Gary Guichon enjoyed his job but says he doesn’t miss middle-of-the-night calls to deal with livestock truck rollovers
STRATHMORE, Alta. — After almost 40 years as a livestock inspector, Gary Guichon counts everything. Driving past a pasture he counts the cattle in the field. Animals walking down an alley get counted and sometimes he counts birds. “I count most stuff. Geese take off from the lake and I try to count them,” said […] Read moreStories by Freelance writer
Alberta farm family takes on the sweet potato
On the Farm: Grain and livestock producers saw an opportunity to supply an emerging market with sweet potato slips
With almost 10,000 acres of native pasture, 2,500 acres of irrigated grain land, 1,000 cow-calf pairs including a purebred Charolais herd, and a custom feedlot, one farming dynasty in southeastern Alberta seems to have a lot on their plate. But the operators hope to build more. They’re developing a new industry in the province — […] Read more
Ontario farmers hampered by excessive rain
Tomato yields were reduced by more than half and quality issues remain a possibility as rain continued into September
Ontario’s processing tomatoes and several other crops took a dramatic, weather-related hit this year, but it wasn’t about a lack of rainfall. Quite the opposite. On June 27, as much as 228 millimetres fell within a few hours in southwestern Ontario, transforming fields into shallow lakes and the rains continued afterward. One farmer near Dresden […] Read more
New tool may help farmers budget emission reductions
A computer modelling program can determine how much yields and emissions would drop if fertilizer use was reduced
Advanced computer modelling programs developed by researchers at the University of Minnesota will allow farmers and food companies to explore their nitrogen reduction plans. It will give them insights into economic and environmental costs, as well as better field management strategies. With climate change, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and nitrogen water pollution from agricultural practices […] Read more
Pregnancy checks require accuracy
Producers often want more information than whether a cow is pregnant, but it’s important for the diagnosis to be correct
Open cows are expensive to keep, and never more than during a year of feed shortages. It adds importance to pregnancy checking, along with the fact that an abundance of open cows can indicate disease in the herd that should be addressed. Pregnancy testing methods include palpation, ultrasound and blood tests. Rectal palpation is the […] Read more
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
Horse owners struggle with shortage of good-quality hay
A boarding facility near Saskatoon says finding adequate feed supplies has been its number one concern this year
SASKATOON — With 10 horses of their own and another 28 boarding on their property near Clavet, Sask., Gayle Smith and Alf Epp of Sunny Plain Ranch run one of the largest equine boarding facilities in the Saskatoon area. Sunny Plain is busy with English and Western discipline lessons and visiting clinicians. Smith and Epp […] Read more
On the hunt for elusive Americans
For a farm kid growing up in Manitoba in the 1970s, every trip across the border was a chance to check out the mystery
I didn’t know what to expect. I was only 12 years old and had only vaguely heard of these so-called “Merikans.” In 1972, cable TV, cellphones and the internet did not exist. Did these people speak the same language? Might they have a sixth finger? Were they taller than Canadians? Who were these Americans? We […] Read more
Horsch adds new Avatar M drill to expand range
Horsch has expanded its precision drill range with the addition of the new Avatar M line model with a 54-foot working width. The company already has numerous Avatar direct drills working across the world from Australia to central Europe amd North America, with working widths of 36-feet, so this one offers extra capacity. This M […] Read more
B.C. farmers fear wage hike
ABBOTSFORD, B.C. — Farmers in British Columbia fear reduction in profit margins as minimum wage in the province have increased by 60 cents per hour. Starting June 1, the minimum wage in B.C. increased to $15.20 an hour from $14.60. In June 2020, B.C.’s minimum wage rose by 75 cents to $14.60 from $13.85 per […] Read more
