Walmart Canada bills itself as the first retailer in the country with an on-pack certified-sustainable claim for a line of beef products. (CNW Group/Walmart Canada)

Walmart locks in CRSB claim for in-store beef brand

Chain to be first retailer in Canada with certified-sustainable label on pack

The Canadian arm of Walmart has locked in enough of a supply of certified-sustainable beef to label its entire Your Fresh Market burger patty line accordingly. The retail giant announced Monday it’s now sourcing beef from “certified sustainable” farms and ranches according to standards set by the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB). The company […] Read more

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Drought Monitor map for the Prairie provinces as of April 30, 2021. (AAFC)

‘Extreme drought’ expands in Prairies

Southern Manitoba, southeastern Saskatchewan parched

MarketsFarm — The newly released map from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Canadian Drought Monitor (CDM) shows the Prairies’ ongoing drought getting worse. According to AAFC’s nationwide map released on Friday, southwestern Manitoba, parts of southern Saskatchewan and the southeast corner of Alberta are under CDM’s classification of Extreme (D3) drought as of April 30. Communities […] Read more


Ranchers concerned about grizzly bear encounters in B.C.

Ranchers concerned about grizzly bear encounters in B.C.

News Roundup, from the May 2021 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

B.C. producers are seeing evidence of more grizzly bears, and with that comes growing concerns about the safety of ranching families and their livestock. George Olin, who ranches in the Vanderhoof, B.C. area, lost several cattle, including a Simmental bull, to grizzlies last fall, Cam Hill writes in the spring issue of Beef in B.C. […] Read more

Chokecherry.

Vet Advice: Not all that’s green is edible

Plant poisoning is a common problem throughout North America, causing significant losses from sudden death, reproductive failure, poor growth rates, tainting of animal products (milk, meat) and physical damage. Recognizing toxic plants and understanding the effects of toxins on animals is an important aspect of good range management. Plant poisoning can be largely avoided. Plants […] Read more



Rafael Otfinowski conducting research at Grasslands National Park.  Photo: Supplied by University of Winnipeg

The struggle to restore native prairie

Though grassland reclamation can take decades and has many challenges, efforts are underway to renew native prairie ecosystems

On the Northern Great Plains, it’s estimated that one acre of native grass is lost every minute. Though recently there has been increased awareness about this ecosystem being the world’s most endangered, pressures to convert this irreplaceable landscape remain strong. “Unfortunately, there’s always this push and pull between different land uses and intensification of agriculture […] Read more


Cattle waiting at the Pathlow Community Pasture in July 2006.

Ideas for advanced grazing management

Once you’ve established the foundation of grazing management, you’re ready to fine-tune the system

The idea of moving cattle to graze higher-quality forages goes back hundreds of years. Long before barbed wire and electric fences, shepherds would move their flocks every day to new areas to graze. Similarly, on the North American prairie, the vast herds of buffalo were continually on the move in search of better grazing. The […] Read more

Regeneratively grazing recycles nutrients to the soil.

It ain’t pretty

From the Ground Up with Steve Kenyon

You may have heard me say this before. A monoculture is ugly, no matter how pretty it looks. This constant drive to manage monoculture cropping has us in a downward spiral of dead soils and added inputs. It is costing us dearly. Nature rarely relies on only one species in an environment. Even a hay […] Read more


Yearling steers grazed each site for about 30 to 40 days in August and September for three years.

Grazing binary forage mixtures during the summer slump

A University of Saskatchewan study evaluates new grass and legume varieties at two different soil zones in the province

Grazing grass and legume mixtures in late summer and fall has the potential for promising gains, research conducted in south and central Saskatchewan shows. There are proven benefits to including a legume in a mixture to improve grass pastures. But researchers at the University of Saskatchewan’s Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence (LFCE) saw an […] Read more

Choosing an appropriate mineral can help ensure the health and productivity of cattle on pasture.

Getting the most out of your grass cattle

Nutrition with John McKinnon

As this issue comes to print, we are likely 40 to 60 days away from turning yearlings out to grass. The vast majority of these animals are last year’s calves weaned in the fall or early winter. If we examine how these animals are overwintered, two different management approaches are evident. The first is to […] Read more