The rustic image of tasty Alberta beef produced by real cowboys was the industry’s saviour this summer. When other countries discovered bovine spongiform encephalopathy in their cattle, beef consumption hit the basement. Canada went the opposite direction with barbecue rallies, restaurants serving up Canadian beef and donations pouring in to keep the industry strong. Alberta […] Read more
Barbara Duckworth
Stories by Barbara Duckworth
Industry still recovering from BSE repercussions
Neil Jahnke remembers May 18 like it was yesterday. The president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association had been sorting cows with his son on a hot, dusty day on their Saskatchewan ranch. Their intention was to ship the culls on May 20. The day’s work was over, so he treated himself to a soak in […] Read more
Beef centre’s plan for U.S. low-key
The Canadian beef advantage is the newest buzzword as producers orchestrate a return to the American marketplace. The Beef Information Centre’s mandate is to promote domestic consumption of Canadian beef, but its newest duty includes restoring foreign markets, said Kathy Keeler, the centre’s chief executive officer. Polls show only one percent of the American public […] Read more
Teeth tell the tale
Checking teeth is an accepted way of determining the age of cattle. Since September 2003, designated boneless beef products from Canadian cattle less than 30 months of age have been permitted for export into the United States. While the Americans did not demand dentition as proof of age, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said checking […] Read more
Disease unites bickering industry
Sometimes it takes a tragedy to bring a family together. This was true for the Alberta beef industry as all sectors staggered under the burden of closed markets after a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy was announced May 20. For the last two years, a coalition of beef producers and industry groups, called the Beef […] Read more
Plugging a safer chew
REGINA – When the teenagers sally around the Smoky Mountain Chew stand, Stan Nelson makes a beeline for the youngsters. As a former chair of the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission for six years in the early 1990s, he knows these 15-year-old boys likely chew tobacco without realizing the harmful side effects. Nelson, who […] Read more
Producers get into the red to stay out of the red
RED DEER – Eric the Red pulls up a mouthful of hay and ignores the onlookers as he chews. At 2,700 pounds and nine years of age, his owner Rob Davidson believes big, red Charolais bulls of this type are the future. Eric is still sound and still breeding cows, which Davidson sees as a […] Read more
Quality of reds impresses Charolais breeders
RED DEER – Kevin and Jeff Beyak scrutinized the primped and preened red Charolais cattle in the show ring, looking for their view of perfection. The two were not interested in the best hairdo of the day. They were looking for the kind of hard-working cattle that could earn a living on their ranch at […] Read more
Beef producers irked by packers’ behaviour
Canadian beef packers have been accused of unethical behaviour and profiteering since May 20. Delegates to the Alberta Beef Producers annual meeting in Calgary displayed their frustration with low prices for fed cattle during the weeks after a single case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy closed the border. “Most of us would agree since May 20 […] Read more
Feed analysis is becoming more complex
RED DEER – When estimating animal feed digestibility and quality, the newest approach measures total digestible nutrients and energy in a sample. The estimates have gone beyond measuring protein or the relative feed value, which is an estimate of how much dry matter the animal might consume, said an Agriculture Canada ruminant nutritionist. “A lot […] Read more
