Bands impregnated with the painkiller lidocaine can provide pain relief for young calves.

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


It’s a good idea to keep walking your heifer pens and assessing their body conditions at all stages of development.

Watch dairy heifers grow on well-balanced diets

The Dairy Corner: There are numerous ways to get a quality mix to a farm’s heifers

I have balanced many dairy heifer replacement diets in the last few months. It’s a pretty easy exercise once I put it down on a PDF spreadsheet and email it to the dairy producer. I am confident all heifer nutrient requirements are met, given how heifers consume it. Plus, I want to make these diets […] Read more

Tariffs not on U.S. rancher radar

Tariffs not on U.S. rancher radar

Cattle groups take their advocacy directly to U.S. livestock producers

Glacier FarmMedia — The Canadian Cattle Association says the threatened 25 per cent tariffs would cut Canadian wholesale beef prices by 13 per cent, but effects would be tempered slightly by a low Canadian dollar. “Obviously a huge blow to the benchmark beef price,” CCA vice-president Tyler Fulton says. “I think many of us would […] Read more


Farm building code updates will drive insurance increases

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