Livestock Management
An animal health expert says going through the motions when vaccinating hogs fails both the animals and the farm’s bottom line. “If you are going to go to the expense and labour time of vaccination against disease, doing it wrong costs you twice,” Ed Doornenbal of Wyeth Animal Health told producers at a recent Saskatchewan […] Read more
Livestock Management
Proper hog vaccination vital
U.S. closer to taking older cattle
Canadian beef producers are hoping a newly released U.S. rule allowing trade in older cattle and beef will be in effect later this year. “It is the biggest short-term thing that can happen to help us,” said the president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association.
Comments now accepted on new import rule
A long-awaited U.S. Department of Agriculture rule to allow the import of older Canadian cattle and beef products was released Jan. 4. Public comments are invited until March 12 at which time the United States will analyze the submissions and possibly make changes before the rule may be implemented later this year. Highlights include: Live […] Read more
Bar codes allowed on older cattle
The Canadian Cattle Identification Agency has agreed to grandfather all bar code tags for cattle older than 30 months after concerns from across the country about the cost of adding an electronic tag. Some cattle are now double tagged because it is illegal to remove ear tags. Bar code tags will be recognized until Dec. […] Read more
Canadian pork losing edge in world markets
Canada is losing its competitive advantage as a world-leading pork producing nation. It had strong, healthy genetics, an outward looking focus, cheap feed grain brought about by the demise of the Crow freight rate subsidy and a low Canadian dollar. Those advantages are shrinking, with the greatest threat coming from the United States. Overall, the […] Read more
New rules may hinder farms
Environmental issues could curtail some intensive livestock operations. Canadian concern about the environment grew from 29 percent worried to 47 percent in three years, said communications consultant Lee Funke. Fewer Albertans from small urban communities feel hog farming is environmentally friendly. “Rural and large urban communities have an increasingly negative view of our industry,” said […] Read more
Spending time with cattle offers production benefits
SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. – The old cowboy art of herding cattle is back in style. But herding is not the same as harassment, warned Jeff Mosley, professor of range science at Montana State University. “It’s being in tune with animals and using the knowledge to move them where you want them to be,” he said. […] Read more
Livestock feeders worry about biofuel
The noisy ethanol bandwagon is drawing near, but western livestock feeders are not anxious to join the parade. Many cattle feeders are raising questions about how biofuel plants, which they view as a subsidized competitor for feed grains, might affect the livestock industry’s bottom line, and whether the government is sincere about environmental concerns. “It’s […] Read more
Beef industry must listen to buyers
Whoever gives consumers what they want will win the protein competition among beef, pork and poultry, said agricultural economist Ted Schroeder at the Alberta Beef Producers annual meeting Dec. 5. A major international study shows there is a continuing consumer perception of food safety problems in meat. Schroeder of Kansas State University presented the results […] Read more
Wintering in fields builds healthy soils
Letting your cattle do the work of rejuvenating an old forage stand is a cheap way to put nutrients back into the soil, says Jeff Schoenau, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan. It may involve little more than selectively overwintering cattle on hay land, where the nutrients are needed most. This can be done […] Read more
