RED DEER – The rumours of West Nile virus spreading across the country turned into bitter reality for hundreds of Canadians last summer. The first equine cases were detected in Manitoba and North Dakota horses by the end of May. By late summer, people were checking into emergency clinics with serious headaches, flu-like symptoms and, […] Read more
Barbara Duckworth
Stories by Barbara Duckworth
Goat owners form ID plan
Goat owners are developing a national identification plan. Until the end of February, goat owners will discuss different kinds of identification methods and a reporting system in a series of producer meetings already under way. A report must be presented to the federal government by Feb. 29. “We are just starting to work on this,” […] Read more
Manure rates could change
RED DEER – Producers could find manure application more complicated if application rates switch to a phosphorous ratio from nitrogen. “As we move to a phosphorous based approach, we will most likely apply lower (manure) rates to the land,” said Barry Olson of the Alberta Agriculture irrigation division in Lethbridge. He said research is under […] Read more
BSE costs total $3 billion in Canada
LETHBRIDGE – The Canadian economy has lost $3 billion due to two cases of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, says an Alberta trade policy analyst. Nithi Govindasamy of Alberta Agriculture’s policy secretariat said the impact has been greatest for the Alberta cattle industry. Losses to the feedlot sector are estimated at about $700 million since trade stopped […] Read more
Alta. alters crown land access
RED DEER – New Alberta legislation has changed access to provincial crown lands, and places more onus on the public to behave responsibly, says an Edmonton lawyer. “If you take advantage of that access to crown land, if anything happens, if you are injured, your right to sue the crown is very restricted,” said Esther […] Read more
Open border on hold, producers in limbo
Arno Doerksen, chair of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association’s animal health committee, said no one knows how long an American investigation into a case of bovine spongiform enceph-alopathy will last. However, he is hopeful that meetings with South Korean, Japanese, Mexican and U.S. agriculture officials could yield favourable results. “The uncertainty is the thing that confounds […] Read more
Auctions see feeder prices, volumes dip
The first sales week for live cattle auctions following the Christmas holiday season was shadowed with uncertainty in the wake of the discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in the United States last month. Many cattle auctions did not open for the week of Jan. 5 while those offering cattle saw numbers down substantially. Prices were […] Read more
Downer animals treatment, rules ‘wishy-washy’
The treatment and transportation of downer animals is a murky area for Canada’s livestock industry. Provincial and federal legislation says animals that cannot stand upon arrival at the slaughter plant are to be treated humanely. However, regulations are often subjective and vary across the country. “The rules are wishy-washy,” said Jackie Wepruk of the Alberta […] Read more
Meat rules for downers
Canadian meat hygiene regulations have explicit instructions for handling crippled animals, downers and obviously sick animals. They must be identified, recorded and segregated from normal animals and should be dealt with as soon as possible. The animals can be killed and bled in public stockyards before transportation to a registered slaughter establishment for dressing, post-mortem […] Read more
U.S. BSE: what we know so far
The possible link between a Canadian farm and the first case of BSE discovered in the United States should have little bearing on health and border regulations, according to officials. “From a scientific point of view we don’t see what has happened should change any of the scientific issues regardless of what side of the […] Read more
