Cattle markets are kicking off 2018 like it's 2017, with strong prices and a strong basis in Western Canada, in spite of a higher Canadian dollar. Factoring the jump in the Alberta fat cattle market last week to around C$167, the loonie rising over 80 cents, and a U.S. price of around $123, the spot... Read More
Category: Livestock
With all of the hype around synthetic meat and plant based burgers, it appears consumers still have a taste and desire for regular old meat. In the 2017 wrap-up show on RealAg Radio, Kelvin Heppner described "plant-based meat" as one of the most overused terms of 2017 and consumers are not buying the Silicon Valley... Read More
Sensors and internet cloud technology — a combination sometimes described as the "Internet of Things" — are increasingly being used by farmers to maximize the quality and food safety of their production. The reduced cost of sensors and the ability to connect them to the internet (and users' smartphones) is enabling new uses for this... Read More
If you have a sick animal, there’s no such thing as a “timely” veterinarian shortage. But the current situation, which is seeing fewer veterinary service hours available and much more demand expected, is particularly worrisome. It’s raising caution flags in the veterinary sector, and has a leading veterinary educator searching for solutions. Here’s the situation.... Read More
Where can Canadians find everything they need to know about farming all wrapped into a neat 60-page package? It's all in The Real Dirt on Farming. Farm & Food Care Ontario officially unveiled the newest version of its flagship public outreach publication last month. This new Real Dirt is the fourth edition since the project’s... Read More
Plant-based "meat" is gaining a new level of mainstream presence, as McDonald's is planning to debut a vegan burger in Europe next week. The McVegan will be added to the menu in Sweden and Finland on December 28th, after testing in a limited number of Finnish restaurants this fall. Produced by Anamma, a subsidiary of... Read More
From planting to feeding, there is a lot to consider when it comes to growing, and keeping a high quality silage. "I think over the years we've learned that we have to be patient when we're harvesting to get the silage off at the right time," says Ryan Kasko of Kasko Cattle Co. "Especially corn... Read More
A new study published by researchers from the University of Manitoba and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada - Lethbridge has found a 17 percent reduction in the total water required to produce 1kg of beef in Canada, from 1981 to 2011. The findings, published in the peer-reviewed journal Science of the Total Environment, looked at water... Read More
The Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB) today launched its Certified Sustainable Beef Framework (and a new website) at the group's annual meeting in Edmonton today. The Framework centres around the five Global Principles of Sustainable Beef: natural resources; people and community; animal health and welfare; food; and efficiency and innovation. “We know that consumers... Read More
All livestock producers have been urged to cut unnecessary antibiotic use, to try to prevent resistant bacteria from developing in their herds and flocks. But on the farm, the question is where, and how? Consider dairy calves, for example. More than half of the deaths of dairy calves are from diarrhea. Producers often treat that... Read More