SASKATOON (Staff) – The Wilkie, Sask. farmer convicted of killing his severely disabled daughter will be able to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. The court announced last week that it would hear evidence on the Robert Latimer case, likely this fall. The legal point the judges will examine involves the admissibility of the […] Read more
Barbara Duckworth
Stories by Barbara Duckworth
U.S.-Canada grading unified?
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – A proposal to allow beef grading equivalency between Canada and the United States was tabled at the recent National Cattlemen’s Association meeting. The question has been on the books in one form or another for years. The Americans have rejected it in the past saying their grading system is a world […] Read more
Canada, U.S. look to relax cross-border feeder cattle rules
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The U.S.-based National Cattlemen’s Association has approved a pilot project to ease feeder cattle trade between Western Canada and the northern states. Ben Thorlakson, of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, told the NCA animal health subcommittee that the Northwest Cattle Project aims to lower costs in the cattle trade. The project proposes […] Read more
Cattle producers suffer as demand dips, supply rises
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – With drought forecast, low feed grain carryovers from last year and plummeting cattle prices in all classes, the outlook couldn’t be much worse for producers who got up at 7 a.m. to hear the annual Cattlefax outlook. Cattlefax, the American industry market analysis service confirmed what many attending the National Cattlemen’s […] Read more
Quest to improve beef tenderness continues to elude researchers
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The pursuit of the tender steak is a quest that offers many clues but no complete answers. Those attending a meat quality seminar at the National Cattlemen’s Association meeting here recently received no clear solution to the meat quality dilemma facing producers across North America. Researchers from Texas A & M […] Read more
Industry tackles beef safety issue through zero tolerance attitude
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – “You don’t have to worry about us in San Antonio. We love beef.” That was the message cab drivers were delivering to convention goers arriving for the annual National Cattlemen’s Association meeting. But not everyone feels that way. A group of 17 noisy animal rights protesters picketed outside the meeting hall […] Read more
Discipline can see producers through hard times
CALGARY – Cattle prices remain in the dumps, but producers can see themselves through the downturn by adopting a disciplined approach to marketing and by producing high quality cattle, according to a market analyst. “We’ve gone through the days when everything brought premiums but now we’re going to see the market much more disciplined as […] Read more
El Nino system battles it out with anti-El Nino
CALGARY – When Nebraska weatherman Art Douglas visited Calgary Jan. 12 the temperature was 12 C. Overnight, the warm chinook winds shifted north and the mercury took a free fall to -20 C. Luckily for him, Douglas isn’t too concerned with trying to make short-term predictions in such unpredictable conditions. The Creighton University climatologist attended […] Read more
Alberta ranchers raising funds to help in pasture land defence
CALGARY (Staff) – Ranchers are raising a legal defence fund to help support a southern Alberta ranch’s right to control access to rented pasture. The industry hopes to raise about $100,000 to cover legal costs faced by the OH Ranch of Longview, Alta., this fall when the Alberta Court of Appeal hears the case. “It’s […] Read more
Audit reveals costly beef production errors
CALGARY – A nationwide audit of the Canadian beef sector has revealed costly production oversights that need attention if the industry wants to be profitable. The Canadian Beef Quality Assurance and Product safety program led by a committee of nine industry organizations is examining quality concerns in Canadian slaughter cattle. Audits in four major packing […] Read more
