Livestock Management
EDMONTON – A Quebec cattle breeder’s love affair with Farmfair has paid off. Tammi McGee came west with a bull calf last year and won reserve champion. This year, the same bull won grand champion at the breed’s national show and was high seller at the Salers’ Cream of the Crop show. “I came last […] Read more
Livestock Management
Quebec breeder brings winner to Farmfair
Swine feeding method affects growth efficiency
RED DEER – When swine nutritionist Jim Gowans inspects a hog barn, he checks the feeders. Feed is the largest cost in pork production, ranging from 60 to 75 percent of the total input cost on a farm. Empty feeders or overflowing pans with clumped or stale feed do not make young pigs grow. Those […] Read more
Feed budget saves money
RED DEER – The rising cost of feed ingredients makes a feed budget a practical tool for hog operations. Mark Chambers of Sunterra Farms, which uses the practice to monitor costs and trends, told a swine technology workshop in Red Deer Oct. 22 that a feed budget pinpoints expenses, losses and profits. He said variable […] Read more
Feed suspected in horse deaths
EDMONTON – Toxic feed is suspected after two horses in the draft horse pull competition fell sick during Farmfair International. The first horse became sick on the evening of Nov. 1 during the first day of competition and the second horse became ill on the morning of Nov. 2. The owner, from Saskatchewan, took the […] Read more
E. coli vaccine gets full approval
A vaccine for cattle to reduce the amount of E. coli passed in manure has received full approval from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Designed as a food safety vaccine, it will be manufactured and marketed by Bioniche Life Sciences under the trade name Econiche. Vaccine supplies will be limited during the early manufacturing period, […] Read more
Hog barn workers must know rules for breeding
RED DEER – Setting a target of a 90 percent farrowing rate on a hog farm is possible but maintaining that level is the real success story. “There are people who work to get the farm working and there is stockmanship,” said Egidijus Mickevicius of Pig Improvement Canada. Mickevicius and Pat Monaghan of Paragon Pork […] Read more
Coyotes keep farmers jumping
The Warner Bros. cartoon that featured the hardworking sheep dog, Sam, and the coyote, Ralph, is surprisingly realistic, says a northern Alberta shepherd. Coyotes seem to know when farmers go to bed or drive to town for parts, said Laurence Read, who lost more than 100 sheep to coyotes last year on his farm near […] Read more
Coyotes watch, learn and take charge
STETTLER, Alta. – Livestock producers with problems of coyotes killing their animals need to adopt several approaches to bring the wildlife problem under control. A combination of guard dogs, grazing techniques, poison, good fences and a gun will help control predator losses, said Doug Brennan, a predator control officer with Alberta Agriculture. “A little bit […] Read more
Bison news looks good
MOOSE JAW, Sask. – A lower Canadian dollar and waning concerns over BSE are drawing a brighter picture for bison producers. Mark Silzer, president of the Canadian Bison Association, said prices are double what they were during the lows of the BSE outbreak that closed international borders. That’s been helped by a poor Canadian dollar […] Read more
Livestock plan gets cautious support
COCHRANE, Alta. – Alberta producers continue to debate the pros and cons of their province’s new meat and livestock strategy. A compromise resolution passed at an Alberta Beef Producers zone meeting Oct.27 called for the organization to support the province’s proposal even if it has flaws. “We recognize there are issues with some of the […] Read more
