Debbie Furber

Roseburn Ranches was so named by Robin Morrison’s great-great-grandparents more than a century ago when they established the farmyard in a wild rose burn backed by the Alberta foothills between High River and Okotoks. Today the Morrison family’s operation includes two commercial feedlots — Roseburn Ranches and Tongue Creek Feeders with a total one-time capacity […] Read more

A three-year study looking at changing the time of calving in beef cow herds in Western Canada from March/ April (early) to May/June (late) is showing that the move to later calving has potential to lower production costs by better matching feed requirements of the cow to forage availability, and reducing labour and animal health […] Read more

Refractometers have been used for years for quality control purposes in the food-and beverage-processing industries. Today, there are hand-held models that can be used out in the field to measure sugar content in plant juices as a way to determine the best time to harvest produce for the fresh food market or further processing into […] Read more

There aren’t very many freebies in farming. In this respect, bale grazing and bale unrolling offer a unique opportunity. The nitrogen from the manure and urine the cattle leave behind as they graze are gratis compared with feeding in a corral and hauling the manure to the field. Research from the Western Beef Development Centre […] Read more

Swath grazing is typically used as a way to provide high-quality forage for cattle on pasture through the fall and early-winter months. A “rested grazing project,” in its third year at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Brandon Research Centre, is showing that moving swath grazing to the late summer has the potential to increase grazing days […] Read more

Each of the four western provinces now has regulations in place to allow homeowners, farms and/or small businesses to generate their own electrical power and connect to the provincial distribution grid. Farm energy option seminars were held in Saskatchewan and Alberta this past year to familiarize people with the programs and technologies available. Size limits […] Read more

The Canada Beef Export Federation’s (CBEF) 2009 exporter member survey held some disquieting news for the Canadian beef industry. The export members’ combined expectations for exports in the benchmark year of 2015 was 521,000 tonnes, with 60 per cent going to the U.S. This is 279,000 tonnes less than their 2015 expectations three years ago, […] Read more

Blue-green algae in dugout water can be fatal to cattle, but it’s not always easy to spot. The worst-looking algae-laced dugouts may pose no risk while a relatively clear dugout just down the road could be a killer. Algae may be undesirable but somewhat inevitable in a dugout,” says Paul Prodahl, conservation technician with Ag. […] Read more

All-Around Livestock Sales and Services was established three years ago by Charles Munro of Standard, Alta. to provide pen-checking services to feedlot clients on a contract basis. Munro admits that it took some door knocking to sell this new concept. Greg Appleyard of Cattleland Feedyards, north of Strathmore, Alta., took him up on his offer, […] Read more

In mid-July, Canada’s agriculture ministers started the clock running to put a national mandatory traceability system in place by 2011. At the same time Ottawa announced a $20 million Livestock Auction Traceability Initiative to help auction markets, assembly yards, community pastures and exhibitions upgrade their facilities and hire expertise to set up their facilities to […] Read more