News Roundup

POLICY B.C. TASK FORCE LACKS FINANCIAL MUSCLE The B.C. provincial task force report on ranching released at the end of last year is long on words but short on cash to help out beleagured ranchers. The report made 45 recommendations to B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell to lighten the regulatory burden on cattle producers. “It was […] Read more

EQUIPMENT A PUSH ’N’ DRIVE OVER GATE Safety is just as much a feature as convenience in Rem’s new Push’N’Drive Over Gate. There’s no climbing in and out of the tractor to open, then close gates to corrals, alleys, lanes and pastures. Just push the gate down with the nose of your tractor or truck […] Read more

MANAGEMENT THINK TWICE BEFORE SHIPPING THIN CULLS With poor pasture conditions and high feed costs this fall, Reynold Bergen, animal health and welfare manager of the Alberta Beef Producers was reminding cattlemen last month to think twice about shipping thin cows to market. He says they may cost you, and the industry, more than they’re […] Read more

TRADE RUSSIA NOW OPEN TO CANADIAN UTM BEEF Canada’s beef trade duo — Stockwell Day and Gerry Ritz — struck again last month when the Russian government finalized agreement on a certificate granting immediate market access to Canadian bone-in beef from animals under 30 months old (UTM). The certificate, which follows through on an agreement […] Read more

FEEDING SASKATCHEWAN FEEDLOTS LOSE A STEP — STUDY Abundant feed, water and space are no longer all it takes to be competitive in the cattle industry. Saskatchewan, for example, has a highly competitive cow-calf sector, but that advantage no longer carries forward into other beef sectors, according to a new report by Informa Economics. The […] Read more

TRADE BARRIERS TO SOUTH KOREAN MARKET EXPLAINED Korean beef producers regard Canadian beef as unnecessary competition in their high-quality grain-fed beef market, and are pressuring their government to maintain the ban on Canadian imports. As a result, Amos Kim, director of the Canada Beef Export Federation operations in Seoul, South Korea, says Canada must be […] Read more

GRADING GRADING AGENCY BOARD REJECTS REGULATORY CHANGE The inconsistant supply of AAA beef and computer vision grading were key topics at the Canadian Beef Grading Agency (CBGA) annual meeting recently. CBGA is the private, non-profit corporation run by an industry-led board of directors that provides beef grading services to packing plants. Grade standards are set […] Read more

HEALTH PFIZER GOLD GOES ON BIXS Pfizer Animal Health has tied its national whole-herd vaccinated Pfizer Gold program to the soon-to-be-released Beef InfoXchange System (BIXS), developed by the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association as part of their Canadian Beef Advantage strategy. BIXS, which began as a pilot project early in 2009, is designed to explore voluntary methods […] Read more

Web-enabled cows? Why not, says Mark Thibodeau, an electrical engineer with Krimar Enterprises at Sackville, Nova Scotia. Krimar recently received a licence to develop Directional Virtual Fencing (DVF) patented by the USDA. Thibodeau says the idea for remote-controlled cows first occurred to him when he happened to drive by a herd grazing in a pasture. […] Read more

When you’re wrapped up in the day-to-day business of farming in rural Canada it’s difficult to believe that less than two per cent of Canadians know how to do what is second nature to you. Turning it around, 98 per cent of Canadians don’t farm and 52 per cent admit they know very little or […] Read more