New forage catches on
Tall fescue is a new grass in British Columbia, and is being planted on ever-increasing acreages — up to 20 percent of new acreages in 1993.
Research at the federal research station at Agassiz, in collaboration with the B.C. agriculture department, has shown farmers tall fescue has many traits which make it superior to the standard forage, orchardgrass.
Not only does it yield just as well or better, but it is also more winter hardy, more tolerant of drought and flooding, more suitable for grazing, and dries even faster than orchardgrass. An added important benefit is that by diversifying their cropland with a new species, farmers will slow the spread of pests, and hedge against disease outbreaks and inclement weather.
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- Agriculture Canada
Better corn with cereals
Over several years, sweet corn at the Agassiz research station in B.C. has grown better in soil with a cereal groundcover than without.
The cereals — spring barley and spring rye — were seeded in early fall and adjacent areas were left bare. The cereals formed a mat of dead material by spring, and the plots were either tilled or left undisturbed.
Sweet corn planted into the cereal residue grew equally well with or without tillage, but grew far better where there was a cereal groundcover than where the soil was bare.
Scientists at the station suspect soil micro-organisms may play a key role in the enhanced growth.
- Agriculture Canada
Liver abscesses decline
Currently, liver abscesses can only be detected when cattle are slaughtered, after both the packer and the producer have lost money.
Scientists at the Agriculture Canada research station at Lethbridge are developing an immunological technique that will detect organisms which cause liver abscesses in cattle before they are slaughtered.
As well, scientists are developing new processing techniques (e.g., infrared heat treatment) aimed at slowing the rate of cereal grain digestion in the rumen.
Liver abscesses are most common in feedlot and dairy cattle fed diets high in cereal grains. Cereal grains are rapidly fermented by micro-organisms in the rumen to form excess acid, causing rumen acidosis. Acidosis damages the tissues of the rumen wall. Bacteria from the rumen enter the animal’s bloodstream, migrate to the liver and form abscesses.
From 1986-1992, slaughter records kept by Ag Canada indicate liver abscesses have declined.
In 1986, 22 percent of cattle slaughtered in Alberta had liver abscesses. In 1992, the number was only 10 percent.
Losses in the meat industry resulting from condemned livers between 1990 and 1992 are estimated at $2.5 million. This is in addition to losses incurred because severe liver abscesses decrease the average daily gain of cattle by as much as five percent.
- Agriculture Canada
