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I think if there is any organization, in my memory, that has handled a bad situation well it has to be Maple Leaf Foods. They don’t need to be made heroes, but in my view they’ve handled the whole tainted meat issue with compassion and professionalism. This issue that erupted in August 2008 with the […] Read more

For most cow/calf producers there isn’t much (if anything) they can do to improve the carcass quality of an animal once it leaves farm – that is pretty well in hands of the finishing feedlot. But, if you do finish cattle for your own use or maybe you are getting into direct meat sales, here […] Read more

According to the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) November/December newsletter Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) is so far costing Canadian cattle feeders and cow/calf producers about $90 per head. There is really no ‘good news’ scenario to this situation. COOL refers to legislation introduced in the U.S. earlier this fall, that requires all meat – beef, pork […] Read more

Not that I am a wise old historian, but I really can’t think of a time in recent history anyway, where the beef industry, the agriculture industry, or the whole economy in general has been in such a state of turmoil. Who and what is going to survive through 2009? It is too easy to […] Read more

Here are some facts about the Canadian beef industry, you probably didn’t know – and these come via Neil French, a beef specialist and instructor at Olds College. Largest cattle producers Assuming on any given day there are a little over a billion head on cattle on the planet, India has the largest cattle herd […] Read more

Back grounding calves over winter on swath grazing systems, as opposed to a feed yard can reduce costs by 30 to 50 percent, says a senior researcher with the Western Beef Development Centre (WBDC). Bart Lardner, who conducted research at the WBDC’s Termuende Research Farm, near Lanigan, Sask., told producers attending the Western Canadian Grazing […] Read more

On this, my first ever journey into the World of Blog, I felt it fitting to rant about a topic that surfaces every so often and that is the misguided intentions of animal welfare people. In today’s paper was a short article about plans by Madeleine Pickens, wife of U.S. billionaire T. Boone Pickens to […] Read more