Pasture Archives | Manitoba Co-operator

Laminitis has been found to be closely related to cresty necks in horses, and can even be predicted by the condition of the neck fat.

The ‘cresty’-necked horse

Horse Health: Neck fat is a valuable barometer of horse health

By Carol Shwetz Dvm September 2, 2020

The observance of a cresty neck in a horse indicates some level of metabolic sickness and reflects more than just a fat horse. Although the fat or obese horse is burdened with a form of metabolic illness, the appearance of a cresty neck signals further metabolic complications along the continuum of diseases associated with obesity.

Ted Unruh demonstrates his automatic fence lifter, which takes the place of a conventional gate.

Livestock

Automatic fence lifter cuts labour on high-density grazing

Ted Unruh’s cattle are on the move four times a day, but the farmer isn’t usually in the field to see it

By Alexis Stockford August 4, 2020

The first time Ted Unruh came across the idea of an automatic fence lifter, it was over social media. Unruh, along with a number of other farmers, had been chatting about a fence lifter that could take the place of a conventional gate, with some suggesting that a water jug could be used as a

Livestock, Markets

Klassen: Feeder cattle market drawing attention

By GFM Network News, Jerry Klassen July 28, 2020

Compared to last week, Western Canadian yearling prices were $2 to $4 higher while calf markets traded $2 to $4 on either side of unchanged. U.S. prices were also up $2 to $4 which lent support to Canadian domestic values. Volumes remain thin across the prairies; many producers are busy with silage operations and pasture

Roads south of Brandon on June 29, 2020 show the evidence of being overtopped by floodwaters the previous day.

News, News & Opinion

PHOTOS: Water over WestMan

By Alexis Stockford July 3, 2020

Based on the 30-year average, Manitoba Agriculture pegs the “climate normal” accumulated precipitation for what are typically the wettest months of the year — May, June and July — at 205 millimetres for the areas around Brandon, Rivers and Minnedosa. In the stretch of 2020 from June 28 into Canada Day, those areas received three

Livestock, Markets

Klassen: Feeder cattle market experiences mixed tone

By GFM Network News, Jerry Klassen June 30, 2020

Compared to last week, western Canadian feeder cattle sold $2 higher to as much as $4 lower. Larger groups of uniform cattle once again carried a premium but the bulk of feeders were small packages of various quality. Buyers were more aggressive on the 700- to 850-lb. weight categories as they target the fed cattle

Livestock, News

Pasture and forage projects get conservation funding nod

Pasture and forage projects were highlighted in the first round of Conservation Trust funding announcements for 2020

By Alexis Stockford June 9, 2020

Manitoba’s forage and pasture organizations will account for major chunks of the first round of 2020 Conservation Trust funding announcements. Why it matters: One project from the Association of Manitoba Community Pastures and three from the Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association make up over $480,000 of the $1.8 million in Conservation Trust funding announced last week. The Association of Manitoba

Pastures have yet to find a spring boost, and as a result, there hasn't been much grass for grazing.

Crops, Forages, Weather

Cool weather slowing pasture growth

Overnight frosts likely didn’t hurt alfalfa stands

By Geralyn Wichers May 22, 2020

Frost and cold weather are delaying hay land and pasture growth this spring — this while some producers with short feed stocks are looking to put cattle out early. On May 13, temperature lows across the province included -8.5 C at Brandon, -8.1 C in Steinbach, and -10.2 C in Dauphin, according to Environment Canada data. “Presently pastures are short and there isn’t

Manitoba Beef Producers president Tom Teichroeb addressed worries on Agricultural Crown Land changes, and what MBP will do about them, during a packed lease holders' meeting in Ste. Rose du Lac Oct. 2, 2019.

News, News & Opinion

Year in Review: Crown lands saga continues

Crown land changes were a hot-button topic for northern ranchers in 2019, but with promised rule changes still incoming, it's not over yet

By Alexis Stockford January 4, 2020

The province’s agricultural Crown lands overhaul went from a simmer to a boil in late 2019 — and northern ranchers are still roiling. Crown lands were gridlocked to start off the year. The province froze all new lease agreements or unit transfers as of fall 2018, after changes to the Crown Lands Act got royal

News

Year in review: Ranchers brace for another short feed winter

It’s a bad case of deja vu for livestock producers facing stressed pastures come 2020

By Alexis Stockford December 27, 2019

Livestock producers were already starting from behind in 2019. Producers were already looking at a feed shortage after drought conditions stuck much of the province in 2018, particularly areas of southwest Manitoba and the Interlake. Most of agricultural Manitoba had qualified for the federal livestock tax deferral program in 2018 — a program that allows

Many pastures had a hard start to the season, and veterinarians warn that open rates might soar as a result.

Beef cattle, Livestock

Poor pastures cast a long shadow, despite recent storms

The province has gotten rain, but poor nutrition could affect the next calving season

By Alexis Stockford July 30, 2019

Veterinarians warn that the dry start to the season may come back to roost when producers start pregnancy checking this fall. Why it matters: Poor winter rations followed by poor pastures may mean a hard calving season next year. Dr. Carl Reesink, of the Fisher Veterinary Clinic in Fisher Branch, says he is worried about

ADM beats profit estimates but revenue disappoints

U.S. livestock: Live cattle futures jump on tightening supplies

U.S. grains: Corn, wheat hit two-week lows on COVID-19 fears

GFM Network News