Debbie Furber

New vaccines, long-acting antimicrobials and effective treatment protocols have largely eliminated illness and deaths resulting from acute bovine respiratory disease (pneumonia) caused by the bacteria, Mannheimia hemolytica. It was generally known as shipping fever because, at first, it was associated with transporting cattle and young cattle shortly after arrival at the feedlot. Today, feedlot operators […] Read more

Past research has shown a link between the bacteria, Mycoplasma bovis, and a condition of feedlot cattle known as chronic pneumonia and polyarthritis syndrome (CPPS). In some animals, an M. bovis infection progresses to CPPS, yet other animals respond to early treatment. Still others seem to be able to clear the bacteria on their own. […] Read more

Johne’s disease (JD) is a condition of ruminant animals that has warranted a brief mention in most practical animal health manuals since it was first described in Germany by Heinrich Johne more than a century ago. Most beef producers skimmed right past it with the idea that it is more a disease of dairy cows […] Read more

The Canadian beef industry is one step closer to having offi- cial access to the latest technology in grading. Following extensive tests of the e+* Technology GmbH’s camera grading instrument, Wayne Robertson, the Agriculture Canada meat quality biologist at the Lacombe Research Centre, has recommended that it be approved for grading beef in Canada. His […] Read more

Clear Creek Organics sells commitment — commitment to customers, communities and a way of raising animals — wrapped up as fresh cut beef, beef freezer packs, processed beef products and, soon, a new deli line. The message has hit home with consumers in Western Canada. A little more than two years after the company’s founding […] Read more

When the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) spawned the Canadian Beef Advantage (CBA) strategy in 2008, it was twinned with the concept of developing an electronic database that could track individual animals as they move along the value chain using their national ID ear tag. The idea is the data would backstop the brand claims made […] Read more

Ralph Vold of Ponoka, Alta. became the first inductee into the Livestock Markets Association of Canada (LMAC) Hall of Fame during the association’s annual meeting in Winnipeg at the end of May. The award was established to recognize outstanding achievements of members who have personally had an impact on taking live marketing to a higher […] Read more

One thing always leads to another on Neil and Barb Dennis’s farm south of Wawota, Sask. The idea of a deep massage treatment for an ailing paddock grew from their experience bale grazing and the need to hold 800 yearlings for about two weeks until the grass was ready to begin the rotation in the […] Read more

When the push was on to convert marginal grain land to permanent cover, Becky and Ted Artz gave up the ghost that was grain farming to concentrate on their beef operation. The ranch is located south of Pierson, Man., near Lyleton — the last stop before crossing into North Dakota to the south and Saskatchewan […] Read more

The goal of a breeding program is to wean a calf from each cow exposed to a bull on an annual basis. Breeding programs should also be directed toward maximizing the value of the calf crop by maintaining a compact breeding season to produce a uniform calf crop that will wean off heavier on average […] Read more