Issues & Insights

Antimicrobial use in beef cattle production greatly benefits animal health. But, it has come under scrutiny in recent years, due to increasing incidents of antimicrobial resistance. To bring you the full story, we spoke to an animal health scientist and a feedlot veterinarian about the benefits and challenges of antimicrobial use, the developing risk of…

By CBC News After last year’s summer drought prompted many Alberta cattle ranchers to cull their herds, ongoing dry weather this winter and spring, especially in the southern part of the province, could mean more of the same. “If we don’t get some significant rainfall, you know, in my area in the next couple of weeks,…

By Sylvain Charlebois Looks like we will all see different symbols on food packaging soon, telling us whether a food product at the grocery store has too much fat, sugar or sodium. Health Canada is likely going forward shortly with a policy requiring front-of-package nutrition symbols on foods high in saturated fat, sugars and sodium….

Are you a woman who leads a farm, works on a farm, or otherwise contributes to a farm? Farm Management Canada and CentricEngine Inc. are working on a research project to provide a “comprehensive baseline for understanding the roles, status, barriers and opportunities to support women involved in farming.” As part of that project, they’ve…

Livestock investigator says some have lost upward of $50,000 due to bad cheques By Jade Markus, CBC Calgary Due to last summer’s drought and winter’s supply chain issues, cattle feed is still hard to come by in Alberta — and what’s available comes at a cost.  That’s leading to a surge in scams, thefts and bad…

When wild boar were first brought to the prairies, experts suggested crossing them with domestic pigs for a bigger, more reproductive animal. Unfortunately, some of the traits that make them great farm animals, also make them a wildly successful invasive pest. According to Dr. Ryan Brook, wild pig occurrences occupy just over one million square…

New conservation program offers $125 per acre to seed unproductive annually cropped lands to forages By Jennifer Blair, Alberta Farmer Express Alberta producers are finding a way to make their marginal lands pay, with a little help from Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC). “Not all parts of a field are created equal,” said Darwin Chambers, head…

Three people share how they changed their minds about beef, becoming advocates for beef production By Piper Whelan, Canadian Cattlemen Magazine David Kleiman’s first visit to a ranch in the southern Alberta foothills was an awe-inspiring experience he’ll never forget. Nature and conservation have been life-long passions for Kleiman, a Calgary-based science teacher. After meeting…

From the makers of Guardians of the Grasslands, comes a new short documentary — Too Close to Home. Too Close to Home documents recent fires in British Columbia, and showcases the opportunity to utilize cattle to reduce fire risk. Too Close to Home premieres April 20, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. MT, with a panel discussion…