Debbie Furber

Faced with low grain prices for crops they were growing on rented land and interest rates soaring above 20 per cent in the early 1980s, the de Boer brothers of Monarch, Alta., took what they saw as a calculated risk and established a 2,400-head custom feedlot. Thinking back on their entry into the cattle feeding […] Read more

Wayne Heinrichs doesn t aspire to any one particular beef production philosophy, but pulls together information from many schools of thought to customize a winter- feeding system for his beef operation near Brandon, Man. His goal as the system evolves is to find the most economical way to winter his herd without sacrificing performance and […] Read more

The research results are due out next spring Canada s biodiesel industry is in its infancy relative to global biofuel production, but it may be hastened along by the federal two per cent mandate on renewable content in diesel fuel and heating oil passed on July 1 of this year with compliance expected by December […] Read more

Speaking at a special conference this past summer in Lethbridge, Dr. Darryl Gibb, innovation and business development specialist with Viterra at Lethbridge, and Dr. Barry Robinson, nutritionist and owner of Great Northern Livestock Consulting at Westlock, Alta., took a look at the practical and economic implications of feeding dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) to […] Read more

In contrast to results from initial studies in the United States suggesting that feeding distillers grain to cattle increases fecal shedding ofEscherichia coli 0157: H7(E. coli 0157)bacteria, a comprehensive project at Lethbridge Research Centre is showing that there is no direct link between the two. University of Lethbridge PhD candidate and research affiliate Jennyka Hallewell […] Read more

The use of stockpiled forage for fall and spring grazing is becoming a common strategy to reduce the cost of wintering beef cows. When managed properly, stockpiled forages can meet the nutritional requirements for mature cows in early to mid gestation during the late fall and early winter. Feed value does decline significantly from December […] Read more

In most cases, your personal guarantee rates right up alongside having the equity and financial strength to carry a loan when you walk into a bank to arrange financing for a feedlot operation. If we are going to put our skin in the game, we need to know whether you are willing to put some […] Read more

The 2010 growing season saw double the historic average precipitation across most parts of Saskatchewan and near triple in some localities. It was welcome coming out of a drought in some areas; not so much in others with ample moisture to start off the season. With a similar scene unfolding this year across many parts […] Read more

In the not-too-distant future, beef producers may be able to add reduced disease susceptibility, also described as robustness, to the list of beef animal traits when making breeding and management decisions. A study involving the universities of Alberta and Calgary and GrowSafe Systems of Airdrie is moving along nicely into the second year of a […] Read more

Mac and Pat Creech of M.C. Quantock Livestock just north of Lloyminster, have carved a niche for themselves in the Canadian cattle industry as Canada s Bull Supplier selling more than 8,800 purebred and hybrid bulls at some 42 sales they ve hosted through the years. Now, they have put together their first and perhaps […] Read more