Innovation & Technology

Plastics are integral to most of our businesses, whether you are wrapping up bales or covering your silage pit. They are cheap, convenient, and resilient, which makes them useful but also difficult to get rid of.  In the past, the most common practice for dealing with used ag plastics was to burn it – a…

It is hard to believe it’s that time of year again! Hopefully these few months feel more like “tagging season” than “calving season.” However, if things don’t go quite as planned, the Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC) has put together some fantastic resources to help you improve the outcome for any compromised calf that hits…

High feed costs and shortages mean feedlot owners face a tighter squeeze than ever. Helping them maximize their feed dollars by hitting the optimal market moment for their cattle is the goal of a genetic tool with an economic twist.  A program called Q-sort from Saskatoon-based Quantum Genetix provides data in a simplified form to…

Ensuring cattle health and safety during transport is important. As the two-year phase-in period for Canada’s new cattle transport regulations comes to an end this February, new research findings are being released that offer helpful direction for industry and producers. “As an industry, we expect that our policies, regulations and management practices are informed by…

Alberta’s Applied Research and Forage Associations are looking for farmer feedback through a short, anonymous survey. The survey takes approximately 15 minutes to complete, and provides input to “assist the province’s agriculture industry with continuing to effectively invest in research and extension initiatives that bring value to farmers and Albertan communities.” Please consider sharing this…

RDAR supports two advanced research projects that explore potential CWD impacts on agriculture crops and wildlife Results Driven Agriculture Research will invest a total of $521,000 into two critical Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) projects led by researchers from the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary. These research projects will focus on understanding and…

Connecting producers and retailers to beef consumers is about to get a whole lot easier thanks to a QR-code UPC code-based education portal spearheaded by Canada Beef. The Beef Information Gateway is a new digital ecosystem that aims to put beef education in the hands of consumers and open their minds to new and different…

Digital has replaced a lot of handwritten records, but move away from the trusty, dog-eared, fit-in-your-pocket farm supply store cow record notebook? Well, it looks like even that ‘sacred cow’ has got some stiff competition… from BETSY. BETSY, or ‘Bovine Expert Tracking and Surveillance,’ brings the same approach applied in precision farming to the ranching…

Looking through the windshield of a vet truck At Veterinary Agri-Health Services, we start every fall run with the notion, “It’s going to be interesting!” With drought plaguing the prairies and $9 barley, this year is guaranteed to exceed expectations. Nevertheless, calves are steadily making their way into the yards and many of us are…

Developing digital options to support beef producers has been slow, but Alberta-based company Flokk Systems is taking a bold step forward. Their digital beef herd management and traceability system, now undergoing field testing, is receiving attention from producers and entrepreneurs alike. “Flokk will provide cow/calf producers with the ease of use and functionality for their…