Bruce Derksen

Stories by Bruce Derksen

Victor Kernaleguen, owner of Gateway Veterinary Services in Melfort, Sask., believes maintaining a solid relationship with 4-H members is key to helping them have more productive and healthier animals. | Facebook/Gateway Veterinary Services photo
Livestock Management

Veterinarians forge relationships with 4-H members

For young adult 4-H livestock division participants, strengthening relationships throughout the agricultural field is important to their current and future endeavours. Dennis Kotowich, assistant 4-H leader of the Elk Point beef club in Elk Point, Alta., believes members must become acquainted with as many aspects of the industry as possible to increase their chances of […] Read more
Scientists at the University of California-Davis examined performance, carcass quality, financial outcomes and environmental impacts of four grass-fed and grain-fed beef systems in order to “help producers accurately handle the tough questions their neighbours and friends are asking about grain or grass-fed beef.” | File photo
Livestock Management

Grass-fed vs. grain-fed: what’s best?

Trade-offs dominate as researchers in California compare outcomes in various types of grass-fed beef production

Grass-fed beef production has seen a groundswell of support as public concerns over climate change have increased. This consumer ideology helped drive retail sales of fresh grass-fed beef in the United States from $17 million in 2012 to $272 million in 2016 and experts predict niche market and grass-fed beef sales will increase globally by […] Read more
Using time-tested practices and cutting-edge technology, the school in a small agricultural village near the city of Nazareth in central Israel is working to enhance productivity, animal welfare, nutrition and health. | Screencap via dairyschool.co.il
News

Israeli school adds new twist to dairy training programs

As part of a drive to improve milk production worldwide and offer dairy farming practices designed to promote efficiency, one small school in Israel sets itself apart. Using time-tested practices and cutting-edge technology, the school in a small agricultural village near the city of Nazareth in central Israel is working to enhance productivity, animal welfare, […] Read more
Soderglen uses a variety of online media combined with social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to match ever-changing demographics. | Screencap via soderglen.com
Livestock Management

North American ranches adopt new approach to marketing

Producers promote their animals by expanding personal connection networks through conferences and trade shows

Marketing and promoting a ranch isn’t like it used to be. Hand-painted plywood signs at the end of a driveway won’t likely entice potential livestock customers. Soderglen Ranches Ltd., one of the largest seedstock cattle operations in Canada, has improved its sign to help market its three southern Alberta facilities. Elan Lees, business manager and […] Read more
Tipping the scales with technology
Livestock Management, Markets

Tipping the scales with technology

Scales, and the practice of weighing, have been around since the first humans placed stones on the plates of the earliest recorded overhead beam balancers. While the act of weighing objects persists, the validity of the physical variations of the scale must at some point be improved upon, said Sergio Monge, global sales manager for […] Read more
Green Forges of Montreal intends to tap the benefits of vertical farming, such as year-round production, high quality food and reduced water consumption, and deliberately bury them beneath the surface. | Screencap via greenforges.com
News

Quebec company takes vertical farming underground

Plants will be started in vertical frames and then lowered into large holes to reduce energy costs and space limitations

Traditional produce farming has seen a slow transition from flat fields and greenhouses to vertical production. Now an eastern Canadian company wants to divert farm and garden producers’ attention in the opposite direction — deep inside the ground. GreenForges of Montreal intends to tap the benefits of vertical farming, such as year-round production, high quality […] Read more
An automated facial recognition coding system uses images and videos to determine specific emotions in livestock. | Screencap via farmworx.nl
Livestock Management

Emotion identification can improve welfare

An automated facial recognition coding system uses images and videos to determine specific emotions in livestock

Advances in precision agriculture have made it possible to track beef or dairy cow movements, feed and water consumption, body weight and basic behaviour patterns, which can help limit disease and increase production. Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags and readers, electronic scales and implanted chips send data to smartphones and computers when locations or routine behaviours […] Read more
The livestock industry says there has been steady improvement in animal health emergency preparedness. | Wendy Dudley photo
Livestock Management

Steps taken to mitigate disease emergencies

Diseases and pandemics can and do happen swiftly and with limited warning. Recent history has confirmed this, along with hard lessons on appropriate response, communication and organization. “The human pandemic we’re going through has taught all of us about the severity, emergence and spread of disease. It can have a profound effect and be tough […] Read more
Cattle industry leaders say optimal animal welfare should be and always has been part of their business equation. | Mickey Watkins photo
Livestock Management

Cracking the sustainability puzzle

The beef industry is faced with an interesting, yet frustratingly complex riddle: how to help feed a growing world population but still protect the environment and the animals, satisfy the consumer and create a reasonable living while addressing these matters. The answer often put forward is sustainability, but this leads to many more questions. Can […] Read more

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