Karen Morrison

Cattle producers should band together as a single political force to get their message out more effectively and change agricultural policy, said agricultural economist Barry Flinchbaugh. The Kansas State professor told a meeting of Saskatchewan cattle feeders in Saskatoon Jan. 30 that one voice would give the industry more potency in dealing with politicians. “Politicians […] Read more

A desire to create new markets for culled cattle is driving a proposed slaughter plant at Neudorf, Sask., says Ken Piller of Natural Valley Farms. The cow-calf and feedlot operator said the abundance of older animals caused by BSE and international border closures has created opportunities for high-end niche beef markets in Canada. “We need […] Read more

Writing about beaver dams and drought led Ashly Larson to a youth forum on conservation in Utah last month. Larson’s essay on how her family’s cow-calf operation at Erickson, Man., dealt with dugout management through floods and a dry summer was good enough to win her a spot at the Society for Range Management’s High […] Read more

Farm business planning is key to successfully transferring the farm to the next generation. It also ensures the long-term health of the business and maintains family harmony. But Rome was not built in a day and a good farm business plan isn’t either. It is an evolving process to create a plan flexible enough to […] Read more

Today’s complex farming scene translates into a need for more sophisticated management skills and business plans to ensure farms remain viable. Strategic business planning can help answer questions such as what are the farm’s goals, where is the farm now and how will it get to where it wants to be in the future? In […] Read more

Bales taken from low-lying slough land were the likely source of an anthrax outbreak that killed 10 cattle near Neilburg, Sask., last week. Jim McLane, district veterinarian for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in North Battleford, Sask., said the remainder of the 250-head commercial herd has switched feed and is now under quarantine. CFIA will […] Read more

Fowl from Canadian farms are relatively safe from the Asian avian flu because they are raised in controlled environments indoors, but humans could be at risk from a mutated strain of the virus. Reports indicate no evidence to show the virus has passed from human to human, only between the affected birds and those handling […] Read more

A new hay drying system could reduce energy costs while drying more uniformly. Philippe Savoie, a research scientist with Agriculture Canada at Ste.-Foy, Que., said conventional systems blow air from one direction. That can lead to overdrying of the first layer, making it brittle and unpalatable to cattle. Overdrying by four percent translates into bales […] Read more