An on farm food safety program for beef producers should be all in a day’s work but few have bought into the record keeping program as they face an uncertain future of deflated markets. In the last year, about 1,000 Alberta beef producers have attended 47 different workshops to learn about food safety certification for […] Read more
Barbara Duckworth
Stories by Barbara Duckworth
Ag Notes
New AU executive Agricore United board members have elected a new executive. Wayne Drul of Oakburn, Man., is the new executive committee chair. Drul, was first elected to the United Grain Growers board of directors in 1994. He later served as Manitoba vice president of UGG in 1998 and 1999 and as first vice president […] Read more
Canada slipping as kingpin in wheat industry
Canada’s once lofty position in the world of wheat is declining, says a leading agricultural economist. “Total world trade has levelled off so Canada’s relative importance in the wheat market has fallen,” says transplanted Canadian, Colin Carter, of the University of California. Canada exports 70 percent of its production so the slowdown in world demand […] Read more
Identification needed in dentition disputes
Three out of every 1,000 heifers may fail a dentition test and be placed in the over 30-months-old category, even though their chronological age is lower. “We were expecting to see more failure rates, especially when the bulk of the yearlings started coming through the system,” said Gene Rawe, animal health specialist with the Alberta […] Read more
Animal drug delays frustrate researchers
A soon-to-be-released study suggests that costly delays in approving veterinary drugs make Canadian companies and producers less competitive. The George Morris Centre, an agricultural think tank based at Guelph, Ont., interviewed five animal pharmaceutical companies that claimed total lost sales of $91 million because of lengthy regulatory requirements in Canada. “The key problem among those […] Read more
Alta. finished paying for BSE
RED DEER – The Alberta government says it is time for the federal government to come up with more money for beleaguered beef producers. Agriculture minister Shirley McClellan said Alberta has paid out more than $400 million to cattle producers and is unlikely to put up any more money to help them deal with BSE. […] Read more
Beef groups float seven-part plan
RED DEER – Tony Saretsky stood at the microphone and attempted to draw an anxious crowd of beef producers together with a conciliatory tone and a gentle voice. This was the inaugural meeting of the Alberta Beef Industry Council, representing feedlot owners, auctioneers, cattle buyers and ranchers. It is not BSE they fear, but its […] Read more
Producers react to beef industry proposals
A seven point proposal from Alberta to manage the beef industry out of the BSE crisis has been accepted by a newly formed livestock consortium. Written by the Alberta Beef Industry Council, the proposal raised many questions from those attending the new group’s first conference in Red Deer Feb. 19-21. The hottest points dealt with […] Read more
Massive herd wreaks havoc
RED DEER – A sombre economic message went out to beef producers as market analysts explained the challenge of dealing with record cattle inventories in Canada as international borders stay closed. Anne Dunford, senior market analyst with Canfax, and Duane Lenz, beef analyst with Cattlefax in the United States, were reluctant to offer forecasts when […] Read more
BSE rules must not over react: official
A leading American meat official says the greatest challenge facing the North American beef industry is to unite Canadian, Mexican and American food safety regulations without making them burdensome. “One of the ways we are going to be successful is having our governments harmonize these systems,” Patrick Boyle, chief executive officer of the American Meat […] Read more
