Sheep &Goat Sales – for Dec. 16, 2010

Interest and demand for sheep and goats remained high at the Dec. 2 sale at Winnipeg Livestock Auction. Bidding was even higher than in November for the 685 sheep and goats that moved through the sale. The demand for ewes was high. The younger ewes sold above the day’s price range, thus creating an upper

Less Predictability Seen In Christmas Clearance Sales

There were still some good numbers of cattle moving through the auction yards in Manitoba, as producers try to clean up marketings ahead of the holiday season shutdown. Values for the cattle marketed held generally steady but did manage to strengthen a bit at some locations. “As we move towards the Christmas and New Year’s


Use Horse Sense When Winter Grazing

Many ranchers who stockpile grass or swaths to feed during the winter months have one great fear: deep, crusted snow that cows can’t punch through. In some areas, such as the northern Rocky Mountains, ranchers have tried driving a tractor or even dragging a field cultivator over the crusted snow to open it up. But

Clock Ticking On Open Sow Housing Decisions

Awatershed in sow housing is coming to Manitoba in the next five years and pork producers are unprepared, says a University of Manitoba swine specialist. Many hog barns will soon have to retool their aging equipment, including gestation stalls, said Laurie Connor, who heads the University of Manitoba’s animal science department. Producers need to decide


Tracking The Bears

Manitoba Natural Resources and the Canadian Park Service commissioned a study in the ’80s to try and discover if bear movements, home ranges and densities were influenced by the placement of hunting baits around the periphery of Riding Mountain National Park (RMNP). With the use of spring-activated cable snares and culvert traps set at various



Flying For 79 Floors

Twice a week,New York Timescolumnist Thomas L. Friedman drives political and economic policy-makers into full rant on topics as opposite as global free trade (he loves it) and national industrial policy (he loves it, too). Kiss him or kick him, Friedman can turn a phrase. A current Friedmanism notes that “If you jump off the

Sales Expected To Turn Down Towards Christmas

Ca t t l e cont inued to be sold at a steady pace at Manitoba auction marts during the week ending November 26, despite a snowstorm that dropped in the neighbourhood of 15 centimetres in many parts of the province. Robin Hill, manager of Heartland Livestock Services in Virden, said volume was close to


Premise ID Mess Drags Down Livestock Traceability

Agovernment -imposed 2011 deadline for livestock traceability in Canada looks increasingly unattainable because of “dysfunctional” premise identification. Provinces are all over the map on premise ID, which pinpoints the locations of livestock farms and is one of the three key elements in livestock traceability. Some provinces are making headway while others have hardly begun. “If

Stall-Free Petition Tops 10,000 Signatures

Bill McDonald hauled a garbage bag half full of paper into the deputy agriculture minister’s office last week to press his case against sow gestation stalls in Manitoba. The bag contained petitions carrying over 10,000 signatures demanding the province pass laws to eliminate the stalls. “We thought it was significant to show the government physically