An annual checkup for native pasture

An annual checkup for native pasture

The Grazing Response Index is simple, and inexpensive

The grazing response index (GRI) is a simple do-it-yourself way to evaluate the impact of grazing pastures, and it doesn’t cost anything but your time. “The GRI gives quick feedback each year, but doesn’t replace comprehensive assessments every five years or so to gather the full set of information for monitoring long-term trends,” explains Dr. […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Sask. to open protected grasslands for grazing

Crown-held native prairie and other grasslands held for wildlife conservation in Saskatchewan will be opened up to ranchers needing grazing land for cattle in dry areas. Environment Minister Herb Cox announced Tuesday the province will make about 90,000 acres of Fish and Wildlife Development Fund (FWDF) land available to cattle producers. The same grazing lease […] Read more



One concern is the increasing spread of alfalfa weevil.

Alberta’s alfalfa bug survey yields mixed results in first year

News Roundup from the June 2015 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

Year one of a three-year benchmark insect survey across Alberta yielded mostly good news and a few surprises, even for Alberta Agriculture entomologist Scott Meers of Brooks who is heading up the project. The biggest surprise was the sheer abundance of life in alfalfa fields. Sweep net samples of 100 sweeps each captured several thousand […] Read more


Parched Prairie forages hang in under stress

Parched Prairie forages hang in under stress

CNS Canada — Sporadic rains and prolonged periods of dryness are taking their toll on forage crops in Alberta and parts of Saskatchewan. According to Terry Kowalchuk, a forage crop specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture in Regina, the eastern half of the province is managing, but the situation is worse in the province’s west. The western […] Read more



(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

U.S. corn, DDGS imports likely as drought tightens feed supply

CNS Canada –– Livestock producers in Western Canada will likely have to import feed grains such as corn and dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) this year, as drought is seen trimming domestic barley and other feed production. “We’ve seen droughts before, and when it’s happened, usually what has to happen is we import other […] Read more



(CaseIH.com)

WHO agency says insecticides lindane, DDT linked to cancer

London | Reuters — The insecticide lindane, once widely used in agriculture and to treat human lice and scabies, causes cancer and has been specifically linked to non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday. The WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) also said that DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) probably causes cancer, with scientific […] Read more

(Country Guide file photo)

Canada ratifies UPOV ’91 seed treaty

Canadian crop commodity groups are hailing the federal government’s move to ratify Canada’s participation in the international UPOV ’91 treaty as a signal the country is “open for national and international investment.” Canada’s representatives to the World Trade Organization, on Friday in Geneva, deposited the government’s “instrument of ratification” for the 1991 Act of the […] Read more