(Dave Bedard photo)

StatsCan sees higher cattle, hog inventories at July 1

Full impacts of West's drought not yet counted

Nationwide head counts of livestock from the “early stages” of Western Canada’s ongoing drought won’t yet show the weather’s full impact, but showed slightly larger herds heading into this summer compared to last year. Statistics Canada on Monday reported the first year-over-year increase in the size of the country’s cattle herd as of July 1

A 3-D illustration of Bacillus anthracis bacteria. (Dr_Microbe/iStock/Getty Images)

Anthrax kills southeastern Saskatchewan sheep

Spores forced up by changes in soil moisture

Dramatic shifts in soil moisture are again bringing anthrax spores to the surface on the Prairies, this time in a southeastern Saskatchewan sheep pasture. Lab results on Wednesday confirmed anthrax as the cause of death of one animal in a flock of sheep in the R.M. of South Qu’Appelle, about 50 km east of Regina,


Fleece in frame: Taking a look behind the clippers on a sheep farm

Fleece in frame: Taking a look behind the clippers on a sheep farm

Photographer Phil Hossack captures a staple skill for any sheep producer — shearing

Sheep-shearing season has a special historical note on the farm of Wayne and Marie McDonald, just a little north and west of Cartwright in southwestern Manitoba. It is, after all, how they met. Marie McDonald’s family had got into sheep when she was a teenager, leading her to take a job as a sheep shearer and spending

Anna Hunter demonstrates how to skirt a fleece.

‘Field schools’ teach fibre enthusiasts textile skills

Most people completely disconnected from the origin of their clothing, says Ste. Genevieve sheep farmer

A Manitoba sheep farm is hosting field schools to teach fibre aficionados wool and textile production skills and to connect people with the sources of their clothing. “If we can look at how we are consuming clothes and textiles in the same way that we look at how we’re consuming food, I think we’ll realize we have a huge opportunity


China to crack down on use of leanness enhancers in cattle and sheep

China to crack down on use of leanness enhancers in cattle and sheep

Reuters – China’s Agriculture Ministry said March 19 it will crack down on the use of leanness-enhancing agents in farm animals to guarantee the quality and safety of livestock products. The three-month drive will focus on the use of the banned substance clenbuterol in cattle and sheep, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said

Lamb producers say ewe nutritional needs vary so greatly depending on the number of lambs being carried that producers need reliable and affordable access to ultrasound services.

Sheep producers push for relaxed ultrasound tech rules

Currently, only vets can provide ultrasound preg checking on a flock that isn’t theirs or their employer’s

Sheep producers want access to contract services for ultrasound preg checking, something they currently have to invest in on their own, or arrange through a veterinarian visit. Manitoba Sheep chair Morgan Moore says making room for contracted ultrasound preg checks, from technicians accredited under an incoming Canadian Sheep Federation framework, would fill a critical gap


Several recent cases of stillborn and aborted sheep fetuses have been linked to Cache Valley Virus. Mosquito-borne viruses are difficult to avoid, but one option is to alter the breeding schedule so that sheep are not in the early pregnancy period during the high-risk mosquito season.

Manitoba sheep producers ride market wave

Lamb and sheep prices are giving producers plenty of reason to smile

Manitoba’s sheep producers have a lot to be happy about when it comes to marketing their animals. The sector is enjoying some of the highest meat prices in recent memory. Why it matters: Like hogs and cattle, sheep producers say their markets have been hugely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but in a very different

Graham Rannie checks over a full body of spring-sheared wool.

Binscarth sheep producers take farming from hobby to full-time job

Graham Rannie and Janice Johnstone have been raising sheep for years

The Parkland region of the province takes pride in the quality of its grains and livestock, says a Binscarth sheep producer. Graham Rannie, along with wife Janice Johnstone, raise commercial and purebred sheep which they’ve sold to producers across Canada. Up until last July, shepherding was a hobby for Rannie, who worked at the Mosaic


File photo of sheep grazing near a marijuana crop in Afghanistan’s Balkh province, north of Kabul, on Sept. 24, 2007. (Photo: Reuters/Ahmad Masood)

Blast kills at least 23 at Afghanistan livestock market

Area shelled in clashes between government forces, Taliban

Kabul | Reuters — At least 23 civilians were killed in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province and dozens were wounded when rockets hit a cattle market on Monday, Afghan government and Taliban officials said. The warring sides blamed each other for the attack on the open-air weekly cattle market in Sangin district, where hundreds of villagers

Uruguayan sheep shearer Federico Ventura catches a sheep to shear it in Villafale, Spain on June 17, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Juan Medina)

Uruguayan shearers flown in to relieve sweltering Spanish sheep

Expert shearers authorized to enter country amid COVID-19 pandemic

Villafale, Spain | Reuters — Brought to Spain on a special flight amid the coronavirus lockdown, some 250 Uruguayan sheep shearers race against time to shear millions of Spanish sheep as sweltering summer temperatures hit. The Uruguayan shearers come to Spain every year, where farmers value them for their skills, their speed and particular care