
Tag Archives Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Canadian beef yield grade standards change in January
Grade: News Roundup from the January 2019 issue of Canadian Cattlemen
*[UPDATED: Jan. 15, 2018] Canadian beef yield grade standards were updated in the new year to match those south of the 49th parallel. The Canadian Beef Grading Agency announced that the three yield grades of the Canadian beef grading standards will be replaced in January 2019 with five yield grades. The quality grades will remain […] Read more

Does antibiotic resistance move through the environment?
Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen
Recent columns have talked about antibiotic use in Canadian cow-calf and feedlot operations. Contrary to common misperceptions, antibiotic-resistant bacteria are very unlikely to transfer from cattle to beef, evade food safety interventions in the processing plant, survive cooking, and cause an antibiotic-resistant infection in a person. But can antibiotic-resistant bacteria be transmitted from cattle, through […] Read more

Balancing your nutrients will pay off
Research looked at improving the economic and feed efficiency for beef cattle
Dr. Hushton Block, beef cattle nutritionist previously at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Brandon Research Centre and now currently at Lacombe, is interested in finding ways of improving the economic and feed efficiency for beef cattle. One idea Block looked at deals with how beef cattle with better (lower) residual feed intake (RFI) react with […] Read more

Agriculture Canada ups canola carryout forecast sharply
Winnipeg | CNS Canada – Canadian canola carryout stocks at the end of the current marketing year (2018/19) will be considerably larger than an earlier estimate, according to updated supply/demand tables from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, released on Oct. 19, 2018. Agriculture Canada’s market analysis branch forecast canola ending stocks for 2018/19 at 2.500 million […] Read more

What we learned from the Canada Beef Quality Audit
Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen
Canada’s fourth Beef Quality Audit was completed in March 2018, following previous audits in 1995, 1998 and 2010-11. The carcass audit measured the incidence and economic costs of avoidable defects in Canadian slaughter cattle and beef and identified opportunities to avoid these losses. What they did: Mark Klassen, Joyce van Donkersgoed and a team of […] Read more

Better tools needed to keep unfit cattle off the truck
Research: News Roundup from the August 2018 issue of Canadian Cattlemen
Researchers have found that improving guidelines for identifying compromised and unfit cattle prior to transport could help lower the number of these animals being transported. A study by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) on the prevalence of compromised and unfit cattle coming into Alberta auction markets and abattoirs has found that while most of these […] Read more

Pulse prices feel pressure from rising ending stocks
CNS Canada – Increasing pulse ending stocks are going to continue to play into pulse crop prices in Canada, according to the latest update from Farm Credit Canada’s (FCC) ag economics team. “We’re still expected to see ending stocks increasing. So as we continue to see that ending stocks increase, that stock-to-use-ratio that we’d see […] Read more
To tackle a plant pathogen, get the ID right first
Forages: News Roundup from the May 2018 issue of Canadian Cattlemen
With more advanced equipment and technology, experts like Dr. Sarah Hambleton from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) continue to refine our understanding of different plants and fungi. A recent case in point occurred when Hambleton, whose specialty is identifying fungi, and in particular rust, was sent a sample of contaminated switchgrass from Ontario to identify […] Read more

Beef quality takes a slight bruising
Audit reveals an increase in overall consumer satisfaction with retail beef steaks
The latest National Beef Quality Audit shows that while consumer satisfaction remains high, the Canadian beef industry can make improvements related to carcass quality. Mark Klassen, director of technical services for the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, presented an overview of the audit in a webinar hosted by the Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC). The audit was […] Read more

Alberta Cattle Feeders approve New Era agreement
Associations: News Roundup from the April 2018 issue of Canadian Cattlemen
The Alberta Cattle Feeders’ Association will partner with Alberta Beef Producers (ABP) on a proposed new breakdown of the provincial producer check-off, with negotiations to continue throughout 2018. This proposal, known as the New Era Beef Industry (NEBI) agreement, was one of the main issues discussed at the ACFA’s recent annual general meeting held in […] Read more