The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) uses a three-tiered categorization system for evaluating bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) risk including negligible, controlled, and undetermined risk. According to Dr. Penny Greenwood, National Manager of Prion and Equine Programs for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), the system is designed to reflect current knowledge and understanding of…

Farm infrastructure and feedstock fires can be devastating. Careful planning reduces the risk. Prairie summers bring heat, thunderstorms, and bugs, but unfortunately, the season also comes with the risk of forest, grass, and farmyard fires. Brad Andres, Director of Emergency Management Services at Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation explains the standard three steps of ‘Personal Preparedness’:…

“Whenever I’m speaking about dystocia, I always begin by mentioning the numbers 15 and 3,” says Mark Hilton, DVM and Midwest Beef Cattle Consultant. “If we have to assist more than 15 percent of our heifers and 3 percent of our mature cows, we have a problem needing attention, and it’s most likely our genetics.”…

The literal act of completing ‘hands-on’ body condition scoring (BCS) is often thought of by commercial beef producers as a procedure done strictly in academic trials, research studies, or by seedstock operations. Many bypass the practice altogether, choosing instead to rely on experience, assessing their herd’s degree of condition from the feed truck or tractor…