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What is cold stress? All mammals must maintain their internal body temperatures, with cattle averaging 38°C. Their body becomes stressed when environmental temperatures drop below the lower limit of the thermoneutral zone, the ‘lower critical temperature.’ Top factors that contribute to cold stress are cold weather, wind, wet weather, and lack of feed. Estimates of…

Feeder associations in Alberta will soon be able to obtain more competitive financing to meet current market demands. The provincial government is increasing the overall loan guarantee for beef and sheep producers purchasing livestock for feeding to $150 million. Created to help producer-run feeder co-operatives secure financing, the Feeder Association Loan Guarantee Program previously provided…

Producers and stewards of the land know that many of the solutions to the world’s environmental crises lie in the soil beneath our feet. Healthier soil means more nutrient-dense food and healthier cattle.  While many world leaders are focused on policies that reduce carbon emissions from the air through regulation and taxes, there are still…

Beef producers can now have a say to help ensure their animal health needs are met through local pharmaceutical manufacturing. An innovative, family-run Alberta business is manufacturing animal health products right here in Calgary to meet industry demands. Alberta Veterinary Laboratories (AVL) and Solvet work together to “innovate by request”—seeking industry input about products that…

Edmonton Alberta – RDAR is excited to announce that it will be open to receiving applications for the On-Farm Climate Action Fund (OFCAF) program starting August 4, 2022. RDAR was announced as one of 12 national delivery partners for the federally funded program in February 2022. Over the last several months, RDAR has been preparing…

Read Part One ‘In the genetics: Family is key in the Bolduc succession plan in the January Issue of ABP Magazine.  Sitting down at the table and hashing out a succession plan is not easy. It is also never done in one sitting. Instead, it is an ongoing conversation that should span a lifetime, or…

In a new program, Farm Credit Canada (FCC) is supporting Canadian beef producers certified by the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB). “Canadian producers are already expert stewards of the land and livestock, and the beef sector has been a leader in demonstrating their sustainable practices through the CRSB,” said Todd Klink, FCC’s vice-president of…

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in the April edition of ABP Magazine. Since then, Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has stated its aware of ongoing tag supply challenges, and is working closely to monitor the issue. CFIA says there are sufficient tag supplies available, but producers may need to use an alternate source/dealer…

The Canadian government has extended the 2022 AgriStability enrolment deadline from April 30 to June 30, 2022, giving farmers more time to sign up for the program. According to the release, this step was agreed up by the federal, provincial, and territorial governments to help farmers manage the impact of challenges related to production loss,…

University of Saskatchewan Masters student, Brooklyn Wong, is investigating which production and financial records bring commercial cow-calf producers the most value. Last year, Wong interviewed producers about record keeping practices, and those interviews informed the creation of a survey. Take the Survey The study is funded by the Beef Cattle Research Council, Mitacs and the…