Swap Your Steak For Bugs And Worms, Scientist Urges

Mealworm quiche, grasshopper springrolls and cuisine made from other creepy crawlies is the answer to the global food crisis, shrinking land and water resources and climate-changing carbon emissions, Dutch scientist Arnold van Huis says. The professor at Wageningen University in the Netherlands said insects have more protein than cattle per bite, cost less to raise,

Good Pig Handling Starts With Understanding Behaviour

Bernie Peet is president of Pork Chain Consulting Ltd. of Lacombe, Alberta, and editor of Western Hog Journal. His columns will run every second week in the Manitoba Co-operator. Effective pig handling for transport starts with understanding the pig’s herd responses and movement patterns, according to Nancy Lidster, an animal-handling specialist based in White Fox,


It’s Often A Puzzle When A Cow Goes Down

Downer cows have been a concern for farmers and veterinarians almost since the beginning of time. Typically, a downer cow surprises the farmer. Often a perfectly healthy cow with no presenting history is suddenly found down and unable to rise. Because cattle, especially mature ones, are such heavy beasts, several complications can ensue, even when

Stealthy Storm

At midnight it stalks its victim like a white Persian cat on silent paws, pouncing with surprising speed. The landscape has just fallen prey to a fresh snowfall.


Cache Valley Virus May Have Affected North Dakota Sheep

The Cache Valley virus may have been responsible for recent abortions in sheep in central North Dakota. “Preliminary laboratory investigation implicates the Cache Valley virus,” says Neil Dyer, director of North Dakota State University’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. Determining whether Cache Valley was the cause of the abortions is difficult because the virus is not viable



Manitoba Live Cattle Exported To Kazakhstan

Cattle are returning to the wide-open steppes of the former Soviet Union, and some of them are coming from the wide-open Canadian prairie. Ron Batho and Albert Rimke, purebred breeders from Oak Lake, recently sold 20 bred Hereford yearling heifers that were part of a recent shipment that were mustered from local ranches, packed into

Nose Clips Reduce Weaning Stress

How do you know it’s weaning time in ranching country? That’s easy. It’s the only time of the year that the bawling of cows and weaned calves is loud enough to drown out the howling coyotes. But what’s music to the ears of the ranchers anticipating the arrival of their annual paycheque is actually the


CFIA Testing For Scrapie

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is urging sheep and goat producers to submit suspicious cases for scrapie testing as the number of confirmed cases in Canada is up to a level not seen since 2003. Eleven sheep flocks were confirmed to have seen cases of the reportable disease as of Nov. 30, up from six

Sheep &Goat Market Report

There were 439 sheep and goats for the last sale of the year at the Winnipeg Livestock Auction, on Dec. 16, 2010. The selection was good and the buyers were ready, as the producers had provided the animals for the holiday season. The selection of ewes was good, creating two price ranges at this sale.