Alberta family has spent generations breeding strong Charolais line based on fertility, short calving period and growth
CLYDE, Alta. — The grass at Valanjou Ranch is belly high and green, and the Charolais cows grazing through are white. This is the picture Henri Lusson envisioned when he emigrated in 1951 from the Anjou region of France to northern Alberta to become a rancher in northern Alberta. Henri and Odette Lusson started the […] Read more
Barbara Duckworth
Stories by Barbara Duckworth
Lab saves contents of valuable packages
All is not lost if a valuable animal dies on the farm, thanks to a new technique to extract viable semen within 48 hours. The team at Canadian Animal Genetic Resources in Saskatoon has received the scrotums of dead animals to salvage viable sperm cells and produce another generation of cattle, goats, sheep, horses or […] Read more
New Alta. lab focuses on building soil health
OYEN, Alta. — Healthy soil is the foundation of agriculture. Restoring that health is the goal of Yamily Zavada, who is heading the new soil laboratory at the Chinook Applied Research Association at Oyen. The soil health laboratory is open to producers to provide them with biological and physical soil assessments to help them better […] Read more
Audit shows deficiencies in Canadian inspection system
Canada’s meat inspection system has shown deficiencies following an audit by the United States. As trading partners, the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency conduct regular audits of each other’s processing plants to assess equivalency in standards. The FSIS had concerns about carcass inspection […] Read more
New pea, lentil varieties fare well in southeastern Alta.
OYEN, Alta. — The brown soil zones present challenges to producers, but modern farming techniques make it possible to grow a wider range of crops. “It is a drier area of the Canadian Prairies, but nonetheless we can grow a lot of crops in these regions,” said Neil Whatley of Alberta Agriculture. More peas, lentils […] Read more
Feed supplies priority as B.C. fires rage
Range losses continue to mount as British Columbia fires consume thousands of acres of forest and forage. The provincial government estimates that 30,000 animals are within the boundaries of the affected regions in the worst fire season since 1958. The B.C. Cattlemen’s Association has met with the agriculture and forestry ministers to develop plans to […] Read more
Livestock producers warned to reduce antibiotic use
Microbes are showing increased resistance because of:
More than 80 percent of antimicrobials in distribution are used to treat animals. From a consumer’s point of view that is an alarming statistic but it needs to be taken in context, said Cheryl Gow of the Public Health Agency of Canada. The numbers are misleading because the statistics are measured in kilograms and do […] Read moreDairy group loses Ont. funding
Dairy Farmers of Ontario have withdrawn promotional funding from the national organization. Citing a lack of accountability from Dairy Farmers of Canada, the Ontario organization served notice earlier this year that it would send no further funds for marketing and promotion as of Jan. 1, 2018. That could leave a $44 million gap in the […] Read more
New barley variety could make better use of nitrogen
LACOMBE, Alta. — A nitrogen efficient barley could be released next year. Thanks to advances in genomics and the tenacity of plant breeders at the Alberta Agriculture Crop Development Centre, the new variety identified as T09157014 could soon be registered. “The idea is to select and develop material that can pick up more nitrogen from […] Read more
Feed supplies top priority as B.C. fires continue rampage
Range losses continue to mount as British Columbia fires consume thousands of acres of forest and forage. The provincial government estimates that 30,000 animals are within the boundaries of the affected regions in the worst fire season since 1958. The B.C. Cattlemen’s Association has met with the agriculture and forestry ministers to develop plans to […] Read more
