EDMONTON, Alta. — A winning cow family kept on winning at Farmfair. A black Simmental cow, owned by Rancier Farms and Westman Land and Cattle, won grand champion female honours at the Supreme Champions show Nov. 8, in Edmonton, Alberta. In 2008, the cow’s grandmother won the same competition and two year’s later the calf […] Read more
Stories by Mary MacArthur
Farmfair: Winning genes keep ribbons in the pockets
account_id=”2206156280001″ player_id=”HJ11Iy7v”] Richard LAtimer of Remintall Cattle Co., won supreme champion bull with a Black Angus Bull at Farmfair.[/caption] “We knew he was special right off the start and have been grooming him for the show. You just kind of know. You see calves born every day and you see the special ones. He looked […] Read more
Legends of the Fall winners take different paths to Farmfair
account_id=”2206156280001″ player_id=”HJ11Iy7v”],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?’http’:’https’;if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+”://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,”script”,”twitter-wjs”); // ]]> EDMONTON — Tanya Belsham just about didn’t make it to Farmfair this year. The family’s truck and tack trailer were totalled when they hit black ice just out of Houston, B.C. “We almost didn’t get here,” said Belsham. They found another truck and trailer, reloaded their tack and made it to […] Read more
Different grass varieties help keep pastures green
THORSBY, Alta. — The growth pattern of grass looks more like a profile of the mountains than the prairies. It’s a grass manager’s job to use creative ways to fill in the valleys of this mountainous profile provide less expensive grazing throughout the summer, said a grazing specialist. Woody Lane said grass doesn’t grow evenly […] Read more
Goats willing to work to get their fill
Able to scramble up trees | Goats will clean out underbrush in bushy areas to make it suitable for sheep and cattle
THORSBY, Alta. — Just like the Friendly Giant, goat owners need to look up, waaay up, to see goat grazing potential. Goats don’t just eat grass; they leap up on their hind feet, stretch their necks and browse the woody branches and leaves of trees and bushes. “Think vertical. There’s a lot of feed up […] Read moreU.S. coalition stands with Canada on COOL
Coalition of companies | The group fears billions in lost sales to Canada and Mexico if the country doesn’t heed the WTO ruling on labelling
PONOKA, Alta. — Canada is getting help fighting U.S. country-of-origin labelling legislation from Americans. In an Oct. 30 letter to Congress, the U.S. based COOL Reform Coalition said it is “gravely concerned” about the negative impact that the existing American COOL rule for meat will have on the entire economy. Tired of the United States […] Read moreLabour regulations handcuff industry, say officials
Worker recruitment Western Canadian officials say it’s difficult to recruit and keep temporary foreign workers
RED DEER — Agriculture is headed for a crisis unless solutions for a critical farm labour shortage can be found, says the owner of a southern Alberta farm and feedlot. Rick Paskal said he has scaled back his livestock operation, which involves lambs, cattle and processing. The business has held off buying lambs and cattle […] Read more‘User friendly’ loans tapped out
Money allocated | Alberta feeder associations have reached the $55 million cap
A recent doubling of feeder association loan limits to $1 million a person and a doubling of calf prices will likely leave some producers unable to borrow money through the popular lending program. Producers who haven’t bought their calves through the feeding program will have to find different and more expensive financing for cattle, said […] Read moreVIDEO: Legends of the Fall winners take different paths to Farmfair
EDMONTON — Tanya Belsham just about didn’t make it to Farmfair this year. The family’s truck and tack trailer were totalled when they hit black ice just out of Houston, B.C. “We almost didn’t get here,” said Belsham. They found another truck and trailer, reloaded their tack and made it to Edmonton in time for […] Read more
New U.S. group opposes COOL
PONOKA, Alta. — Canada is getting some help fighting the Americans’ anti-trade meat export legislation, from Americans. In an Oct. 30 letter to US Congress, the COOL Reform Coalition said it is “gravely concerned” about the negative impact that the existing U.S. COOL rule for meat will have on the entire US economy. Tired of […] Read more
