Cattle eating hay during the winter

Now is the time to beef up the cow herd

Make sure cows are at their optimum body condition score at calving and keep it going for the rest of the year

Make sure cows are at their optimum body condition score at calving and keep it going 
for the rest of the year

If your spring-calving beef herd is on the thin side, now is the time to get them back into proper condition before calving season, says a long-time western Canadian livestock nutritionist. Cows in less-than-optimum body condition at calving will not only raise calves with poor performance but it also increases the risk of the cows […] Read more

One of Klopatek’s projects while attending the University of California, Davis, was to ask U.S. ranchers “What does sustainable ranching mean to you?” She put the responses together in this word cloud in the shape of cow, with the size of type reflecting how often the word was used. Her full report is: Klopatek, Sarah C., et al. 321 Rancher Motivations for Joining Sustainability Programs. Journal of Animal Science 101.Supplement_3 (2023): 253-254.

Sustainability in the beef sector is a ‘big picture’ topic

Resilient beef production benefits the environment along with the economic fabric of the country, says the chief livestock scientist for JBS

Some of Sarah Klopatek’s first recollections of being connected to science and the land was at the age of five, helping her parents, who were soil scientists, collect soil samples from U.S. rangeland. “They had research projects and field work every summer out in native grasslands and took me along,” says Klopatek, who is today […] Read more



Dean and Catherine Manning of Falmouth, Nova Scotia are the Maritime Beef Council 2021 nominee for the Canadian Cattleman's Association Environmental Stewardship Award (TESA).

TESA 25: Nova Scotia’s Manning family receives national award

Update: Since this story was posted, Dean and Catherine Manning were named national winners of the Environmental Stewardship Award (TESA) at the Canadian Beef Industry Conference. Congratulations to the Mannings as well as the other nominees, and thank you for all your good work. This story was originally published by the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and […] Read more


Winter grazing at Triple V Ranch in Manitoba.

TESA 25: Triple V Ranch believes in being in tune with nature

The Environmental Stewardship Award (TESA) celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Since 1996, TESA has been recognizing beef producers from across the country who go above and beyond standard conservation practices to care for their land and environment. Each year, producers are recognized at the regional level. A national TESA winner is then chosen from […] Read more

Bart Lardner.

Get cows and heifers ready for winter now

No matter your feeding system, have your breeding 
animals in good condition before the snow flies

If cows and heifers aren’t there already, there is a short window to get them into a proper body condition for winter. If you have skinny or poor condition cows heading into winter, that December to March period is probably one of the toughest and most expensive times to try to get them back into […] Read more


Ross Macdonald  uses condition scoring as a tool for selecting  females suited to conditions on his  south Saskatchewan ranch.

Producers pay attention to body condition

Everyone views it a bit differently, but manage 
for the proper body condition for their operation

Beef producers across Canada appreciate the benefits of keeping cows and heifers and even feeder cattle in good condition, particularly over winter, for a variety of production and economic reasons. With cold temperatures and winter rations it can take a lot of feed to improve animal condition over the winter feeding period, so many aim […] Read more

Brothers Tony and Joe Perlich (above) stand beside the first scale they used as they were about to open their livestock auction service near Lethbridge in August 1967.

Perlich Auction is 50 years young

Selling livestock is their business, but five decades later their success is built on a foundation of well-taught human values, a passion for the industry and respect for proper animal care

When the second generation to own and manage Perlich Bros. Auction took over the reigns of a well-established southern Alberta livestock auction service their timing couldn’t have been much worse. A few months after buying the business from their aunt in late 2002, BSE hit Alberta and the world livestock industry, recalls Maureen Perlich, who […] Read more


Cows in a holding pen

Things I learned from auctioneers

Lee Hart gets an education from the Livestock Markets Association of Canada

Find me a microphone, a gavel, a cowboy hat and an unwanted emu and I might just become an auctioneer (The emu? Well, a person has to start somewhere.) This is my plan after recently being exposed to a major learning experience during the annual convention of the Livestock Markets Association of Canada (LMAC). This […] Read more

So long AIM — it was another good run

So long AIM — it was another good run

It’s all over now except for the crying, folks. Ag In Motion (AIM) 2017 is history. And really the only crying that might be done, is by the dedicated volunteers and employees of the show who stay on the AIM grounds near Langham, SK for another 10 days to two weeks to clean up and […] Read more