Forages & Production Tips

Beef Cattle, Forages, Livestock, Weather

‘Time is ticking’ on drought response for beef cattle sector

'We need answers like yesterday'

By Lisa Guenther, GFM Network News July 20, 2021

As Canada’s beef farmers and ranchers face drought, industry leaders are trying to find ways to secure feed and help those forced to sell rebuild their herds. B.C. ranchers are dealing with high temperatures that have “parched the grass that was there,” Kevin Boone, general manager of B.C. Cattlemen’s Association, said during a Canadian Cattlemen’s […] Read more

The new Kuhn 301 hay merger is designed to work with mower conditioners that have nine- to 18-foot working widths.

Equipment, Hay, Machinery

New hay mergers from Kuhn

The 01 series models are available in working widths up to 42 feet

By Scott Garvey July 20, 2021

Packing as much material as possible into a baler in the shortest amount of time helps maximize the feed quality of bales that come out the back end of it. When balers pound away at hay inside their chambers, leaf material is lost — and that is the best part of the feed. Merging swaths […] Read more

Farmer and Grainews columnist Toban Dyck inspects wheat on July 6, 2021 near Winkler, Man., where hot and dry weather has led to thin, uneven stands. (Photo: Reuters/Rod Nickel)

Beef Cattle, Crops, Forages, Weather

Saskatchewan raises salvage threshold for parched crops

Stock watering program also boosted; APAS, Tories' ag critic had called for more drought aid

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News July 15, 2021

Saskatchewan’s provincial crop insurance agency is raising the yield threshold at which drought-damaged crops can be grazed, baled for greenfeed or cut for silage with no penalty on future coverage. Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. said Wednesday it would double the “low yield appraisal” threshold values on cereal or pulse crop acres put to feed. SCIC […] Read more

A 3-D illustration of Bacillus anthracis bacteria. (Dr_Microbe/iStock/Getty Images)

Livestock, Pasture, Sheep/Goats, Weather

Anthrax kills southeastern Saskatchewan sheep

Spores forced up by changes in soil moisture

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News July 10, 2021

Dramatic shifts in soil moisture are again bringing anthrax spores to the surface on the Prairies, this time in a southeastern Saskatchewan sheep pasture. Lab results on Wednesday confirmed anthrax as the cause of death of one animal in a flock of sheep in the R.M. of South Qu’Appelle, about 50 km east of Regina, […] Read more

File photo of cattle grazing on Prince Edward Island. (ArodPEI/iStock/Getty Images)

Forages, Livestock, Pasture

Eastern drought zones set for livestock tax deferrals

Regions designated in P.E.I., N.S., N.B., Quebec

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News May 12, 2021

In a decision that may have come late for some, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and parts of southeastern Quebec and northwestern Nova Scotia have been declared drought zones for eligible livestock producers’ 2020 tax purposes. The federal government on Monday released its list and map of prescribed drought regions where tax deferral on sales […] Read more

Percentage of average precipitation in Western Canada for the 90 days ending April 5, 2021. (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada map)

Crops, Forages, Weather

Manitoba forage, grassland growers burned by drought

By GFM Network News April 9, 2021

MarketsFarm — An ongoing lack of precipitation, which is showing no signs of letting up in the coming months according to weather forecasts, is already causing problems for Manitoba’s forage and grasslands. Growers in the province have had to deal with three straight years with lower-than-normal precipitation. In 2019, multiple rural municipalities in Manitoba’s Parkland […] Read more

Erin and Paul Kernaleguen have found that a change in forage production practices on their Saskatchewan farm has helped to reduce costs and benefit dairy production.

Cattleman’s Corner, Dairy Cattle, Forages

Dairy farmers see multiple benefits from forage blends

Input costs have been reduced and more acres returned to crop production

By Heather Smith Thomas April 6, 2021

Dairy farmers Paul and Erin Kernaleguen near Birch Hills, Sask. say they’re convinced about the value of regenerative farming practices in growing forage crops for their cattle. They farm with Paul’s parents, Jos and Brenda Kernaleugen. “We were a conventional operation until 2012 when we started looking at doing things differently,” Paul says. “Our average […] Read more

Union Forage general manager Geoff Barker, right and company president Graeme Finn in the southeast Calgary company headquarters and distribution centre.

Cattleman’s Corner, Forages, Livestock

Union Forage hits the ground growing

Small seed company finding its way into western Canadian pastures

By Lee Hart December 7, 2020

It started with one Alberta beef producer looking for a productive and profitable way to achieve year-round grazing on his own farm. Six years later it’s an expanding forage seed company with a team of specialists urging producers to think outside the paddock perimeter. Union Forage, headquartered in Calgary, was an idea launched by southwestern […] Read more

Loose-cornstalk residue left in the field for grazing cattle has a different nutritional value than cornstalk bales.

Cattleman’s Corner, Forages, Livestock

Cornstalk bales can have a fit in beef diets

It’s not amazing feed, but with proper testing it can work in winter rations

By Peter Vitti December 2, 2020

A few years ago I was visiting a small cow-calf operation and as I approached the house I noticed that there were rows of snow-covered round bales that literarily looked like baled alligators. The producer told me he baled left-over cornstalks within days of harvesting grain corn, and said that it took a couple of […] Read more

Crops, Hay, Pasture, Weather

Manitoba to open more Crown lands to haying, grazing

Province now taking requests for permits

By Dave Bedard, GFM Network News July 25, 2020

Manitoba livestock producers up against dry conditions can now apply for temporary passes to get onto Crown land not normally designated for grazing or haying. The province announced Friday it will make such lands available this year for agricultural use “under certain circumstances.” Permits and land uses will be handled through the Agricultural Crown Lands […] Read more

Prairie Wheat Weekly: Spring wheat up, durum mixed

U.S. grains: Soy futures end up but notch weekly loss after China buys Argentina crops

U.S. criticizes Mexico’s handling of screwworm near border

GFM Network News