Making the most of your grazing season

Making the most of your grazing season

Nutrition with John McKinnon

As grazing activity gets underway across the country, beef producers begin to turn their attention to other activities associated with their operation. From a herd nutrition perspective, the thinking of many is “Let the grass take care of the cattle.” Such thinking, while natural, can lead to issues that affect the health and productivity of […] Read more




File photo of storm clouds over northeastern Alberta. (ImagineGolf/E+/Getty Images)

Prairie Forecast: Alberta low looks to dominate

Forecast issued June 14, covering June 14-21

So far, the weather models have been doing a good job with the medium-range forecasts, only falling off late in the forecast period. Of course, in the summer, short-range forecasts can be difficult, especially when it comes to just when and where thunderstorms will develop. I always find it interesting that a forecast could be […] Read more


Smoke billows upwards from the Donnie Creek wildfire south of Fort Nelson, B.C. n June 11, 2023. (Photo: B.C. Wildfire Service handout via Reuters)

Western Canada covered in smoke as wildfires loosen grip on Quebec

Over 200 of 449 wildfires now out of control

Ottawa | Reuters — Smoke shrouded Western Canada on Monday as wildfires flared again in the main oil-producing province of Alberta, while firefighters in Quebec doused some of the worst early-season blazes, allowing thousands of evacuees to return home. Canada is enduring its most destructive start to wildfire season, with about 4.8 million hectares — […] Read more

AAFC’s Drought Monitor map as of May 31, 2023.

Drought expands across Canadian Prairies

Dry conditions push eastward in Manitoba

MarketsFarm — Warm and dry conditions across much of the Prairies in May caused drought conditions to worsen, especially in Alberta, according to the latest Drought Monitor report from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. As of May 31, an estimated 79 per cent of the Prairie region was classified as abnormally dry (D0) or in moderate […] Read more



RJ Sigurdson, MLA for Highwood, is sworn in on June 9, 2023 as Alberta’s minister of agriculture and irrigation. (Government of Alberta video screengrab via YouTube)

Calgary-area MLA named Alberta’s new ag minister

RJ Sigurdson to handle ag file, Horner moves to finance

The Alberta government’s caucus lead on emergency medical services (EMS) reform has been promoted to handle the agriculture file in a post-election cabinet shuffle. RJ Sigurdson, MLA for the constituency of Highwood, just south of Calgary, was sworn in Friday by Lt.-Gov. Salma Lakhani as Alberta’s new minister of agriculture and irrigation, replacing Nate Horner. […] Read more


(Brett Holmes Photography/iStock/Getty Images)

Prairie Forecast: Switch in pattern but summer sticking around

Forecast issued June 7, covering June 7-14

The weather models are doing a good job handling all the heat and humidity that has been driving thunderstorms and breaking temperature records across the eastern half of the Prairies over the last week. To the west it has been a little cooler and drier, with not as much instability to deal with, but nonetheless, […] Read more

A climate change activist plays a violin in New York City’s Times Square as Manhattan is shrouded in haze and smoke which drifted south from wildfires in Canada, on June 7, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Maye-E Wong)

International help rolls in to fight unyielding Canadian wildfires

Almost 80 of Quebec's fires currently out of control

Ottawa | Reuters — Allies around the world are promising to boost support for Canada’s fight against hundreds of blazes amid the country’s worst-ever start to wildfire season, which is fueling concerns about the worsening consequences of climate change. Forest fires continued to burn across Canada on Thursday, forcing thousands of people from their homes […] Read more