Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.

Canadian company offers new tech to identify illness and minimize labour

This Calgary-based company wants to bring technology to the ranch that cuts labour and costs, while improving animal health

Jack Behan combined his company, Alpha Phenomics, with HerdWhistle in 2023, for a clear reason. “When we put the businesses together, we only had one thing in mind, which was global domination,” he says. HerdWhistle was started in 2019 to monitor the feeding and drinking of an entire feedlot, 24/7. Using ultra high-frequency (UHF) and […] Read more




(HLS.ca/virden)

Auction mart report for the week of Feb. 9, 2024

Regional market analysis from Manitoba, courtesy of the Livestock Markets Association of Canada members.

Western Manitoba, courtesy of Heartland Livestock Services A light run of cattle this week, with about 300 going through Virden. The majority were feeders, and the remaining 10 per cent butcher cattle. About 40 per cent went to southern Alberta, 30 per cent local, 10 per cent to the east, and 20 per cent to […] Read more





Guilford family and friends at the National Western Hereford Show in Brandon, Man. last fall. L to R: Michael Latimer (Canadian Hereford Association) Diane and Don Guilford, their grandson, Josh, and his mother, Andrea Guilford, and Albert Rimke (Canadian Hereford Association director and friend).

Lessons in cow economics learned in the field

Don Guilford shares what he’s learned about everything from marketing to breeding cattle from years in the business

A career spent in the cattle industry, specifically that of purebred Herefords, led to a recent induction in the Canadian Hereford Honour Roll for Don and Diane Guilford of Clearwater, Man. The list of accolades and contributions the couple have made to the Hereford industry, the livestock industry, their local community and agriculture in general […] Read more



Young farmers and ranchers want formal succession plans, partly to give their children the chance to take over the operation.

Most farms lack a succession plan

While formal succession plans were rare for previous generations, the next generation of farmers and ranchers is pushing for them

On the second floor of the Queensbury Convention Centre at Agribition, the Grain Expo takes place every year. Around the edge of the room, booths are set up, surrounding the tables attendees sit at. Everyone sits watching the panel of producers walking onto the brightly lit stage. Steve Sanden and his son, Josh Sanden, are […] Read more

(JJ Gouin/iStock/Getty Images)

Protein sector faces labour crunch: report

Nearly two thirds of agri-food companies can't hire all the workers they need

Government, industry and educational institutes must act now to address the labour challenges confronting the emerging plant-based protein industry in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, according to a new report.