Cattleman’s Corner & Production Tips

It’s important for baby calves to be up and nursing within an hour or two.

Strong immunity key to calf health

It all starts by making sure newborns have adequate and timely colostrum

By Heather Smith Thomas February 24, 2016

Illness occurs when the body is overwhelmed by infection. A healthy animal with strong immunity is less likely to become sick. Immunity refers to the body’s ability to fight off bacteria or viruses, and this ability is developed in a complex process in which the body creates specific weapons for fighting specific invaders. Antibodies When […] Read more

Steve’s Trucking developed a hydraulic system to lift two decks inside an livestock trailer making it easier to load and unload animals.

Cattleman’s Corner, Hogs

Great ideas for lifting hogs recognized

Two different lift systems reduce stress for people and animals

By Meristem Land & Science February 23, 2016

The 2016 F. X. Aherne award for Innovative Pork Production is being shared by two winners. Sam Gelowitz of the Prairie Swine Centre in Saskatoon, Sask. received the award for an innovative carcass-removal cart, while Steve’s Livestock Transport of Manitoba received the prize for a new hydraulic lift deck trailer. The awards were presented at […] Read more

These overhead ultra-high frequency transponders can read tags as cattle pass by.

Cattleman’s Corner, Livestock

New RFID tech improves livestock tag readers

New system works at greater distance and can read groups of animals

By Angela Lovell February 22, 2016

Researchers at SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary have developed a new Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system using Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) tags that will make it easier and faster to track and trace cattle at every stage of their movement from the farm to the processing plant. With the new system, animals do not need to go […] Read more

Cattleman’s Corner, Cow-Calf

Proper body score pays dividends

Target pre-calving feeding to avoid animals that are too skinny or too fat

By Peter Vitti February 19, 2016

The warm weather we had a couple of months ago has given me a false sense of security. I somehow think climate change lasts forever, yet one good arctic blast snaps me out of it. In the same way, producers should make sure that their pre-calving cows’ plane of nutrition is adequate during the last […] Read more

There are miles and miles of microscopic fungi “root” hairs in this soil ball creating a vast network of pockets to capture water and create a microclimate for other microorganisms, protozoa, amoeba, bacteria and enzymes — all key elements in nutrient-cycling process.

Cattleman’s Corner

Soil fungi key to grass production

The soil is a complex world working hard to complete natural cycling

By Kim Nielsen February 19, 2016

We always enjoy the cattle on 4-Clover Ranch near Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. It was our own animals back in the day and now someone else’s are on the farm for summer grazing. Fact is, we are really grass farmers and have chosen to harvest the grass with cattle rather than the haybine. We have […] Read more

And the man even makes house calls — this is Greg Evans, chief veterinarian for the Calgary Stampede, applying his equine dental skills to one of the horses at the Calgary Stampede Ranch near Hanna, Alberta. The horses who are trained to be bucking broncs and other competitors receive excellent and regular animal health care. Evans may not make it in human dentistry field, but his patients at the ranch didn’t voice any complaints.

Cattleman’s Corner, Keepers & Culls, Livestock

The next project after COOL

The key to farm policy change is persistence

By Lee Hart February 17, 2016

I have to give the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) and Canada’s federal government credit for their patience and persistence. I never thought the U.S. government would ever do away with its country-of-origin labelling (COOL) law once it was enacted in 2008. And after all the trips and lobbying to the U.S. capital over the past […] Read more

Cattleman’s Corner, Livestock, The Dairy Corner

Proper diet reduces risk of lame cows

A well-balanced ration and a clean barn are a great combination to keep dairy cows mobile

By Peter Vitti February 17, 2016

Recently, I conducted a barn walk in a 300-cow robot-milking dairy and within 10 minutes I spotted more than a half-dozen limping cows. I did not know what caused them to limp, but after I talked to the dairy manager, I discovered that lameness was a significant problem on his operation and several of these […] Read more

Cattleman’s Corner, Cow-Calf

A few tricks to grafting calves

Animal Health: It makes good economics to find replacement calves for productive cows

By Roy Lewis February 10, 2016

Since the beginning of time, a common procedure in spring calving is cross-grafting calves onto surrogate mothers. It used to be calves were bought from dairies but you do run the risk of exposing your herd to infectious organisms such as scours. With many of the exotic breeds such as Maine Anjou, twinning can reach […] Read more

Cattleman’s Corner, Markets

Canadian dollar likely to fall lower in value

'Ill-conceived' deficits don't help the economy in the long run

By Jerry Klassen February 9, 2016

I’ve received many inquiries from cattle producers regarding the outlook for the deteriorating Canadian dollar. Many cattle producers don’t watch daily market activity and recently, we’ve seen sharper changes from week to week as the Canadian recession deepens. A dovish monetary policy from the Bank of Canada along with left-leaning fiscal policy from the ruling […] Read more

Cattleman’s Corner, Markets

Retail specials helped sell some beef

Market Update with Jerry Klassen

By Jerry Klassen February 8, 2016

The new year started off with a bounce in fed cattle prices with Alberta packer purchases in the range of $172 to $174, up from the December lows of $160. While fed cattle wholesale beef markets were declining throughout the fall period, retailers were holding up beef prices. However, during the first half of January, […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Hog futures hit contract highs on shock herd decline

Alberta Crop Report: Harvest more than three-quarters finished

NFU says proposed plant breeders’ rights come at farmers’ expense

GFM Network News