Once calves are weaned, there are options for when they can be marketed.

Pencil out the investment in a background feeding program

Better Bunks and Pastures: Knowing the numbers can help dictate whether calves should be sold or retained

As most of the leaves have fallen, many spring calves are being weaned. It’s also the time when many people determine whether their weaned calves are immediately sold or held back for further feeding. Record-high prices, especially on the weaned calf side of the market, should have everyone penciling out the feasibility of continued backgrounding […] Read more

Memories of a great Albertan

Practical Research: Fifteen years after his passing, Joseph Gurba's long reach through the province’s farming history remains

I was offered the position of provincial plant pathologist for Alberta Agriculture by Joe Gurba, head of the crop protection branch, in August 1974. I was at the time an assistant professor at the University of Guelph, more interested in rugby coaching than in basic plant disease research. Joe told me the provincewide position would […] Read more



Al Oeming’s Edmonton-area game farm, shown here in the 1963 film 'Noah of the North,' served as a reservoir for vanishing and even vanished animal species.

Where species conservation was the aim of the game

Practical Research: The Alberta Game Farm was the visionary innovation of a remarkable Canadian

When I moved from Guelph to Edmonton in 1974, I quickly found out Alberta had the world’s biggest and most innovative game farm. It was called the Alberta Game Farm, later called Polar Park, some 25 km west of the city. This farm, situated on 500 hectares (1,236 acres), was truly incredible. The huge open-air […] Read more


cow and calf

How to manage two similar livestock pharmaceuticals

Animal Health: Subtle differences can give one medication an advantage over another

This article provides some clarity for when new products or combinations of products come onto the market. These days all antimicrobials, NSAIDs and a few other products are prescription products and most come under the VCPR (veterinary-client-patient relationship). The two products in this case have already been on the market for years, but now, with no […] Read more