When done properly, elastration is quick, requires minimal restraint, is less invasive than surgical methods, and eliminates the need for stitches. It’s also simply less stressful for both the animal and the handler.
Animal health
Mastering elastic band castration: techniques for a stress-free procedure
Manitoba rancher Jodi Suchoplas offers expert advice on the preferred castration method for cow-calf operations
Keep on top of pain this calving season
Controlling pain during calving can help keep both calf and mother healthy and lead to better outcomes
A more comfortable delivery generally jumpstarts the odds of a healthy cow and a calf that will pair well and start nursing without issue.
Selenium: Agricultural, environmental and human concerns
Agronomy Management: From a water quality standpoint, health of rivers and lakes should be of highest priority
As selenium accumulates in soil over years, more Se will be taken up by plants, making crops less suitable or unsuitable for human or livestock consumption.
How to manage Salmonella dublin on a cow-calf operation
Animal Health: The salmonella strain has become more common in Canada
Salmonella dublin is adapted to live in cattle, which remain the most important reservoir of this strain of the bacteria. It is also a strain of salmonella that’s very difficult to treat because it tends to be multi-drug resistant and will not respond to antibiotic therapy.
Castration via banding makes gains in popularity, safety
Animal Health: Pain relief in the bands can make the experience less irritating for young calves
The first castration banders were likely developed to replace knife or scalpel castration. They were easy to use and eliminated the complications of infections and blood loss. Castration with a knife or scalpel is harder to master and animal welfare issues must be considered. Banders have been around for a while; I recently saw an […] Read more
Farm building code updates will drive insurance increases
Added costs such as fire separation areas and bracing affect replacement value
Glacier FarmMedia — An unintended consequence of planned upgrades to Canada’s National Farm Building Code (NFBC) may be higher farm insurance rates. That’s because, regardless of how the insured structure is built, if destroyed it will have to be rebuilt to the new and more complex code. An Ontario member of the Canadian Farm Building […] Read more
GPS system for cattle brings individual animal management to the range
Smart Paddock can measure behaviour of animals far from home
An Australian company with a Canadian connection, Smart Paddock won the Rising Star category in the Canadian Animal AgTech innovation competition at Agribition in late 2024. Smart Paddock’s founder and chief executive officer, Darren Wolchyn, moved his family from Alberta to Australia and ended up working on GPS-tracking golf carts. Ranching friends in Alberta suggested […] Read more
Prevention and responsibility can be shared
Animal Health: Crop growers and cattle producers can benefit by working together
In writing for the past several years for Grainews it was nice trying to create articles that had application to the cattle, grain and mixed farmers out there. Better long-term solutions are created by looking from both sides of the fence at a problem. These create win-win situations, where both sides of a deal, trade […] Read more
Nitrogen, nitrates and nitrites
Know the names and natures of the nutritious and noxious
Nitrogen goes makes up 80 per cent of the air that we breathe in the form of a very stable N2 gas. In my several years at university I majored in chemistry and my work on nitrogen was intensive, from its biological role to its key role in almost all military explosives. Nitrogen is one […] Read more
Corn fields emerge as good forage for overwintering beef cows
Better Bunks and Pastures: Cows will need supplements to make sure they get balanced nutrition while grazing corn
Corn fields grown especially for overwintering beef cows are a patchwork across our Prairies. Whole corn plants can provide substantial nutrition to maintain precious body condition of gestating beef cows. Yet, nobody should open the gate to any field and allow cows to stampede into it. That’s because there are still some issues in order […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
