Hot weather and a stagnant water supply create prime conditions for cyanobacteria to form.

Hot weather increases livestock-poisoning risk

Several advisories were posted in 
North Dakota this month

High temperatures promote the growth of blue-green algae, which can produce harmful toxins. Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, can produce toxins that are harmful to livestock, wildlife and people. This month North Dakota Department of Health has posted blue-green algae advisories for four lakes. In addition, several water samples associated with the death of […] Read more

The grazier’s magic bullet

The grazier’s magic bullet

Grazing with Steve Kenyon

We live in a world of band-aid solutions, symptom solvers and we are all looking for that next magic bullet. Agriculture has become dependent on these quick fixes to address symptoms. If there is an issue in agriculture, such as a pest, a weed, or a parasite, then somewhere in agriculture we have developed a band-aid solution to address the […] Read more


SODCAP provides an annual payment if the habitat targets for specific species are met.

Ranchers rewarded for preserving species at risk on native range

Sask. producers find balance between beef production and nature

Beef producers in southwestern Sask­atchewan are being rewarded for ensuring that species at risk have a home on native pastures. Tom Harrison is a rancher and executive director of the South of the Divide Conservation Action Program Inc. (SODCAP), an organization founded in 2014 to create and maintain habitat for species at risk on native […] Read more

Clerical error threatened water rights of southern Alberta ranchers

Environment: News Roundup from the April 2018 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

Historic water rights became a source of contention for ranchers relying on the Milk River watershed this winter, due to what provincial officials are now calling a bureaucratic error. Last December several ranchers in the Milk River basin received letters from Alberta Environment and Parks (AE&P) cancelling their traditional water rights applications, which were submitted […] Read more


cattle in a feedlot

New supplement results in more beef and less methane

Feeding: News Roundup from the April 2018 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

Beef and dairy farmers around the world are looking for ways to reduce methane emissions from their herds to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To help meet this goal, researchers from Canada and Australia teamed up for a comprehensive three-year study to find the best feeding practices that reduce methane emissions while still supporting profitable dairy […] Read more

David Haywood-Farmer. (We Heart Local BC video screengrab via YouTube)

New chief acclaimed for national cattle producer group

A former president of the B.C. Cattlemen’s Association is the new president of the national cattle producers’ body. David Haywood-Farmer was elected by acclamation as president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association at the group’s annual general meeting last week in Ottawa. Haywood-Farmer, a cow-calf producer at Savona, B.C., about 40 km west of Kamloops, was […] Read more


cattle on a pasture

Grass guys developing a forage carbon offset protocol

Forages: News Roundup from the February 2018 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

Cedric MacLeod considers carbon sequestration through forages and grasslands and the soils they grow in as a long overdue, up-until-now-grossly-underplayed chit that Canada’s grass and forage producers can finally throw down and claim proper ownership on. “Our members grow forage, many run livestock and most plant annual crops too,” says MacLeod, executive director of the […] Read more

Cattle Pond on a Lazy Summer Day

Beef’s shrinking water footprint

Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen

In 2016 I received 10 letters like this: “Dear Dr. Bergen… My name is Emma. I am in 6th grade at Rime Street Elementary. My class found out on vegsource.com that it takes 2,500 litres of water to produce one kilogram of beef. Another site said 25,000 litres… all these different answers are confusing. My […] Read more


I like to see mushrooms in my pastures as that is a sign to me that my mycorrhiza is also functioning. 

Dealing with the mob

Grazing with Steve Kenyon

A healthy soil is an incredibly complex ecosystem that we know very little about. There are millions and millions of interactions that occur within our soils. It is more complex and busier than a bookie in Vegas on fight night. I call this My Secret Underground Black Market and it is controlled by the plants. […] Read more

The Hagan families of Virden, Man., (l to r): Erin, Alistair, Slade and Harley-Mae, Shawne and Jocelyn, Thomas, Rory and Felicity accepting the National Blue-winged Teal Award.

Conservation fits the growth plan for the Hagan family ranches

The Hagan families of Virden, Man., were pleasantly surprised this summer to hear that they had not only been nominated by Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation for the prestigious National Blue-winged Teal Award, but had been chosen by the North American Waterfowl Management Plan Committee as this year’s recipient. The award is presented annually through Environment […] Read more