An ounce of prevention is still worth a pound of cure, provincial extension vet Dr. Wayne Tomlinson told producers during a Beef and Forage Week seminar in Teulon. Vaccinations and proper colostrum uptake don’t just give calves a good start, but also keep them healthy into adulthood and the feedlot as well, he said. “Without
Colostrum boosts the health of cattle throughout their lifetime
Survey shows good help really is hard to find in farm sector
Good help is hard to find. As the number of farms in Canada decrease and remaining farms grow larger, producers need to look at new methods of recruiting employees, Debra Hauer of the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council told attendees at Keystone Agricultural Producers annual general meeting. A survey done by the organization found farm
Researcher says blaming farmers for phosphorus in Lake Winnipeg is overly simplistic
Recent flooding has driven Lake Winnipeg’s already high nutrient levels even higher, says Michael Stainton of Freshwater Institute, Fisheries and Oceans Canada. “I think we’ve demonstrated that the major change we’re seeing in the lake is driven by changes in the flow of the Red River,” Stainton told hog producers at the 2012 Swine Seminar
Farm succession connections
Good farm succession planning and environmental stewardship may not seem joined at the hip, but Jeremy Funk of the Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba is examining a possible connection. The fifth-year PhD student is in the process of surveying farmers about their succession plans in an effort to explore the relationship
Farmers get marketing “wake-up call”
The open market is coming and wheat farmers have a lot to learn in a hurry, marketing experts told farmers attending Ag Days in Brandon. While seminar speakers filled farmers in on the ins and outs of what is expected to be a new era for grain marketing in Western Canada, representatives of the now
Top-up available for EMI coverage
The province has announced an Excess Moisture Insurance (EMI) top-up of $15 per acre, providing coverage of up to $80 per acre for land too wet to seed by June 20. Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives Minister Ron Kostyshyn made the announcement at Ag Days in Brandon. “We can’t afford to jeopardize the economic
The devil is in the details when tracking farm finances and creating forecasts
It’s the details that make for accurate budgeting and forecasting on your farm operation, just as in any business, says Kevin Gamble of BDO Dunwoody in Portage la Prairie. “First you need to stop and think about what kind of information you need for your production, and start from there,” he told producers at Ag
Manitoba agriculture minister supports the return of CWB assets to producers
If Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) assets are sold, the money should be returned to producers, says Ron Kostyshyn, the province’s newly minted minister of agriculture, food and rural initiatives. “The sacrifice of two cents on a bushel of wheat, historically… was put into some type of investment for the betterment of grain transportation,” he told
Market steady, but uncertainty ahead
Commodity prices may have peaked in 2011, ProFarmer analyst Mike Jubinville told farmers attending the St. Jean Farm Days. “My gut feeling right now is that the heights have already come in,” Jubinville told producers. “It’s not that I’m feeling bearish about the marketplace going into 2012, personally I think that there is going to
Lowering somatic cell counts
Like the Hollywood blobs of movies past, somatic cells roll across the screen and envelope bacteria before killing them. For dairy producers, like those in the audience at the recent Manitoba Dairy Conference, somatic cells are often seen as the villains – after all, a high somatic cell count is the primary indicator of mastitis.
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