Caution is the word for now from an Alberta intestinal health research group on products claimed to have prebiotic or probiotic activity to promote health benefits for people and livestock. Use of these products won’t harm cattle or people. The worst that could happen from a production standpoint is that they will increase costs with […] Read more
Proving the potential of probiotics in beef cattle
Cocktails for cattle under stress
News Roundup from the September 2015 issue of Canadian Cattlemen
Cells lining the inside of your digestive tract are on guard 24-7 letting nutrients into the bloodstream and blocking harmful substances from entering the bloodstream. It’s no different in cattle. Barrier function of the bovine intestinal tract is the subject of new research in progress at the University of Saskatchewan where master’s candidate Rae-Leigh Pederzolli […] Read more
Animal care lives here
Driving down the road to the family’s old homestead established in 1903 near Pine Lake, Alta., Doug Sawyer stops to look at the corrals he helped design and build when he was a kid. “We thought about the ways animals move and how to make it work for us by rounding out corners and letting […] Read more
AgriClear… cattle marketing on your terms
AgriClear received an enthusiastic welcome from Canadian and American buyers and sellers after it was launched in mid-June, according to company president David Moss. “We’ve had registrations, live listings, and lots of positive response,” he said. AgriClear is a platform for marketing cattle to anyone anywhere in Canada and the U.S. any time via your […] Read more
The Saretsky family blazes new marketing trails
Hands down, there’s no business David Saretsky would rather be in than the beef business and there’s nobody in the beef business he admires more than his father, Tony. However, the dream of following in his father’s footsteps hasn’t blinded him to new opportunities as the family business, Cantriex Livestock International, evolves through changing times. […] Read more
VJV consolidates under new management
The sale of one of Alberta’s pioneer country livestock markets of the 1950s, Vold, Jones & Vold Auction Co. (VJV) at Ponoka, has precipitated a shuffle in ownership of several markets over the past year. Last August, Henry and Andrea Thalen of Ponoka purchased the Ponoka and Dawson Creek markets from three generations of the […] Read more
New Alta. packer seeks Harmony by design
Rich Vesta’s pride in his family’s state-of-the-industry beef-processing plant is evident as he talks about the features that will make Harmony Beef a one-of-a-kind plant in North America. The modernized Rancher’s Beef facility located in a vast industrial area east of Balzac, Alta. is now loaded with the latest European technology to provide a safe, […] Read more
Ready to hire a marketing specialist for your calves?
Ryan Copithorne is betting you are.
A typical marketing plan for many cow-calf producers revolves around hoping to hit a run of good prices when they sell calves, yearlings and cull cows after preg-checking. If the stars don’t align to bring all of the variables together in their favour on sale day — weather conditions for roundup, trucking arrangements, market forces […] Read more
Wise investments during good times in the cattle business
Weigh the alternatives using ROI
Twelve years without a raise in pay from the marketplace spawned a lot of cost-cutting measures on cow-calf operations. Now, it’s time to put those ideas to use to catch up, and maybe even get ahead. “We are in a new era,” notes Ray Bittner, a livestock specialist with Manitoba Agriculture in Ashern. “Today’s calf […] Read more
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
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
