Buying livestock you’re unfamiliar with has its risks so remember to vaccinate new arrivals before mixing them with your herd.

Always look a gift cow in the mouth

Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen

This year’s feed situation is forcing many cow-calf producers to make very difficult decisions. Those who are short of feed may cull their herds harder than usual or look for alternative feeding arrangements to winter some or all their cows. Others with feed carryover from previous years may be tempted to custom feed other people’s […] Read more

Regular interactions with their customers and proximity to urban development has shaped Dean and Catherine Manning’s awareness of the public’s perception of agriculture.

Using natural advantages for a sustainable cow-calf operation

The 2021 TESA recipients discuss managing risk by working with the environment and the importance of building trust with customers

In a place described by poets as “the forest primeval,” Dean and Catherine Manning have built a business to be proud of in Nova Scotia’s agricultural paradise. With a unique climate and fertile farmland developed from salt marshes more than 300 years ago, all kinds of agricultural production flourish near the Minas Basin, from orchards […] Read more


Photo taken in July 2021 on land Kenyon has been managing since 1999. It takes time to repair the land, but regenerative grazing can create resilience to drought.

The drought of 2021

From the Ground Up with Steve Kenyon

Well, that was one for the books. It will be referred to for years to come as the drought of 2021. I “herd” it was a one-in-100-year drought in my area. Hay production was about a quarter of normal. Pastures browned off in July. Dugouts and water sources are dry all over the place. We […] Read more

The initial testing phase took place with 15 collars on cattle at the Thibeault Ranch in B.C.

Testing virtual fencing’s potential in B.C.

Pilot underway to develop technology fitting the needs of grazing in B.C.

When the British Columbia Cattlemen’s Association initiated a targeted grazing project to reduce wildfire risk in the wildland-urban interface, the prospect of rebuilding lost fencing to facilitate this was costly.  An estimated 900 kilometres of fenceline in B.C was burned in wildfires during 2017 and 2018, with a staggering projected rebuild cost of $14 million. […] Read more


How long do growth promotants persist in soil and manure, and is there a risk they could enter surface or groundwater?

Growth promotants and the environment

Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen

Growth promotants dramatically improve the growth rates and feed efficiency of beef cattle. Trenbolone acetate (TBA) behaves like testosterone and is used in several feedlot implants (Component, Revalor and Synovex). Melengestrol acetate (MGA) behaves like progesterone, a pregnancy hormone. Some feedlots feed MGA to suppress estrous cycles and riding activity in heifers until a few […] Read more

Moist areas in otherwise dry pastures can offer prime habitats for lungworms.

Drought can heighten lungworm risk in summer and fall

The effect of lungworms depends on an animal’s immune system and how many larvae it has ingested, but the worst infections tend to occur in young animals

Luke Smith’s east quarter section on the edge of the Blue Hills southwest of Avonlea consisted mainly of slough grass and willow with patches of fescue and brome where prairie sat above a large spring-fed slough. The area provided abundant grazing for 20 replacement heifers and a bull. He called after checking the group with […] Read more


Grant Lastiwka looks at all the forage growth from this bale-grazed area on his farm. Cows were fed hailed-out barley bales on this area this past winter.

Bale grazing and pasture rejuvenation

Forage extension veteran Grant Lastiwka shares his winter-feeding strategy and explains how it fits into his year-round grazing system

Grant Lastiwka eats, sleeps and dreams forages. As one of Canada’s most enthusiastic forage extension specialists, Lastiwka is the go-to man for information on year-round grazing management. Past winner of the Alberta Forage Industry Network (AFIN) Leadership Award and former livestock and forage business specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, Lastiwka has had an illustrious […] Read more

Comment: Keep your pencil sharp

“The most important tool on the farm is the pencil.” That was the best farming advice Mike Buis ever received, and it came from his grandfather. Buis recently conducted a virtual tour of his family’s Chatham, Ont., beef farm for the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation. Coincidentally, a day or two before the Buis Beef tour, […] Read more



Swath grazing is a great strategy to extend the grazing season.

Putting forage theory into practice

A new online guide explains how to maximize forage production and greenhouse gas sequestration

Forage and grassland farmers now have a practical, straightforward resource to discover best management practices for maximizing soil carbon sequestration. The Canadian Forage and Grassland Association (CFGA) published the digital guide, Forage Best Management Practices for Enhancing Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration, earlier this year as one of the key deliverables of its four-year Agricultural Greenhouse […] Read more