Michael Raine

The saying “never look a gift horse in the mouth” is bang on. While the expression is actually a warning for people not to be too picky about the condition of things they get for free, its reference to the mouth is sound science. Horse behaviour and general health start at the mouth, specifically with […] Read more

An expert panel has recommended the federal government restrict the use of antibiotics in livestock feed. In a 188 page report given to Health Canada this summer, the Advisory Committee on Animal Uses of Antimicrobials and Impact on Human Health said the widespread use of these drugs may cause antibiotic resistance in humans. “Resistance in […] Read more

Researchers in Kansas have developed a system that will spray individual weed patches as the sprayer finds them, rather than covering an entire crop with herbicide. “Both from an environmental and cost perspective this is an improvement on our current technology,” said Floyd Dowell, an engineer at the United States Department of Agriculture research centre […] Read more

Feeding bred cows for a buck a day might be hard to do this year, but animal agrologists say cattle producers are getting creative about their feeding strategies for the coming winter. Feed is expensive in and out of the drought zone, and producers are facing the challenge of raising bred herds on tight budgets. […] Read more

Grasshoppers are filling more than the windshield and the field. They are starting to fill the notebooks of scientists. This year will go down as one of the largest grasshopper infestations since 1988 in Saskatchewan and 1961 in Alberta. Pastures near Consort, Alta., and some crops around Kindersley, Sask., are nearly wiped out, say agrologists. […] Read more

Rancher Jim Garner spent the early morning of Aug. 29 rounding up his Longhorn cattle after an overnight escape from their pasture on the southern edge of Alberta’s Waterton National Park. Despite a tough way to start the day, Garner’s voice was full of enthusiasm. “The sun is shining a little bit brighter this week,” […] Read more

Tetracycline is present in the water of southern Saskatchewan’s largest river. Brij Verma, a PhD student from Napier University in Scotland, found up to 60 parts per billion of the antibiotic in eight water samples taken from the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon. “That isn’t a lot, but because there is no real research or […] Read more

Drought is expected to force many cattle producers to try alternative feed this year. Livestock nutrition specialists say the high cost and poor availability of traditional feed grain have made lesser-used sources of energy and roughage more competitive. Corn Corn gluten feed is starting to find its way onto the Prairies, said Vern Racz, director […] Read more

KYLE, Sask. – Leonard Howes has to have a co-operative nature. He and seven other members of the Matador Farming Pool farm together near Kyle, Sask., much as their forefathers did. As members of Canada’s only farm co-operative, they take salaries and dividends in place of profits and losses. They share the labour and each […] Read more

Not since the 1800s has a cattle production cycle lasted this long. For the past five years the number of cows in North America has continued to decline. The last low point in the cycle was 14 years ago. The extraordinary nature of the cycle is making it impossible to predict when producers might start […] Read more