Stories by Duane McCartney | Canadian Cattlemen

Farmers assessed a few of the 13 sainfoin/alfalfa/grass plots last summer.

Sainfoin, alfalfa and grass mixtures being tested

High legume pasture project in process

By Duane McCartney April 28, 2017

A sprinkling of a new sainfoin was enough to ignite renewed interest in high legume pastures across Alberta and British Columbia last year. The case for high legume pastures was made long ago, both in research trials and in the field by experienced producers with the skill and nerve to turn up the alfalfa content […] Read more

Beef Cattle, Features, Livestock

The eye in the sky is watching your cows

By Duane McCartney December 29, 2016

In the mid-’70s, as a research scientist at the Melfort Research Station, I helped Saskatchewan Agriculture evaluate the first button-type electronic ear tags on our cows at the Pathlow pasture research project. At the time, I also had a big satellite remote sensing project to monitor pasture productivity. I would tell my colleagues that our […] Read more

Features, Livestock

New Zealand through the eye of a pasture manager

By Duane McCartney November 1, 2016

After Jack Kyle retired as Ontario’s pasture specialist following 30 years of service to Ontario’s beef producers, he and his wife Jean joined an agricultural tour to New Zealand to see the sites and have a look at agriculture in New Zealand. Some of what he saw there may provide food for thought to pasture […] Read more

Livestock, News, News Roundup

Ranchers tell their story

Sustainability: News Roundup from the October 3, 2016 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

By Duane McCartney October 26, 2016

Scott Parker, with the National Film Board, is telling the good news story about grazing through nine short films on how ranchers on the Canadian Prairie are managing their grazing lands to sustain a healthy ecosystem. Called the “Grasslands Project,” the films tell important prairie stories from the southern end of Alberta and Saskatchewan about […] Read more

Crops, Forages

Points to remember when seeding forages

By Duane McCartney May 2, 2016

There are a few common mistakes made that limit the success of new forage establishments” says Joel Bagg, a former forage specialist with Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and now with Quality Seeds. “One of the biggest problems is not seeding new forage stands often enough. Many alfalfa-based stands are simply too […] Read more

Features, Forages

What perennial forage should I seed this year?

By Duane McCartney April 25, 2016

Cattle grazers all across Canada have a wide choice of perennial forage species that they can seed this year. But how do producers pick a species and variety to grow in their respective areas? The question of seeding in mixtures has always been a puzzle. In the 1960s and early 1970s, seed mixtures contained 17 […] Read more

Features, Livestock

Richardson Ranch at the end of the world

By Duane McCartney April 1, 2016

Visiting the famous Richardson Ranch on Haida Gwaii, formerly known as Queen Charlotte Islands, off the northern coast of British Columbia has been on my bucket list for many years. I was all set to go back in 2001 when I phoned Don Richardson and he indicated that it had been raining for 40 days […] Read more

Hay, Livestock

Do you have enough cattle feed this winter?

You may have more than you think

By Duane McCartney November 10, 2015

We will always have to face drought. It’s inevitable. This past year is no exception. The biggest question you need to ask yourself as a cow-calf operator is, “DO I HAVE ENOUGH FEED TO GET THROUGH THE WINTER?” You need to take an inventory of your stored feed and then calculate backwards to see how […] Read more

Beef Cattle, Features, Forages

Don’t waste your expensive feed

By Duane McCartney November 3, 2015

This will be a difficult winter for drought-stricken cow-calf producers. It will be essential to make the best use of available feed stocks and look at ways of reducing wastage of this valuable resource. Cows can be very wasteful creatures especially if forages are fed free choice be it dried hay or bale grazing. In […] Read more

New hybrids have expanded corn production but weather is still a limiting factor in the West.

Features, Research

What’s all the fuss about corn on the Prairies?

By Duane McCartney May 7, 2015

What’s the potential for silage and grain corn in Western Canada? That’s the question federal researchers Vern Baron in Lacombe and Karen Beauchemin in Lethbridge are trying to answer with the financial backing of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Beef Cattle Research Council’s Beef Research Cluster. “It is estimated that there is a potential […] Read more

COVID concerns weigh on chicken farmers, processors

U.S. livestock: Live cattle down as slaughter recovers, beef prices sag

U.S. grains: Wheat falls as dollar bounces

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