By Cheyenne Stapley This post first appeared on Stapley's blog Little Prairie Baby. Visit the blog here. Editor's note: According to the ESRD, there are currently 980 feral horses on the Southern East Slopes alone; it is suspected this number is actually low. Currently in Alberta there are capture permits out to cull some of... Read More
Category: Livestock
Scrutiny over animal welfare issues in agriculture continues to expand, as social media tools provide easy sharing of horrific acts, often painting an entire industry with the same negative brush. Beef producers, like many others, are very aware of the issues and have taken the initiative to develop the Code of Practice for the Care... Read More
Correlation does not mean causation, but it can be a good place to start investigating a link. And, sometimes, that apparent link turns out to be valid. Earlier this week, the CFIA confirmed that PEDv DNA detected in hog feed (which contained hog plasma) was capable of causing infection. CFIA's statement, released earlier this week... Read More
The Chief Veterinary Office of Manitoba has confirmed and the Manitoba Pork Council has announced that Manitoba's first case of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, or PEDv, has been found on a wean to finish farm in the southeast corner of the province. The positive test was confirmed through the National Centre for Foreign Disease Control... Read More
I ventured out to the University of Saskatchewan for a nice change of pace this week, meeting up with Eric Micheels, assistant professor, and Eduardo Pina, graduate student. Pina had just returned from a trip to Mexico, where he was interviewing dairy farmers for his masters project (and made it back to Canada just in... Read More
In photography, depth of field is a term used to describe the zone within a shot that appears acceptably sharp. It is one of the most powerful tools a photographer has to draw attention towards (or away from) a particular subject. It also happens to be the title I chose for a new series. "Depth... Read More
The role of genomics continues to expand in the beef industry, with the technology becoming increasingly cost effective. Besides determining parentage, genomics have the potential to assess feed efficiency, fertility and susceptibility to disease. To many producers, this may eventually mean genetic testing most animals, most years. To others, it may simply mean genome sequencing... Read More
When it comes to meat, poultry is continuing to see big demand across the country, largely because of our appetite for chicken. The Canadian Meat Council says that in 2010 the average Canadian ate almost 16 kilograms of poultry compared to 13 kg of beef and 12 kg of pork. Moving forward, poultry demand will... Read More
Could something as simple as a gate be driving down the average number of lactations per cow in your herd? Some would say, yes. Ontario field editor Bernard Tobin was on hand at this year’s Canadian Dairy Xpo at Stratford, Ont., and sat down to talk barn design, herd health and more with Joep Driessen,... Read More
Its the beginning of February which means it is time for the annual National Cattleman's Beef Association (NCBA) meeting. With the cash market higher and feed prices lower than a year ago, cattle producers are seeing some strong margins and reasons for putting increased cattle on feed. Shaun Haney and Anne Wasko discuss the meeting... Read More