Halley Adams, Lynn Thiessen and Meaghan Nawrot have many things in common, but the most prevalent one is their passion for cattle. As students at the University of Calgary’s faculty of veterinary medicine, that is an important priority. It has brought them together from across the world to Calgary, Alta., to pursue this passion. Adams […] Read more
Tips for monitoring newborn beef calves
Whether the calf was pulled or born without intervention, this resource can help you decide what to do next
“Burger it Forward” sees growth in year two
When the beef industry expressed interest in a tangible way to give back to local communities, Canada Beef stepped up to the challenge. February 2024 marked the second year of their annual “Burger it Forward” initiative, where participating restaurants across Canada offer feature burgers. For every burger purchased, Canada Beef donates the equivalent of one […] Read more
Beef shows work to rebuild volunteer base post-COVID
The pandemic and demographic shifts in volunteering mean cattle shows are actively recruiting new volunteers to rebuild their base
Walking through the doors to Canadian Western Agribition, smells mingle in the hallways: mini donuts, smoked meat and those of a bovine nature, wafting out of the cattle barns. In the barns, producers bustle. People are clipping and brushing cattle in chutes. In the corner at the bar, people walk towards their booths with Caesars […] Read more
Canadian company offers new tech to identify illness and minimize labour
This Calgary-based company wants to bring technology to the ranch that cuts labour and costs, while improving animal health
Jack Behan combined his company, Alpha Phenomics, with HerdWhistle in 2023, for a clear reason. “When we put the businesses together, we only had one thing in mind, which was global domination,” he says. HerdWhistle was started in 2019 to monitor the feeding and drinking of an entire feedlot, 24/7. Using ultra high-frequency (UHF) and […] 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
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
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
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
