LANIGAN, Sask. – Got power? Make the most of it. Electric fences need adequate grounding to produce the most shock for the money and the fencer or energizer needs to be sized properly for the job. Will Rex of Gallagher Power Fencing Systems told cattle producers attending the Western Beef Development Centre field day near […] Read more
Stories by Michael Raine
High tech greenhouse a winning business
ABBOTSFORD, B.C. – He dreamed of his own greenhouse someday; that was in 1991. Today Pieter deBruin and his wife Anita are young farmers of the year for British Columbia and the Yukon. After a stint managing a greenhouse in Richmond, B.C., Pieter salvaged a plastic facility and rebuilt it on a corner of 20 […] Read more
Sask. cattle industry poised for expansion
LANIGAN, Sask. – More cows and a better market are fueling an expanding cattle industry in Saskatchewan. Brad Wildeman of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association told producers attending a recent Western Beef Development Centre field day at the Termuende research farm near Lanigan, that Saskatchewan has mostly recovered from the BSE crisis and has built on […] Read more
Study monitors costs of cow-calf producers
LANIGAN, Sask. – There is no average cattle producer in Saskatchewan but there are some operating cost benchmarks that growers can look at when comparing themselves to others in the cow-calf industry. Kathy Lang of the Western Beef Development Centre in Humboldt, Sask., said five years of data from roughly 100 producers is helping WBDC […] Read more
Trichomoniasis creeps back into prairie herds
Trichomoniasis has appeared in Manitoba and Alberta in recent weeks and may be a lingering after-effect of BSE. There is no disease link between the two – one is a protein-clumping, brain-wasting disease and the other a microscopic parasite – but producer response to the financial effects of BSE may be making it possible for […] Read more
Grass pays off for grain farmer
Grain to grass, does it pay? A Weldon, Sask., farmer says maybe. Lorne Christopherson said on his family’s farm a six year experiment has yielded some interesting results along with its harvests. With a feedlot, grain and cow-calf operation, the Christopherson farm has a variety of experiences with cattle and grain. At many times in […] Read more
Grazing offers best fix for pasture
Want to rejuvenate your tame pasture? Graze it. Pasture management experts report that a well-executed grazing plan may be more effective than other methods designed to increase the plant population. Studies show that mechanical disturbance within the top 10 centimetres of the soil has little effect on yields and may create problems. Allan Foster of […] Read more
Flea beetle vigilance pays
Flea beetles are spotty throughout the Prairies this season, but spotting them and establishing when to treat for the insects can be challenging. The tiny insects are reported in central and northwestern Manitoba, east, central and northern Saskatchewan and central Alberta near Fort Saskatchewan and Redwater. While many crops have outgrown the risk of significant […] Read more
Sask. ferry closure sends farmers around the bend
Farmers, truckers and tourists continue to fight bumpy roads along a 160 kilometre detour as the Riverhurst, Sask., ferry remained out of commission last week. Lorne Sheppard, councillor for the Rural Municipality of Canaan in central Saskatchewan, said the Riverhurst ferry, the province’s second busiest, has provided intermittent service since it was refitted three years […] Read more
Cold brands hurt less, cost more
The hot brand may be around for years to come, but science shows its colder cousin causes less pain to animals. Radio frequency ear tags may be good in the chute or squeeze, but brands are best for sorting the cattle in community pasture systems that dot Western Canada. Efficiently sorting thousands of cattle is […] Read more
