Livestock Management
August can be a bad month for cattle producers if the rain doesn’t fall. That’s why corn seed grower Ron Catt has a back-up plan: a few acres of green corn. A rancher with predominantly hay and bushy sand hills near Pratt, Man., Catt first became interested in corn grazing as a way to produce […] Read more
Livestock Management
Green leaf corn grazing offers low cost, flexibility
Nine-year absence no problem at bull sale
Brad Jeannot marked his return to the Regina Bull Sale after a nine year absence by consigning the top selling bull. However, he was so busy making arrangements for all 10 Black Angus bulls he sold that he didn’t realize the $5,500 selling price for TJF Freedom 505 4T stood up as the top price […] Read more
Rancher opts for low stress sale
CLARESHOLM, Alta. – When Andy and Ramona Hart started planning their ninth bull sale, they knew they wanted an easy going event with little stress on them or the cattle on their Claresholm ranch. They checked out video sales and decided to sell their 50 long yearling Black Angus bulls the same way rather than […] Read more
Spring show features top 4-H animals
Justin Hall had more on his mind than showing the grand champion steer at Agribition’s Spring Steer and Heifer Show last weekend. Just days earlier, he learned that his high school, Robert Usher Collegiate in Regina, will close at the end of June. The Grade 11 student, who lives near Craven, Sask., isn’t too happy […] Read more
Beef herd needs foreign trade to avoid reduction
The Canadian cattle industry is at a “critical junction” that will see it either sustained by expanded offshore sales or cut in half to service the domestic market, said the new chair of the Canadian Beef Export Federation. The industry is not sustainable as it is, said Dr. Kee Jim of Okotoks, Alta., a veterinarian […] Read more
Alta. ranch children raise champion bull
Between kids’ hockey, 4-H and full-time jobs, Mike and Phyllis Verbeek still have time to raise champion level Red Angus cattle at their Beiseker, Alta., ranch. Winning the reserve grand champion Angus at the Calgary Bull Sale was a pleasant surprise but considering the bull’s pedigree, it was not unpredictable. “I thought we had a […] Read more
Exports woeful, industry upbeat
Canadian Beef Export Federation president Ted Haney remains the perpetual optimist. There was lots of bad news to report at the federation’s semi-annual meeting March 11: many world markets remain closed or restricted to Canadian beef imports; Canada’s trade promotion effort is woefully inadequate; export targets for 2007 were not even close to being met […] Read more
No Korean trade deal without beef: committee
The House of Commons international trade committee has urged the Canadian government to reject a free trade deal with South Korea if it does not open the market to Canadian beef. It told the Conservative government that any deal with South Korea must not give other Canadian agricultural exporters less favourable access terms than have […] Read more
Cattle culling best not delayed
RENO, Nev. – Producers who want to capture as much value as possible from their cull cows and bulls shouldn’t wait too long. That is one of the recommendations from a U.S. cow and bull beef quality audit conducted in 23 packing plants in 11 states. It is the third audit since 1994. “You have […] Read more
Hereford family scores at sale
After coming to the Calgary Bull Sale for decades, the Nixdorff family finally captured the top prize. Nels and Terri Nixdorff were awarded grand champion bull for a two-year-old Horned Hereford and received $12,500 from Misty Valley Farms of Maidstone, Sask. All five of their entries placed second or better in their classes so it […] Read more
