Cattle markets have dropped off their highs from a few weeks ago, but they're still well ahead of where they were last year at this time. The February live cattle contract, for example, is up 28 percent in the last year. "We've had solid markets all the way around," says Anne Wasko of Gateway Livestock... Read More
Category: Livestock
We often focus our efforts on what to add to a total mixed ration in order to offer our animals the highest plane of nutrition necessary for their life stage. But, what about the substances that could create serious health concerns, or even death? "Moulds are a fungal growth, and the mycotoxins are actually a... Read More
The Saskatchewan government has announced it will match cash donations to help farmers and ranchers impacted by grassfires in the southwest part of the province last month. Fires near the communities of Burstall, Tompkins and Leader burned approximately 80,000 acres of crop and pasture land on October 17th, killing around 770 cattle. The province says... Read More
Editor's note: This letter was submitted by Jeff Nonay in response to a column written by Shaun Haney that was published on Nov. 13th. Nonay and his wife Coralee own and operate Lakeside Dairy, a diversified farming operation near Edmonton, Alberta bringing to market milk, beef, grain and seed potatoes. In your recent post “Hey... Read More
In the dairy food value chain processors play an integral role in product development. Dairy product development puts dairy components in protein bars, protein powder, ice cream, yogurt and baby formula. to name just a few. At Farm Journal's MILK Business Conference, attendees heard from Micheal Dykes, President and CEO of the International Dairy Foods... Read More
Differentiating products through marketing has long been a goal of commodity groups. The Alberta Beef Producers have (according to their website) promoted the Alberta Beef brand for thirty years. It featured widely-recognized advertisements like that of three female ranchers leaning on a fence, with text that read, "If it ain't Alberta, it ain't beef." Increasingly,... Read More
The Southwest Agricultural Conference (SWAC) will mark its 25th anniversary on January 3rd, when the two-day conference unofficially kicks off Ontario’s winter farm meeting season. Over the past quarter century, SWAC, hosted by the University of Guelph’s Ridgetown campus, has become one of the leading farm conferences in North America. How did it start? How... Read More
It really seems that NAFTA is on thin ice, and this proverbial frozen trade pond seems to be full of cracks. North American agriculture is holding its breath before it's plunged into the cold water under that ice, except, there is one agriculture group that has nothing to lose. They're standing on land, by themselves:... Read More
No matter where you run a dairy farm, the key is to get the milk out of the cow. Canadian and American dairies live under different marketing schemes, but there are many more similarities than differences. At the MILK Business Conference in Las Vegas, Mike Opperman, editor of MILK Magazine, chatted with Shaun Haney about... Read More
Mycotoxin and mould growth in dairy feed can lead to lower milk production, poor animal health and reduced profits. This impact on production is not a new discovery for dairy producers, but there certainly is a growing awareness of the problem, says North Carolina State University professor emeritus Dr. Lon Whitlow. "A large part of... Read More