Livestock Management
SALTCOATS, Sask. – Kevin Elmy’s corn trials contain 19 varieties from five different seed companies. He seeded them all at the same rate, on the same day and applied the same amount of fertilizer to each. Now at maturity, some are taller, some have thinner stalks, some have more leaves and some have fewer cobs. […] Read more
Livestock Management
Cows choose corn varieties
Swine centre head quits
John Patience will not renew his contract in the spring of 2008. After 20 years at the helm of the Saskatoon-based Prairie Swine Centre, Patience said it is time he was replaced. Patience is chief executive officer and president of the centre, a non-profit research and technology development corporation that focuses on hog behaviour, nutrition […] Read more
Americans deny approval for E. coli vaccine
A Canadian vaccine designed to prevent cattle from shedding a potentially fatal E. coli strain has been denied approval by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The vaccine manufacturer Bioniche Life Sciences plans to meet with American officials during the next few weeks to provide additional information on the efficacy of the product so it can […] Read more
Border snags delay Canadian cattle exports to U.S.
Getting a scheduled time to cross the American border with a truckload of feeder cattle is like winning the lottery. Producers sending feeder cattle to the United States can wait up to 10 days to get an appointment to ship across the border because of the large numbers of feeder cattle flowing to American feedlots. […] Read more
BSE lawsuit moves ahead
A group of Canadian cattle producers has moved a trade challenge against the United States one step further. An international trade tribunal in Washington, D.C., heard a multimillion-dollar claim against the U.S. government under the North American Free Trade Agreement Oct. 9-10. The case was filed in August 2004 by more than 120 producers, mostly […] Read more
BVD quiet stalker in cow-calf operations
PIPESTONE, Man. – Bovine viral diarrhea, commonly known as BVD, can steal profits from cattle ranchers just as surely as a thief steals cash, a veterinarian told a recent beef production seminar in Pipestone. Once it gets into a herd, it cycles through from cow to calf each year, leading to outbreaks of scours and […] Read more
Profits elude Canadian meat packers
The lights may go out in more Canadian beef plants as rising costs, labour shortages and excess slaughter capacity chew away at packer profitability. Brian Nilsson, co-chief executive officer of XL Foods and Nilsson Bros., said the consequence could be more cattle moving south for slaughter. He gave his assessment of the beef packing sector […] Read more
Calf nose clip eases weaning
Weaning without the bawling of calves and cows might not sound natural, but an old strategy appears to be working again. Joe Stookey at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon has been researching nose clips that interfere with calves’ abilities to nurse. Four years after the start of the research, Stookey said the […] Read more
Early weaning helps weather drought
Weaning early is a powerful drought weathering strategy. Major droughts occurred 29 times on the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies between 1700 and 2000. “They lasted a total of 99 years,” K.C. Olson of Kansas State University said recently during the Western Nutrition Conference in Saskatoon. “One third of the time we are in a […] Read more
Changing meat market hurts Canadian exports
Changing dynamics in the world meat market have taken a toll on export dependent Canada over the past five years, say two international market watchers. A weakening American dollar, strong new competitors, changing demands for red meat and export markets lost due to animal disease added up to major market disruptions, said Fiona Boal, who […] Read more
