 18 cases among cattle older than 10 years, says Ray Bradley, a former veterinary surgeon who was head of pathology in Great Britain when BSE hit. The infected cattle were found through BSE surveillance programs […] Read more
Study looks at social impact of BSE on public
When Josie Smart asked farm families what could have been done to help them through the BSE crisis, the common response was, “nothing.” The social anthropologist from the University of Calgary found that troubling as she pursued studies into how the BSE crisis in Canada continues to affect farm families and rural communities. Her study […] Read more
