On the second floor of the Queensbury Convention Centre at Agribition, the Grain Expo takes place every year. Around the edge of the room, booths are set up, surrounding the tables attendees sit at. Everyone sits watching the panel of producers walking onto the brightly lit stage. Steve Sanden and his son, Josh Sanden, are […] Read more
Most farms lack a succession plan
While formal succession plans were rare for previous generations, the next generation of farmers and ranchers is pushing for them
Canada Beef highlights beef nutrition with new resource
Canada Beef has just come out with a new resource on their website about the nutrition of beef. But instead of focusing on the general public, they aim to inform cattle producers. “It just kind of came about as part of some conversations with producers, and kind of an awareness that they don’t always get […] Read more
Guardians of the Grasslands team extends education with virtual game
The Guardians of the Grasslands documentary swept many Canadian film awards in 2019 and 2020, educating countless Canadians on the good cattle do for native grasslands. Now, the team behind the documentary is keeping that education going with a Guardians of the Grasslands virtual game, intended to teach youth about grazing and the effect cattle […] Read more
Kansas professor highlights role of genetics in the sustainable cow herd
Breeding and selecting beef cattle that fit an operation’s environment benefits a producer’s bottom line and scores sustainability points
Bob Weaber’s work on cattle genetics is for the producer, and so it’s for him, as well. Growing up, his family raised mostly commercial cattle but also got involved in the Junior Hereford Association in the U.S., where he got interested in seedstock, which was further piqued when he went to university. Now, Weaber operates […] Read more
Alberta author busts myths about history of women in ranching
Rachel Herbert mined her own family’s ranching legacy to document the roles women played in establishing and sustaining family ranches
When Rachel Herbert thinks about ranching, she thinks about all the women who came before her. She thinks of her great-grandmother, pulling the ranch through the Great Depression after her husband’s death. She thinks of her grandmother, who raised her family on the ranch, and her own mother, who found her way back to it […] Read more
Succession support: Talking with peers helps producers in transition
Whether it’s a formal peer group or an informal network, producers in the middle of succession planning are connecting with each other
For Andrea van Iterson, discussing succession planning with her peers from her time in the Canadian Cattle Young Leaders Program is like therapy. “It’s kind of like mental health. The more we have conversations about it, the less stigma there is about talking about it.” Van Iterson lives and ranches near Westwold, B.C., where her […] Read more
Wearable tech for cattle?
Researchers at the University of Calgary are looking into how collars on cattle might yield information to help producers improve bull performance and keep calves healthy
Efficiency is the name of the game in agriculture these days, with a need to find the best ways to increase the capacity of a producer’s operation. Open any agriculture newspaper or browser, and you’ll likely see a story laying out all the details of a new type of agricultural technology. At the University of […] Read more
Researcher evaluates benefits and risks of virtual fencing for cattle
A University of Alberta grad student ran a two-year study to see how NoFence works in the pasture
Interest in virtual fencing in cattle production is spiking as technology becomes more common in the beef sector. With so many different brands of virtual fencing offering so many different things, the question is whether virtual fencing is better than what has been done for decades. Alexandra Harland, a master’s student at the University of […] Read more
Island Pastures Beef provides opportunity to Vancouver Island ranchers
When seedstock producer Brad Chappell started Island Pastures Beef over 15 years ago, it was because he saw a need for the island’s ranchers. At the time, Chappell, who lives in the Comox Valley, realized many ranchers on Vancouver Island couldn’t purchase breeding stock at market price from the mainland because of the B.C. ferry […] Read more
Vence virtual fence pilot starts in Saskatchewan
"We're going to just do whatever the tech is going to allow us to do."
Golden light shines through the window into Mosaic Stadium’s Harvard Lounge and onto the stage, but as John and Deanne Chuiko take the stage, the light settles on the horizon and a winter prairie night spreads through the sky. Outside, people bustle in and out of the REAL District as Agribition rages. John and Deanne […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
