CCT121008

GRADING SHIFTS AND WHAT THEY MEAN • GOOD NEWS ON TRANS FATS • PRUDENT ANTIMICROBIAL USE

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October 2012 $3.00

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YOUR CATTLE

Robert Krentz, Steinbach, Man.

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October 2012

Volume 75, No. 10

Established 1938 ISSN 1196-8923 Cattlemen Editorial: Editor: Gren Winslow 1666 Dublin Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3H 0H1 (204) 944-5753 Fax (204) 944-5416 Email: gren@fbcpublishing.com Field Editor: Debbie Furber Box 1168, Tisdale, SK S0E 1T0 (306) 873-4360 Fax (306) 873-4360 Email: debbie.furber@fbcpublishing.com

Youth education is my main business............................. 10

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He bomb-proofs his cattle.............................................. 12

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FEATURES

Grading shifts and what they mean.............................. 16 Producers weigh in on animal welfare. ........................ 20 Prudent antimicrobial usage guidelines. ...................... 24 Good news on natural trans fats................................. 30 Preg testing — just do it............................................... 32 Verified beef production................................................ 37 Departments

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COMMENT............................................... 4 NEWSMAKERS......................................... 6 NUTRITION............................................ 26 HOLISTIC RANCHING.............................. 28 VET ADVICE.......................................... 34 RESEARCH............................................ 36 CCA REPORTS...................................... 38 STRAIGHT FROM THE HIP...................... 39 PRIME CUTS......................................... 40 NEWS ROUNDUP................................... 41 PURELY PUREBRED............................... 46 THE MARKETS...................................... 49 MARKET TALK....................................... 51 SALES & EVENTS.................................. 52

“Congratulations to our October sur vey winner, Joan McKinley, Northampton, N.B.”

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Cattlemen / october 2012 3

c o m m e n t

by Gren Winslow

CAPI report destined for the shelf

Too few want to change

T

he Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI) did a very good job of summing up the pitfalls facing the beef industry in its Canada’s Beef Food System report released last month. It even suggests some ideas for the industry to develop a “robust, long-term strategy” to “secure its place as a competitive force in domestic and global markets.”

Powerful stuff.

But it’s not too likely anyone will pay much attention to it.

That is not CAPI’s fault. This non-partisan think-tank was set up by the federal government to help politicians and industry leaders take a long-term look at issues facing their sector. So it did its job.

CAPI staffers interviewed virtually every organization and quite a few big players in the business between September last year and this March before they sat down to write their report. If nothing else, they helped place some of these issues before the public and the policy wonks in Ottawa.

In essence they came up with three key questions.

1. Is the beef industry positioned to take advantage of Ottawa’s efforts to open up foreign markets to our beef?

The short answer is no, largely because we are still tightly bound to the U.S. Some 85 per cent of our beef and cattle exports still go to the U.S., and increasingly the value of that trade is swinging in favour of the U.S. Increasing exports would also require having the supplies to sell. But our cow herd has declined by a million head or 20 per cent since 2005. If we want to export more, the choices are raise more cows, or ship less to the U.S. That leads us to the next issue.

2. W hat is the industry doing to regain a greater share of the Canadian beef market?

Again, the answer is not much. In 2002 Canada had a net trade balance in beef with the U.S. of $1.4 billion. In 2011 it was $42 million. On top of that the unit value of our exports to the U.S. are only about 60 per cent of the value of the beef we import from the U.S. Instead of vigorously expanding our own export trade we are helping fuel the growth of U.S. exports. From 2005 to 2011 U.S. beef exports were up 280 per cent in value and 159 per cent in tonnage. In part that success is due to their imports of Canadian cattle and beef. Canada’s exports beyond the U.S. at the same time were up

4 Cattlemen / October 2012

45 per cent in value, and 13 per cent in tonnage.

Compared to 2002, before BSE, our non-U.S. exports are down 3.5 per cent while U.S. sales beyond Canada, which happens to be one of the biggest buyers of U.S. beef, were up 51 per cent.

The numbers suggest Canada is at risk of becoming a net importer of beef and the report asks, what are we going to do about it?

3. T he third issue ties in with the need to look for exports outside the U.S. That is the decline in beef consumption in Canada and most developed countries. At the same time meat consumption is increasing in the developing world, but poultry seems to be cashing in the most on this demand.

None of this is new to anyone in the beef industry who has been paying attention. But when CAPI researchers started asking people in the industry what should be done to address these issues the reply was something like a hopeless shrug.

Many suggested it was time for a change but gave little impression that anything would be done — there are too many voices speaking for the sector. Melted down the interviewers heard the message that there is a need for leadership, a consistent strategy on the way forward and the need for better collaboration between all players involved in the beef business.

In response the report made three suggestions: Any strategy must focus on how best to compete by taking advantage of competitive advantages.

The sophisticated use of information provided by our national identification program could be a case in point. If we follow through to create a system that moves information up and down the supply chain benefiting producers, processors and consumers, the report suggests that could be the basis to sustain a competitive advantage.

If collaboration is lacking perhaps the government should tie its support to the industry to the development of a robust industrial strategy.

As for a lack of leadership, “the sector needs to consider whether there should be a national organization with the mandate and the financial means to articulate and support an overall domestic and international strategy.”

In the end, as the report admits, “it is the conviction and confidence of key stakeholders to drive change that will ensure success.”

And that’s why I’m quite sure most people will ignore this study. They still don’t see why they should change. www.canadiancattlemen.ca

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17/08/12 1:40 PM

NEWSMAKERS Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz has created an agri-innovators national advisory body to provide expert advice to the government on ag research and development. Travis Toews, the past-president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association co-chairs the group with Suzanne Vinet, the federal deputy minister of agriculture. The remaining members represent Travis Toews the grain, hog, dairy, chicken and processing sectors.

Lauren Stone has left her position as policy analyst for the Manitoba Beef Producers to work for the Manitoba Conservative Party. She worked for the beef producers for three years.

Doug Fee, the retired CEO of the Canadian Angus Association has agreed to become the interim executive vice-president of the Canadian Beef Breeds Council while it grinds Doug Fee through a lengthy review of its governance model under the direction of Agriteam Canada Consulting. The goal is to come up with a new structure that will make the council more effective as the national representative of all cattle breed associations and more responsive to its purebred members. The previous executive vicepresident Brett Campbell was let go in March of this year.

We were saddened to hear of the passing of Harald Gunderson of Calgary at 83 years of age on August 29 in Calgary. During his long career in publishing he was the editor of the B OW I SLAND G RAPHIC , a journalist with the MEDICINE HAT NEWS, THE ALBERTAN and THE CALGARY HERALD. Among cattle producers he was better known as the founding publisher of THE LIMOUSIN LEADER and WORLD OF BEEF. He also started the CANADIAN FUNERAL NEWS, NETWORK magazine, CANADIAN EMERGENCY SERVICES NEWS, and was publisher/editor of GUNDER6 CATTLEMEN / OCTOBER 2012

SON F UNERAL J OURNAL . Outside of work he served as a trustee and chair of the Calgary Board of Education; president of the Alberta School Board Association and VP of the Canadian School Board Association.

Mitchell Agronomy Feed Mill in Mitchell and plans to turn it into the hub of its company’s rapidly growing organic business. The Mitchell mill will be organic certified as soon as it is operational.

Norm Letnick, a Kelowna businessman and former city councillor, was named British Columbia’s latest minister of agriculture in another cabinet shuffle by Premier Christy Clark last month. Former ag minister, Comox Valley MLA Don McRae, was moved to the education portfolio. Letnick is also an instructor in the business program at Okanagan College. He has a bachelor of commerce degree from the University of Calgary and an MBA from Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh, and is working toward a PhD in health economics at UBC Okanagan.

Here’s a reminder to our Saskatchewan readers. The deadline for claiming a 50 per cent rebate on the cost of approved products for the control of gophers is Nov. 30. Rebates cover purchases from Oct. 1, 2011 to Oct. 1, 2012. The list of approved products covers two per cent strychnine now that it has received permanent registration for the control of gophers.

Applications are available at RM and provincial ag offices or online at www. agriculture.gov.sk.ca/gopher-rebate.

The drop-off in government funding is forcing some major changes on the Manitoba Forage Council. The first outward sign was the resignation of the executive director Brent McCannell at the end of August. Communications manager, Corie Arbuckle has stepped in as interim executive director at a time when the volunteer board of directors is trying to recast the role of the MFC to raise more income from projects and partnering with industry.

At a traditional transfer ceremony in Calgary last month, Amber Big Plume, from Tsuu T’ina Nation, was crowned the 2013 Calgary Stampede Indian Princess by Amelia Crowshoe, 2012 Centennial Indian Princess in Calgary last month.

The Canadian Agricultural Safety Association (CASA) is accepting applications from charitable and non-profit organizations that could use some of the $100,000 put up in each of the last three years by Farm Credit Canada to deliver farm safety training programs in their communities. Local or provincial projects are eligible for $10,000 while national programs can apply for a maximum $25,000. Projects must be completed by December 2014. More details are available online at: www. casa-acsa.ca/fcc-ag-safety-fund.

Jones Feed Mills Ltd. of Linwood, Ont., has purchased the FS Partners

Ottawa is offering tax deferrals on seedstock sales to producers in drought-affected municipalities of Ontario and Quebec. Producers who sold at least 15 per cent of their breeding herd can defer 30 per cent of the income from net sales on their 2012 tax return. When a herd is reduced by more than 30 per cent, 90 per cent of the income can be deferred. Details are online at www.agr.gc.ca/drought.

Greg Penner, an assistant professor in ruminant nutrition at the University of Saskatchewan, received the Canadian Society of Animal Science Outstanding Young Scientist award at the joint Canadian-American Animal Science meeting in July. Dr. Penner has published 27 peer-reviewed papers, 45 abstracts, more than 15 conference proceedings and been nominated by students for two teaching awards.

The Saskatoon Colostrum Company Ltd. made the short list of finalists for the Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership (STEP) Exporter of the Year Award for 2012. It is the only company in Canada that manufactures dried bovine colostrum and is something of an offshoot of the University of Saskatchewan since it was started by a couple of U or S researchers and the early development work was done there. The award acknowledges STEP members for their success in tackling world markets. The final winner was to be announced after our press date for this issue.

C www.canadiancattlemen.ca

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doIng moRE. usIng lEss.

A series on being ready for the farming challenges ahead

Efficiency — producing more food from the same land base A UK Government report says dramatic improvements are possible using existing technology

I

problem clear. “Without change, the global food system will continue to degrade the environment and compromise the world’s capacity to produce food in the future, as well as contributing to climate change and the destruction of biodiversity. There are widespread problems with soil loss due to erosion, loss of soil fertility, salination and other forms of degradation; rates of water extraction for irrigation are exceeding rates of replenishment in many places; over-fishing is a widespread concern; and there is heavy reliance on fossil fuel-derived energy for synthesis of nitrogen fertilizers and pesticides,” they say in the introduction.

However, the report’s authors do not only lay out problems — they also lay out solutions for increasing the efficiency of production on the current land base. While the report makes a strong case for research, including into appropriate use of new variety-development

t’s said so often that it’s a cliché, but that doesn’t make it any less valid.

When it comes to land, “They just aren’t making any more.”

In other words, to feed an evergrowing demand for food and fuel, we need to become more efficient, growing more food on the same land base.

But to simply say “They aren’t making any more” understates the problem, which is that much of the land used for crop production should never have been opened to cultivation, at least of the conventional type, or should have been left in its natural state or used for livestock production.

In 2011, the UK Government Office For Science issued a major report titled “The Future of Food and Farming: Challenges and choices for global sustainability.” While preventing a blueprint for solutions to the challenge, the report’s authors make the

Percentage change (of total agricultural and forest/wood area) in forest/wood and agricultural areas from 1990 to 2007, globally and in different world regions Global Nor th America Latin America & Caribbean Europe Africa Asia Oceania European Union Former Soviet Union Northw estern Europe UK sub-Saharan Africa Nile catchment China India Brazil -20

-10

0

Forest and wood %

10

20

30

Agricultural land %

Since 1990, world area for food production has increased by only three per cent, with some of that coming from forest that should have been left intact.

Source: DR7B. Data sourced from FAOSTAT (2010)

caseih.com

40

technologies, it points out that significant improvements are possible by applying existing knowledge and technology. It says this could double or triple yields in many parts of Africa and double them in the former Soviet Union.

That’s simple in principle, but less so in practice. The report suggests these steps: • Revitalizing extension services to increase the skills and knowledge base of food producers (often women).

• Improving the functioning of markets and providing market access, particularly in low-income countries.

• Strengthening rights to land and natural resources such as water, fisheries and forests.

• Improved infrastructure, such as roads, railways, ports, storage and communication.

Reducing waste Another way of improving efficiency in agriculture is simply to make better use of what is already being produced.

In low-income countries, waste is greatest before it reaches the consumer due to insect and mould damage from inadequate harvest and storage methods, as well as poor marketing systems. In developed economies, waste results from rejection of “nonpremium” but otherwise nutritious produce, and because large amounts are simply thrown away in homes and restaurants.

The Science Office report says estimates of the amount of food wasted before or after it reaches the consumer range from 30 per cent to as high as 50 per cent. It says that halving waste of 30 per cent by 2050 would increase food availability by the equivalent of 25 per cent of today’s production.

In summary, increasing agricultural efficiency is a big challenge, but the good news is that if applied properly, we already have the means to meet it.

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MANAGEMENT

YOUTH EDUCATION IS MY MAIN BUSINESS

I

was seven years old. I can still see my older brother and I sitting in lawn chairs at the top of the gravel road. We would jump up with excitement every time we saw dust in the distance. Every vehicle coming down the road was another potential customer for our pop stand. It was my first look at business. We needed to be financed to start off, but once we paid our initial debt, we were on our own. We paid wages, we had to manage supply and demand. We needed to manage our costs. Keeping ice in the coolers took some time and planning. Profit was put into our savings. I even remember expanding into making sandwiches for some of the truckers who would stop in for pop and snacks. If you ever stopped in at our pop stand near Lone Rock, Sask. during the summer in the early 1980s, thank you. It was my first taste of profit.

We also had a few crabapple trees in the garden on the farm. They were sour crabapples. Yummy. I still remember how it made your face twist up when you bit into them. I would pick a few and put them in my school lunch. I soon found out that the kids at school liked them too.

In fact, they liked them better than the sour candies you could buy from the store. You guessed it. I was soon selling bags of crabapples at the school for a “buck a bag.”

Like most successful businesses, other crabapple salesmen soon flooded the market. But lucky for me, none of them lasted. You see, I had a monopoly; I was the only one with sour crabapples. Plain old regular crabapples did not measure up. My business thrived for a number of years (each fall). A big thanks to all my classmates who purchased my product back in the early ’80s.

We then moved to beautiful British Columbia in the mid-’80s. My crabapple trees were gone so I needed to find another profit centre. We lived right along the Shuswap River and had hours and hours of enjoyment fishing off the banks of the Shuswap. I shall quote from one of my favourite cartoons, “See a need… fill a need.” Bait was in high demand and I happened to find a spot in the back of our property that had deep, black, beautiful peat soil… loaded with earthworms!!! With every shovel full, I could pull out a dozen big, fat worms. It was like printing money! It did not take me long to get the signs made and up on the road.

Fresh Bait: A dollar a dozen. (Of course I always made it a baker’s dozen.) Once again, a big thanks to all you fishermen who stopped for bait along Mable Lake Road in the late ’80s.

So why am I telling you these stories? I have kids and I think it is very important to train the next generation. I feel it is very important to have a youth education program in your home. I was fortunate to have one in my home growing up. I have told you before that my reason for being is to 10 CATTLEMEN / OCTOBER 2012

raise my kids with the morals, values and life skills they will need to succeed in the years ahead. That’s my job. My business is to raise my kids. I just finance that with ranching.

My oldest started with a pop stand a few years ago.

She did well, even on the quiet little back road that we live on here. A special thank you to all my neighbours coming home from work every night. She has since passed the pop stand down to her brother and now she works for a neighbour and for Greener Pastures when needed. She is now learning about employment expectations and savings. It is her job this summer to manage the donkeys and horses in a grazing rotation around the yard. She has to keep track of the moves, set up the fencing and fill in the grazing chart for the herd of six; a pasture manager in training. (A great 4-H project idea for any leaders out there.) Oh and don’t forget about her babysitting income.

Her brother is now in charge of the pop stand and sets www.canadiancattlemen.ca

Canadian Marketing 100 Yonge Street, 6th Floor Toronto, ON M5C 2W1

My business is to raise my kids. I just finance that with ranching it up whenever we go somewhere. For example, on a hot day we might go to the splash park in town. We have to load up the pop stand. Don’t worry, he is not “all work and no play.” He will hire his sisters to switch him off for part of the day so he can play too.

He usually bribes them with a free pop and chocolate bar. You should hear how polite he is to his customers. The evening at the fireworks was a great success for his business. He also offers a recycling option for his customers on site as this leads to his other profit centre. He is in charge of all the pop cans, juice containers and milk carton recycling at home. If he cleans them up, and takes them to storage, he gets the money for them when I take them into the bottle depot. This seems to be quite lucrative for him. And don’t forget about his ducks, a new venture we started in hopes of selling all natural duck meat in the near future.

My youngest is seven now and she has started up her own All Natural, Pasture Raised Egg business. Financed of course by Greener Pastures Ranching but it is her business. (She has half the flock paid off already.) Egg sales is like any other business, supply and demand is the struggle. We have awesome neighbours.

So you can see, managing the ranch here is the easiest part of my job. Three thousand, eight hundred acres can run pretty smooth once they are set up. It is the youth education program that takes up most of my time and energy.

It is very important to me to make sure they understand business. You can ask any one of my children, the two most important things in life are… managing money and dealing with people. You can bet my children will be prepared for both in the future. Do you have a youth education program?

C — Steve Kenyon Steve Kenyon runs Greener Pastures Ranching Ltd. in Busby, Alta., www.greenerpasturesranching.com, 780-307-6500, email skenyon@greenerpasturesranching.com. www.canadiancattlemen.ca

FileName:Comm_AD_Agri_4.5x10_CanadianCattlemen Pub: Canadian Cattlemen Material Deadline: July 13, 2011 Trim: 4.5” x 10" Insertion Dates: Aug 15, Oct.10, 2011 Colours: CMYK

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health

W

ell, maybe not bomb-proof but pretty darn close, says Robert Krentz (in the checked shirt in the photo), who backgrounds around 5,000 feeder cattle on 6,100 acres near Steinbach in southeast Manitoba. Krentz has learned a thing or two over the past 15 years about keeping those cattle healthy — a real challenge with so many head that are not born on the farm.

He has battled bugs and diseases and was happy to share some of his experiences with 50 cattle producers who made a stop at his farm during the 2012 Manitoba Summer Pasture Tour.

Long-term health, he says, begins with the lungs. “The lungs are the most important part of our overall health program because the cattle need to be breathing really well from the day they are born right until the day they are killed,” says Krentz. “If you ever have pneumonia in a calf you can treat it and save the calf but it will be damaged for life. It may turn out to be a beautiful heifer or steer but it will never perform as well because its lungs will never have the capacity to convert as well.”

Krentz knows that health begins with immunized cows.

“That calf, before it is born, has that protection in its lungs already so when it hits the ground it’s already stronger and hardier, and is much less likely to get pneumonia or scours or something else.”

It’s fair to say he prefers to buy calves from vaccinated herds. It’s particularly important, says Krentz, when animals are destined to be aggregated at some point with large numbers of other cattle. He knows through experience that some smaller cow-calf producers, who pride themselves on not medicating their cattle, may be setting them up to be someone else’s problem down the road.

Since he can’t always control that phase of the calf’s life he has to guard against pneumonia when he brings in weaned 450- to 500-pound feeder calves. In addition to the usual vaccines for clostridial diseases such as blackleg each calf is injected with Draxxin, given an intranasal treatment with Inforce 3 and treated with generic ivermectin to go after parasites.

Draxxin is a long-acting antibiotic to treat respiratory diseases caused by mannheimia haemolytica, pasteurella multicida, histophilus somni and mycoplasma bovis for up to 14 days. Inforce 3 is an intranasal vaccine that protects the calf’s lungs against infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), parainfluenza 3 (PI3) and bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) for up to 60 days.

“By now that calf should be bomb-proof,” says Krentz.

“It should never get sick.”

Along with respiratory diseases Krentz has been fighting lungworms picked up when the cattle go to grass in the spring.

12 Cattlemen / October 2012

photo credit: Jeannette Greaves

He bombproofs his cattle Dr. Wayne Tomlinson explains liver flukes to Krentz and other producers.

They first showed up about five years ago, when he suddenly lost four calves. The autopsies revealed lungworm, a parasite which lays eggs in the lungs that hatch and as larvae travel up the windpipe they force the cattle to cough and can eventually lead to severe pneumonia.

“I panicked and so tried Safe-Guard, a product that kills lungworm. It cost me around $2 a head. I mixed it in with the grain and took it to the pasture and the cattle didn’t eat it, so I wasted a bunch of money.” Now he uses ivermectin as a preventive. “At $50 a jug, splashing all my yearlings costs 35 cents a head,” says Krentz. “That’s pretty cheap insurance.”

That first death was something of a surprise. Wayne Tomlinson, an extension veterinarian with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives says lungworms aren’t usually a serious health concern. “In most cases the cattle immune system clears the worms out and they are OK,” says Tomlinson. “But some animals may get very sick and die from one of the different forms of pneumonia that can be caused by a heavy lungworm infection.” Cattle can either contract an asthma or allergy-type pneumonia related to a histamine reaction to the lungworms, an aspiration-type pneumonia caused by inhalation of foreign bodies into the lungs or a secondary bacterial infection. A bigger concern with lungworm, he adds, is probably the poor performance of the cattle for the three to four weeks that it takes them to rid their system of the parasite.

The more densely cattle are concentrated in one area the more likely they are to have problems with parasites like lungworm. Although, Tomlinson says, it makes perfect sense for Krentz to deworm his cattle because of the volume he is running and the introduction of new animals every year. For smaller cattle producers Tomlinson says it may be worth getting some fecal tests done to see if they have a worm issue first, then consult with their veterinarian to see what kind of worming program would best suit their herd. “Ideally you should also be rotating dewormers and not using the same one all the time to avoid resistance developing,” says Tomlinson.

Red water disease is a fairly new threat that has recently emerged in this area of Manitoba. It’s a bacterial disease in the same family as blackleg. It’s caused by Clostridium haemolyticum that colonizes in the liver of susceptible cattle and proContinued on page 14 www.canadiancattlemen.ca

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duces toxins that destroy the body’s red blood cells, damages organs and causes death soon after infection, often within 12 hours of the onset of symptoms.

The symptoms are similar to pneumonia, rapid breathing and a high fever, which can cause it to be misdiagnosed, but it is also accompanied by red and foamy urine. After losing one otherwise healthy animal himself, which was diagnosed with pneumonia, Krentz became suspicious when another died and had an autopsy performed which confirmed red water disease.

Because it’s a disease that rapidly causes death, Krentz sees it as good insurance to vaccinate his cattle every year against it using Covexin 8 with a booster before they are turned onto pasture.

Red water disease is also closely related to the presence of liver flukes, the incidence of which seems currently in Manitoba to be confined to the southeast corner where Krentz is located. Damage from liver flukes provides a perfect environment for the red water bacteria to thrive.

Krentz believes now that he has lost a lot of money over the last few years due to liver flukes. He learned about the problem for the first time this

Liver flukes The liver flukes currently infecting cattle in southeast Manitoba may have been introduced to the area from Michigan and Minnesota.

There are two types of liver fluke of concern to cattle and other livestock — Fasciola magna and Fasciola hepatica.

Fasciola hepatica are the flukes commonly found in cattle in the United States and elsewhere.

Manitoba so far has Fasciola magna or deer flukes that are present in the white-tailed deer population. To date, no incidences of the cattle fluke, Fasciola hepatica, have been diagnosed in the province. Deer flukes are passed from deer to snails where they develop into an infective stage when the snail releases them into the environment. Ruminants then pick up the infective stage of the fluke, but cattle are a dead end, meaning that the fluke does not reach adulthood or reproduce. It is walled off in the liver and eventually dies with no eggs being passed out in the manure to continue

14 Cattlemen / October 2012

spring when the Alberta feeder that bought his yearlings called to tell him most of the livers were infested with flukes and had to be condemned.

He now suspects this might explain some lost gains he has suffered in past years when cattle were custom fed. “They were probably loaded with liver flukes back then,” he says. “So when they didn’t perform as well and were killed, the slaughter plant probably took the livers out, and the feedlot would never know that because the yield would just have been down by around 20 pounds. So I think this problem has probably haunted me, undetected, for years.”

The same buyer will be doing some experimenting starting this fall to find the most economical time to treat these flukes and still preserve the livers after Krentz’s 900-pound yearlings arrive in Alberta.

It may have taken some trial and error over the years but Krentz believes he now has a well-honed health program that is allowing him to stay on top of problems before they have a chance to get out of hand. He’s happy with the results. “I have never had such a healthy herd in my life as I do today,” says Krentz. “I don’t have one animal coughing.”

C — Angela Lovell the cycle. Only in deer is the life cycle completed.

Because wild deer are hosts for these liver flukes it makes it harder for producers to deal with them. “The cattle don’t have to go anywhere to pick this up,” says Wayne Tomlinson, a provincial veterinarian. “The deer move it around. This is a little more difficult for producers to deal with than if it was just in their cattle because then they could treat their cows and get it out of the herd. But they can’t treat the deer which are the carriers.”

Flukes damage the liver, causing diarrhea, weight loss and jaundice. They can cause reproductive problems, decreasing pregnancy rates among heifers.

There are few products available in Canada to treat liver flukes; one of them being Valbazen. Two commonly used products for flukes worldwide, Fasinex and IvomecPlus, can only be brought into Canada on an emergency drug release, which must be prepared by a veterinarian.

The other problem is that most of the products available (with the exception of

Controlling flies with garlic When you have 5,000 cattle you have a lot of flies. Robert Krentz has experimented with different solutions over the years, such as Malathion and diesel oil given through the back rubbers on his mineral stands, but last year he decided to tr y something completely different.

He now puts garlic in the mineral that he feeds and although he’s still not prepared to say conclusively that it works, he has noticed a few things that indicate it at least helps.

Visually he has seen fewer flies than before. The gains on the cattle he fed garlic to last year were up from the year before to exactly what he had expected them to be. “Last year my steers gained 315 pounds,” says Krentz. “That was dead on my bid weight.”

Although Krentz still has some bug control back rubbers in the field they are free choice and he’s finding that the cattle aren’t using them anywhere near as much as they used to.

He admits that it will probably be a couple more years before he has more solid data on the effectiveness of the garlic supplement.

Fasinex) are only effective against the adult stages of liver flukes. In the case of the deer flukes found in Manitoba, which do not reach maturity, they have variable effectiveness.

It’s not possible to detect deer flukes by testing manure, so Tomlinson emphasizes that producers should have any sudden deaths in cattle investigated.

He also suggests producers running into infestations of liver flukes or red water disease try developing a biosecurity plan as their first line of defence. “If you can keep the cattle away from where the snails are by fencing off the dugout and pumping water into a trough it may help limit their exposure to the snails which carry the flukes,” he says, but vaccinations and regular boosters are probably going to be necessary once the flukes are present.

It’s also vitally important to continue monitoring which fluke is present in Manitoba, says Tomlinson. “We certainly do not want the cattle fluke to become established.”

www.canadiancattlemen.ca

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Grading Shifts and What they Mean We are trading yield for quality — and we don’t need to

A

look at the top two tables on the right shows several significant shifts in beef carcass grading results since the end of 2010. These shifts, as I will later explain, continue a longer-term trend but first let’s see what the recent shifts are.

On the quality side — • There has been a noticeable increase in AAA carcasses and, • An associated decline in AA, and, • A continued decline to near disappearance of A carcasses.

On the yield side there has been a decline in the highest yield (Y1) category and an associated increase in the lowestyielding Y3 category.

If we look at the third table we can see that the changes noted between 2010 and 2012 are continuations of a longer-term trend. In 2002 there were actually more AA than AAA carcasses and the A carcasses were twice as numerous as they are now. On the yield side almost two out of three carcasses were Yield Class 1.

So we have the classic “Good News-Bad News” tale, at least for those who believe that the trend to higher marbling is the right direction for the industry to be moving. The marketplace offers a premium for AAA and better carcasses and cattle feeders have clearly responded, increasing the proportion of triple As from 45 to 57 per cent. But the proportion of Y1 carcasses has declined all the way from 63 to 49 per cent while the proportion of poorest-yielding Y3 carcasses has doubled from eight to almost 17 per cent.

What is going on here is what happens when one selects and feeds for one trait, in this case marbling, and largely ignores another, in this case, yield. This is not surprising.

One of the easiest ways to increase the level of marbling, and therefore the proportion of AAA or better carcasses, is to make the cattle fatter by feeding them longer. And this is, by the same token, the surest way to reduce the yield or proportion of lean meat in the carcass. It is known that marbling score and yield score are somewhat antagonistic and this is obviously the case because, as the proportion of fat in the carcass increases the proportion of lean necessarily must decline.

Fortunately this does not need to be the case. One can select for cattle that marble well but that do not lay on so much external fat. I proved this in a very practical way during my work with Natural Valley Packers a few years ago. The proof is shown in the chart on page 18 where I plotted external fat thickness of some 660 AAA carcasses.

That array of AAA carcasses ranged from grossly fat to very lean. Almost exactly half of the carcasses had over 7.5 mm of fat cover at the grading site while the other half had less than 7.5 mm. So this shows that outside fat and marbling are not inseparable. It is entirely possible to breed, select for and feed cattle that produce high-yielding, well-marbled carcasses.

The practical aspect of this is that there are huge value variations between high- and lower-yielding carcasses. Since 16 Cattlemen / October 2012

Grade and yield distribution 2012 Jan.-June Y1

Prime

AAA

AA

A

Total

0.2%

20.0%

27.0%

1.6%

48.8%

Y2

0.4%

24.1%

9.9%

0.1%

34.5%

Y3

0.6%

13.2%

2.9%

0.0%

16.7%

1.2%

57.2%

39.8%

1.7%

100.0%

Grade and yield distribution 2010 Jan.-Dec. Prime

AAA

AA

A

Total

Y1

0.2%

19.2%

30.0%

2.5%

51.8%

Y2

0.5%

22.5%

11.0%

0.0%

34.0%

Y3

0.6%

11.0%

2.6%

0.0%

14.2%

1.2%

52.7%

43.6%

2.5%

99.9%

Grade and yield distribution 2002 Prime

AAA

AA

A

Y1

0.21%

21.30%

37.06%

4.12%

Total 63%

Y2

0.37%

17.45%

10.75%

0.24%

29%

Y3

0.32%

6.25%

1.90%

0.02%

8%

0.90%

45.00%

49.72%

4.38%

100%

at least 2002 we have been reducing the value of the average carcass as average yield has declined while increasing the value by increasing the proportion of AAA carcasses.

On balance I am certain that the decline in real value due to declining average yield has far outweighed the increase in value attributed to increased AAA carcasses.

But we don’t have to keep doing that. With the new instrument grading system we are going to get more accurate estimates of yield and, if we are smart and make sure that grade and yield information somehow gets back to the cow-calf producer and if we can start paying for carcasses on the basis of both yield and quality, we will transform the industry in less than a decade.

Some say the information on carcass quality and yield is of little value to the cow-calf producer because that producer rarely knows how the cattle were handled, fed and managed after they were sold. All we need to say about that is that the final carcass is the result of the breeding, feeding and the management of the animal and the cowcalf producer had everything to do with the breeding Continued on page 18 www.canadiancattlemen.ca

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Fat Thickness Distribution- Can AAA

Continued from page 16

Fat thickness distribution — Can AAA 30

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side as well as the management and care of the calf up to weaning. To claim that the producer had nothing to do with the final product is to deny any role at all for the genetic makeup of the animal. Good, even superior carcasses can be created haphazardly when the right genetic background combines with excellent feeding and management. What is now apparent is that with good information flow we can plan for excellent carcasses on a reliable and repeatable basis.

C — Charlie Gracey Charlie Gracey is a longtime advocate for the beef industry and recently retired director of the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency.

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animal

welfare

PRODUCERS WEIGH IN ON ANIMAL WELFARE

T

he future of the International Symposium on Beef Cattle Welfare is on solid footing following a successful debut in Canada earlier this year. Looking to expand the symposium’s reach from Kansas State University where it originated in 2008, organizers welcomed an offer from Dr. Joe Stookey, applied animal behaviourist with the Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan, to host it in Saskatoon. Already three groups in the U.S. and Mexico are considering the possibility of hosting the next symposium in 2014.

The 2012 symposium also marked the first time the event went global via webcast to an estimated 300 registered participants logging on from points in Canada, Mexico, the U.K., Finland and New Zealand to join the 130 attendees in Saskatoon.

Dr. David Fraser with the animal welfare program at the University of British Columbia, opened the symposium with a discussion about why animal welfare itself has gone global in recent years.

“Animal welfare science, which deals with missing pieces of animal husbandry, may well be the field that leads to the next generation of improvements in animal management and production,” said Fraser. He says this is not because animal welfare has become a political issue in the broad sense of the word attracting the attention of people, organizations and governments around the world, but because there is a very practical side to animal welfare that tries to improve animal husbandry to meet the basic needs and nature of the animal.

In a way, he says, the science of animal welfare has gotten lost in the science itself. A century ago, people studied animal husbandry, the feeding, breeding, handling, management and housing of animals. As time went on, husbandry was replaced by the spe-

20 Cattlemen / October 2012

Cathy Schuppli, David Fraser and Jeff Spooner sur veyed beef producers. cialized studies in animal science such as nutrition, genetics and reproductive physiology, but there wasn’t a field for the other elements of animal husbandry.

Animal welfare science has evolved to fill that gap, to expand our understanding of how and why our production and handling methods affect animal comfort, health and performance.

People around the globe have come to realize that animal welfare is an important part of successful animal production. Accordingly its significance has been recognized by influential businesses and international organizations including the United Nations, World Bank and OIE, the World Organization for Animal Health.

Fraser is a member of the OIE animal welfare working group set up in 2002. In the past decade it has reached consensus on several standards that have since been written into the OIE’s Terrestrial Animal Health Code. At the 80th General Session this May, the 178 member countries of the OIE adopted the first global animal welfare standard for production, and the first species

happens to be beef cattle. It addresses best management practices and desirable outcomes that could be expected regardless of the country in which the cattle are raised.

Producers have their say Here at home, Fraser and his colleagues, Jeff Spooner and Cathy Schuppli, realized that the voice of livestock producers wasn’t being heard in the public debate about animal welfare. Policy-makers and opinion leaders had rarely stopped to ask what animal welfare means to those who are ultimately responsible for implementing the measures.

So, they asked. Personal interviews were conducted with 101 beef, dairy and hog producers in Western Canada as well as members of the public. A select sample of 17 cow-calf producers (from 75 to 7,400 cows), five feedlot operators (7,000 to 24,000 head) and one manager of a co-operative spoke for beef producers.

Continued on page 22 www.canadiancattlemen.ca

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The first findings were published earlier this year. Right away they learned that beef producers rarely use the term “animal welfare” because it is seen as the “language of their critics” and generally tied to negative news stories.

The research team found that contrary to the views fostered by some critics, “our participants, although clearly subject to financial constraints and motivations, uniformly expressed an ethic of care, strong interest in and enjoyment of animals, certain ethical standards and concerns, and varying degrees of willingness to sacrifice their own comfort for the sake of their animals.”

They suggest farm animal welfare advocacy may have more success in engaging producers if their criticisms acknowledge and address the range of animal welfare views held by producers.

The producers’ issues fell into three broad categories.

First, they talked about the behaviour they interpret as an animal being content or distressed. Quiet rumination is seen as a sign of contentment and comfort. Handling animals in ways that minimize stress and taking prompt action in times of distress is central to animal welfare in producers’ minds.

These elements relate to the “affective states” of animals, meaning the emotions and states like fear, pain and hunger are experienced as either pleasant or unpleasant, Fraser explains.

Second, producers definitely view good health, weight gain and body condition as an integral indicator of animal welfare.

This view of animal welfare, clustering around freedom from disease and injury and providing things animals need to thrive, is the “health and functioning” perspective often emphasized by veterinarians.

The third cluster of animal welfare is “natural living,” which Fraser defines in general terms as the animals’ ability to express their natural behaviour and live in reasonably natural environments.

The producers generally acknowledged that nature can be harsh at times, but that they see this as part of a good life, too, he says. They also pointed out that they prevent a lot of natural hardships because they have some supervi22 Cattlemen / October 2012

sion over some of the hazards that wild animals encounter.

“So, even without using the term ‘animal welfare,’ producers showed a firm grasp of animal welfare as it is commonly understood,” Fraser says.

“Producers saw animal welfare with contented, healthy animals living in natural manners as being good for income.”

The welfare issues raised by producers seemed to fall into three categories as well: avoidable stress, unavoidable stress and controversies.

Unavoidable stress includes procedures such as branding, tagging, castration, dehorning, vaccinating and weaning. While the public perceives some of those as welfare problems, producers understand them to be necessary for management and regulatory reasons and to prevent more serious welfare

The great news for the beef sector is that producers have a very balanced view of animal welfare and that fits well with public views issues. They generally view the shortterm pain as being relatively unimportant in the longer term and aim to manage the procedures efficiently and in the least stressful manner.

Producers express far more concern about avoidable stress caused by poor handling facilities; overstocking feedlot pens; overuse of electric prods; not providing adequate shelter (natural or man made) in harsh weather; not maintaining good herd health; inadequate nutrition; insufficient fresh water during the summer; rough handling; unskilled people performing procedures; hobby farmers without the skill and commitment of full-time producers; off-loading during transport which is required under Canadian regulations for long trips; and “wrecks” (a breakdown of animal care, usually because of personal problems).

Points on which there wasn’t consensus include the appropriate age for dehorning and castration; winter calving; how long, if at all, cattle

should be finished on grain; whether auctions are an appropriate way to sell cattle; and appropriate levels of care, especially at calving.

Filling the gaps A lot of the conflict over animal welfare stems from disagreement over the relative importance of each of the three clusters.

“The great news for the beef sector is that producers have a very balanced view of animal welfare that fits well with broad public views,” Fraser says.

“Producers believe that animals should be able to lead a fairly natural life, that affective states like comfort and contentment are important, and that protecting the health of the animals is central to animal welfare. That’s a very good starting point.”

He suggests three approaches that could help narrow the gaps identified by the producers.

First, there is an obvious role for science and technology to provide better alternatives.

Second, collective action is warranted to help fellow producers and preserve public trust. Applying standard population health figures, he estimates that at any given time there could be several thousand producers suffering from major mental health problems that could lead to a breakdown in animal care.

Finally, he believes that the beef industry would be wise to develop a way to discuss and agree upon best practices. Some occupations have organized themselves as professions, wherein people have certain skills, use science and technology to improve practices, set standards that maintain public trust, and adhere to a level of mutual support and discipline. He left his audience to contemplate what could be accomplished if cattle producers transitioned more toward a professional model.

C — Debbie Furber For further information: Podcasts of symposium presentations are available from the website, www.beefwelfare.ca, for registered participants and others may follow the instructions to purchase access. Copies of the “Attitude of Canadian Beef Producers toward Animal Welfare” study are available from jeffreyspooner@gmail.com.

The new standard for beef production systems can be found in the Terrestrial Code at www.oie.int. www.canadiancattlemen.ca

health

Prudent Antimicrobial Usage Guidelines Ask your veterinarian about them

A

ll food animal veterinary clinics across Canada have in their possession a set of guidelines on antimicrobial prudent use. The list includes beef and dairy cattle as well as swine and poultry. The guide was published after extensive research and collaboration with veterinary and industry stakeholders. The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association developed and distributed this document and it deserves praise for a job well done.

Everyone involved with food production is part of a team to ensure not only the safety of our food but also that antimicrobial usage is justified.

Your veterinarian needs to select and prescribe the proper medication for the condition he/she is treating. This is based on knowing the disease process and likely bacteria involved and which drug has been previously proven to be of value on the farm. The proper dosage, drug withdrawal and method or route of administration must be crystal clear. There are also conditions, which are not caused by bacteria such as parasitic or viral infections where antibiotics may be of no value and should not be prescribed.

The majority of drugs used in veterinary or human medicine are for the control, treatment or in some rare cases for the prevention of disease.

Unlike human medicine veterinarians may use some specific ones for their growth promotant properties. Several of the antimicrobials used in veterinary medicine are also used in serious or life-threatening situations in human medicine. Health Canada has categorized these antimicrobials as “Category I” (highly important in human medicine) through to Category IV (low importance in human medicine).

I believe the majority of veterinarians use antimicrobials very judiciously.

The CVMA Antimicrobial Prudent Use Guidelines helps them select the appropriate antimicrobial for the disease they are treating. If the condition will 24 Cattlemen / October 2012

respond favourably to a product in the higher-numbered categories then stay with that rather than use the “big” guns. Category I drugs are only for when your veterinarian feels their use is totally justified.

I think the veterinary profession and the farmers and ranchers they work with buy into this concept fairly well. The other side of this equation is the medical doctors. I have seen some of them prescribe some pretty big guns rather than going to the second or third choice. If a condition is viral or fungal specialized medication should be used not necessarily anti-

Doctors, veterinarians, producers: We are all in this together when it comes to preventing antimicrobial resistance biotics. Save the big guns for treating the serious life-threatening infections in people and please don’t overprescribe is good advice for the medical community as well. Their profession would be best to print one of these prudent use guides and hopefully they have. We are all in this together when it comes to preventing antimicrobial resistance. The producers, animal care workers, nutritionists, veterinarians, pharmaceutical industry and the medical doctors are all cogs in the wheel of tackling antimicrobial resistance together.

In veterinary medicine once the producer and his/her practitioner arrive at a diagnosis there are usually three or four choices of medication that are effective. Using category II-IV antimicrobials for the easy-totreat low-grade infections keeps the higher choices in reserve for when we

really need them. If products are not overused or dosed correctly it is much less likely that we will see any disease resistance build up.

Now and in the future when companies try to license new products the category the drug falls into will determine the degree of scrutiny that they must comply with in terms of safety and resistance. Those in Category I with the potential for use in human medicine will be more rigorously controlled. Some examples of today’s Category I antimicrobials used by veterinarians are the family of fluoroquinolones and cephalosporins (third and fourth generation). I don’t want to name products here but your veterinarian can best inform you as to which ones they carry. This cautious approach should be taken by your small-animal veterinarian as well and not overprescribing powerful antibiotics for minor infections or prescribing them for too long a period for nonresponsive chronic ailments.

The good news is with better animal husbandry, nutrition, preconditioning to minimize stress and maximize disease resistance through vaccination and most recently genetic selection the usage of antibiotics has been cut down significantly. With experienced producers catching diseases earlier the course of treatment is generally shorter and more effective. As a bonus, the newgeneration antibiotics are more expensive so taking this approach may even save you money. Expensive products are seldom overdosed but we want to dose properly. Make sure your weights are accurate.

Work with your veterinarian and ask for their opinion on the CVMA Antimicrobial Prudent Use Guidelines.

It will stimulate some interesting discussion I am sure, and make us all just a bit more aware of the importance of preventing antibacterial resistance. The future health of the human and animal population depends on it.

C — Roy Lewis DVM www.canadiancattlemen.ca

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N u t r i t i o n

by John McKinnon John.mckinnon@usask.ca

The evolution of winter feeding — a work in progress!

John McKinnon is a beef cattle nutritionist at the University of Saskatchewan

A

s fall arrives, there are a lot of decisions being made by cow-calf producers that affect productivity and profitability. For example, calves are being weaned and marketing decisions made, while cows are pregnancy checked, vaccinated, condition scored and allotted to fall/winter feeding programs. In all this activity, one never wants to lose sight of the big picture, that being overall profitability of the operation. This is particularly true when it comes to making winter feeding decisions. This message was brought home to me when I was going over recent annual reports from the Alberta and Saskatchewan cow-calf cost-of-production programs. For example, in 2011, the average annual cost of keeping a cow in Saskatchewan for those producers enrolled in the program was $625 (www.wbdc.sk.ca fact sheet #2012-05). Of this total, winter feed/bedding and pasture costs accounted for $333 or 53.5 per cent. When one looks deeper into the data, it is clear that one of the most important areas where cow-calf producers can reduce their cost of production is the winter feeding program.

Again the message is in the numbers — in 2010 the top 25 per cent of producers considered to have a low total cost of production, had winter feed/bedding costs that were 20 per cent lower than the remaining producers in the program (www.wbdc.sk.ca fact sheet #2011.02).

This begs the question, what are these producers doing differently to reduce winter feeding costs? While there has been no common approach, it appears that most have moved away from intensive confined feeding, to programs that utilize extensive feeding practices. These include swath grazing annual cereals, grazing stockpiled forage or crop aftermath, bale grazing and most recently, grazing standing corn.

In cases where producers aim to graze their cows 300-plus days a year, you will often see combinations of the above systems employed.

While the benefits vary with the program, there are constant themes that emerge from discussions with ranchers who use these extensive winter feeding practices. These include a reduction in feed and feeding costs and reduced labour requirements. Yardage costs are also dramatically reduced, particularly those associated with manure spreading. Experience and research is telling these producers that having cows do the work of feeding and spreading the manure is a lot more efficient that having people and equipment do the same work.

26 Cattlemen / October 2012

While there are certainly economic benefits associated with extensive winter grazing, it is important to remember that from a nutritional perspective, practices such as swath grazing are simply management tools that allow the cow to be fed efficiently and at lower cost.

The biology of the cow has not changed.

We still need to focus on meeting her nutrient requirements for maintenance and stage of pregnancy. Maintenance requirements for nutrients such as energy and protein reflect the amount of these nutrients that the animal needs just to survive. Fail to meet these needs and the animal quickly loses weight and condition.

Maintenance energy requirements are dramatically influenced by the environment, particularly cold, wind and wet conditions. For example, the effects of cold and wind on the animal’s maintenance energy needs is much more pronounced for cows out in the open, swath grazing versus those bedded in a pen and kept out of the wind. Wind protection in the form of natural shelter or portable windbreaks is a must if you intend to maintain cow condition under these extensive conditions.

Depending on forage quality and allotment, supplemental feed either as hay, grain or range pellets may also be required. This principle will also apply as cows move into the last trimester of pregnancy. Whether your cows are still out grazing at this stage or you have moved them into an area where you can bring feed to them, it is still critical that you provide a sufficient quality and quantity of feed to meet the increased requirements for pregnancy.

Again the biology of the cow has not changed, just the method of feeding.

Another management practice that has not lost its importance as producers have moved to extensive winter grazing is feed testing. As discussed above, it is still critical that we target the cow’s nutrient requirements as she moves through winter and the only way to do that effectively, is to know the value of the feed being offered.

The evolution of extensive winter grazing is without a doubt a success story that has changed the way many ranchers feed their cows.

While a great deal of our knowledge comes from producer experience, it is also important to recognize the contributions of research and extension specialists who have championed its cause. Truly, their work has been an example of research and extension at its finest! www.canadiancattlemen.ca

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HOLISTIC RANCHING

A wake-up call

O

ne of the headlines all summer has been the severity and expansiveness of the drought in the U.S. Reports say that 75 per cent of the nation’s cattle acreage is impacted, 66 per cent of the hay acreage and over half of the corn crop. The Mississippi River is unusually low. In places the river is up to three miles wide, it is now down to one-third of a mile wide. Barge traffic has been halted and slowed. Other rivers have stopped running altogether. There is no doubt that the drought is serious and widespread.

Grain farmers in Canada will benefit from the drought as grain prices rise. Cattle producers will suffer as prices for feeder cattle decline. This will be particularly true for the cow-calf sector. Any rebuilding of the Canadian cow herd has likely been pushed back for at least two more years or longer. Swine and poultry producers will suffer as feed costs rise. Canadian agriculture will be severely impacted by the drought.

The question is: how much of the drought is man made?

Have you ever thought about this? Everybody talks about the lack of rain. Have you ever heard anyone talk about the water cycle?

An effective water cycle is essential to prevent both droughts and flooding. What does an effective water cycle do? The first benefit is that there will be less runoff when it rains. This reduces erosion, increases water infiltration and reduces drought and flooding. The second benefit is that there will be less evaporation between rains, which means there will be more water available for plant growth. This will also reduce the effects of a drought.

What does an effective water cycle look like? The first requirement is that the soil surface must be covered. There should be no bare ground. The second requirement is that the soil Evaporation needs to be porous and have a from high organic content. Both of these water requirements can be achieved by surfaces our management practices.

The frequency and severity of Run-off to rivers, both droughts and floods is increaslakes and seas ing. This is occurring in the U.S., Canada and around the world. A large portion of this is linked to our current agricultural practices.

We have the power to change this.

The soil maintains all of civilization. Two of the main functions of agriculture are to provide food and to maintain and preserve the environment. We have done a great job of producing food. We have

28 CATTLEMEN / OCTOBER 2012

not done nearly as well at preserving the environment.

We need to realize that when we destroy the health of the soil we jeopardize our individual farms and eventually all of society.

We need to move from our current production paradigm to a more sustainable paradigm. This new paradigm will see nature as our ally. We will learn from and mimic nature. On the crop side we will see less monocultures and more mixed cropping. Cropping practices that build the soil and improve the water cycle will be popular. On the beef side we will see and use our animals as tools to improve the land. This is accomplished by proper grazing management. The end result will be healthier soil and a more sustainable agriculture and civilization. Farms will become smaller and we will have more people living on the land. Let me share a quote for you to ponder.

“I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority.” — E.B. White Since we use basically the same production practices as the U.S. I suggest that our chances of experiencing a crippling drought in the near future are high. We can lessen the impact of any future drought. Management will be the key.

What steps can you take to drought-proof your operation? Can you build a more sustainable operation? I believe we have the knowledge and skill to farm and ranch in a more sustainable manner. The sooner we begin the better the results will be. I encourage you to give this topic serious consideration.

Happy trails.

— Don Campbell Don Campbell ranches with his family at Meadow Lake, Sask.

He can be reached at 306-236-6088.

Rainfall

Transpiration

Surface evaporation Retention in soil Penetration to deeper crevices and underground water reservoirs

Underground flow to springs, rivers and seas

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meat

GOOD NEWS ON NATURAL TRANS FATS They are good for you

E

veryone connected to the beef and dairy industries truly appreciates the biological uniqueness of the cow. She is capable of consuming rough forages and, because of her large rumen populated with billions of micro-organisms, convert the nutrients from the forage into high-quality meat and dairy products that people rely on as part of a healthful diet.

The microbial population in the rumen is the densest known to exist and the best at degrading plants. More than that, the micro-organisms are the catalysts in producing trans fats that are a natural part of ruminant meat and milk.

Scientists have shown that these natural trans fats are significant health boosters and quite different from industrial trans fats, which are created with high heat and pressure during the processing of partially hydrogenated vegetable oils and have been shown to be harmful to human health.

More than a decade ago, researchers began investigating the nutritional qualities of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), a natural trans fat manufactured in the rumen during digestion that typically makes up two to nine per cent of the total fat content in the meat and milk. CLA was found to have beneficial effects by redistributing fat stores in the body, protecting against several types of cancer and improving dyslipidemia (high level of triglyceride and cholesterol circulating in the blood, which is a risk factor associated with cardiovascular disease).

Thanks to leading-edge research at the Metabolic and Cardiovascular Diseases (MCVD) lab under the direction of Dr. Spencer Proctor at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, we can now add another claim to ruminant fame — vaccinic acid (VA), which is also a natural trans fat.

“The health benefits of CLA have been extensively studied and this was the premise for the dairy and beef sectors’ interest in exploring how to enrich CLA in ruminant fat as a nutraceutical,” explains Dr. Flora Wang, post-doctorate fellow with the MCVD group. It was discovered that

30 Cattlemen / October 2012

Spencer Proctor

Flora Wang

feeding cows a diet rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as provided by sunflower or flax seeds, not only significantly increased the CLA, but also resulted in a three- to fourfold increase in VA. There can be three times more VA than CLA, making these two types of trans fats by far the most abundant trans fats in ruminant fat.

mentation with purified synthetic VA reduced the level of triglyceride circulating in the blood by about 40 per cent. This indicates that VA has protective properties under a disease condition such as prediabetes, metabolic syndrome and dyslipidemia, Wang explains. In the healthy rodent models not predisposed to developing the diseases, VA was neutral, that is, it caused no harmful effects, but the protective action was not evident.

This was followed by a 16-week pre-clinical study that confirmed the previous findings and showed that a greater reduction of circulating triglyceride and LDL (bad) cholesterol and improvement in the dyslipidemic condition could be achieved with a longer course of VA supplementation.

The study also began to shed light on how VA interacts with the human body to produce the beneficial effects.

The liver and the intestine are the two organs of interest because they play a substantial role in regulating fat metabolism, Wang explains. The study confirmed the hypothesis that VA alters fat metabolic pathways in dyslipidemic rats, including suppression of harmful enzymes that synthesize fatty acids in the liver and a type of fat called chylomircrons secreted from the intestines that potentially contributes to blocked arteries.

A third study from the same group demonstrated that the fat-lowering effects of the longer-term CLA supplementation could be enhanced with the addition of VA. Compared to the CLA diet, the VA-plus-CLA diet

The evidence has researchers urging authorities to differentiate between natural and industrial trans fat on food labels “However, at that time, VA’s nutritional bioactivity was not known,” Wang says. “It was not fully appreciated whether it was as bad as other trans fat, or to the contrary.”

In 2008, Wang was the lead researcher on one of the first scientific papers published on VA’s health effects.

The study was supported by the Beef Information Centre, the Dairy Farmers of Canada, and the Alberta Livestock Development Fund in association with the Canadian CLA Network.

The three-week pre-clinical trial in rodent models genetically predisposed to developing diabetes and metabolic syndrome (due to the defect in the leptin receptor gene), showed that supple-

www.canadiancattlemen.ca

resulted in a striking reduction of circulating triglycerides to the levels in the lean rats without dyslipedemia.

This finding indicates that VA has lipid-lowering properties independent from CLA. The latest study published in April involved researchers at the MCVD lab, the department of agriculture, food and nutritional science at the University of Alberta, the departments of plant science and applied microbiology and food science at the University of Saskatchewan, the Ag Canada research centres at Brandon and Lacombe and the faculty of pharmacy at the University of Manitoba.

It further investigated potential molecular pathways by which VA achieves beneficial effects, looking at how it promotes beneficial receptors and inhibits inflammatory compounds released by the liver and intestines under disease conditions.

This study also concluded that VA and CLA derived from ruminant fat as present in dairy and beef fats is more bioavailable to the human body than the synthetic VA used for the animal studies.

Wang says many environmental and dietary factors influence the level of natural trans fats in ruminant fat.

Increasing the polyunsaturated fatty acid content of cattle diets will improve the natural trans fat profile in the meat and milk and, at the same time, reduce the level of saturated fat.

New natural trans fat message Trans fat is a class of fats characterized by one or more double hydrogen bonds in a configuration known as trans. In short, the difference between natural trans fats produced by ruminant animals and industrial trans fats produced during processing is the number and location of the double bonds in the chemical structure of the molecules. According to Wang, simply the change in where the bond is located and the configuration of the double bond makes quite an amazing difference to how the molecules interact with the human body.

The growing pool of evidence from pre-clinical and a handful of clinical studies in several countries showing that natural trans fats do not have harmful effects and could be consumed as part of a balanced diet, has the research community urging authorities to differentiate between natural and www.canadiancattlemen.ca

industrial trans fats on food labels and in health recommendations.

Dr. Proctor issued a public statement to this effect in May following the 10th Congress for the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids at Vancouver.

Labelling of trans fat content per serving on packaged foods was regulated in Canada in 2005 after the harmful health effects of industrial trans fats came to light. The U.S. and other countries followed suit the next year, while trans fat labelling in European countries is largely voluntary.

Recently, the definition of trans fat was adjusted in the international standard (Codex Alimentarius) to exclude all forms with a trans conjugated double bond. This recognized the health benefit of CLA, but didn’t include VA, which has not only been shown to be one of the major trans fats in ruminant meat and milk, but the precursor to CLA in humans and animals. Up to 30 per cent of the VA people consume is naturally converted to CLA in their bodies.

Though CLA content is no longer

included in the total trans fats per serving on food labels in Canada, the U.S. and Denmark, the research community is advocating for further changes to exclude all ruminant-derived trans fats and for government officials to make it clear to consumers that not all trans fats are detrimental to their health.

In the meantime, they say the simplest way to determine whether food contains natural trans fats is to consider the source. If it comes from cattle, bison, sheep, goats or any other ruminant animal, it contains beneficial natural trans fats.

The University of Alberta, Alberta Meat and Livestock Agency, Canada Beef Inc., the Dairy Farmers of Canada and Alberta Milk have already launched a new website, www.naturaltransfats.ca, to get this message out to consumers.

For more information about natural trans fat research, visit the MCVD lab website at http://mcvd.ualberta.ca/, or contact Flora Wang at 780-2481252.

C — Debbie Furber

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CATTLEMEN / OCTOBER 2012 31

management

Preg Testing — Just Do it It’s best to know if they are or they aren’t

I

f you need to shave a few dollars off the cost of raising that cow, don’t save it on preg testing.

“Having the answer is always a good thing, because this gives you more options,” advises Dr. Colin Palmer with the department of large animal clinical sciences at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon.

“I am a cattle producer; I have a herd of purebred Red Angus. I understand the frustration of waiting for a cow to calve that isn’t showing any signs of calving — and you’ve fed her all winter and missed some opportunities to sell her. Marketing her during the fall run of cattle may not be ideal, but you could always put her in a separate pen and feed her for a while. In this part of the country there’s usually a rise in prices after Christmas, giving a good opportunity to market her at that time and get a good price.”

For $3 to $5 per head you not only find out which ones are open, you also know if you can afford to let some of the pregnant ones go. Typical pregnancy rates should be 90 to 95 per cent or 180 to 190 head in a 200-cow herd. If you have more pregnant cows than you need for your target number, you have the option of culling a cow for poor disposition or bad udder, and not have to keep her just because she’s pregnant.

Even at a high rate of $5 per head you save a lot more than that. “We figure about $300 per year to feed and yard a cow over winter,” says Palmer.

So it would cost you $3,000 to keep those 10 open cows over winter.

When hay costs are high or you’re short on feed, it definitely pays to get rid of open cows. “If you have calving pens or paddocks, they are also taking up space when they should have been gone.

“Also, many of the open cows that you keep another year will disappoint you. They may have a problem, and come up open again.

If you give them another chance you might regret it. Some diseases like trichomoniasis are more likely to be carried forward into the next year by open cows,” says Palmer.

It almost always pays to sell every 32 Cattlemen / October 2012

open cow, with the exception of young or thin cows that are open due to management errors — if they weren’t fed enough to rebreed. “In that instance, if selling all the open young cows will devastate your herd numbers, it might be better to keep them. This is usually a less expensive option than trying to replace them with a new group of heifers,” he explains.

Options for checking There are several methods used for pregnancy testing, including rectal palpation, ultrasound, and blood tests. “I personally like to use palpation. This is still the most common method, and a skilled examiner can do it quickly/ safely and the results are immediate,” says Palmer.

Even at a rate of $5 per head you save a lot more than that if you figure it takes $300 to overwinter a cow This is an advantage over the blood test where you have to wait for results.

“Almost all the blood tests are based on detecting pregnancy-specific protein B, so there’s a wait for this. There’s a cost for the blood sampling and materials involved, and then you have to go back and sort those open cows out a few days later when you get the results. With palpation, you can sort the cow immediately. As we palpate cows we mark them in some way and the rancher can sort them off whenever they are to be sold or pastured separately from the rest of the herd,” he explains.

Ultrasound is also used, though it’s usually more expensive. “As a reproductive specialist I have used this method quite a bit. I do see some errors with this; some people miss the pregnancy, especially if the uterus is not quite in the right place or hanging low.

Many of my colleagues tell me that when ultrasounding cows out in the field, if there’s a cow that appears to

be open they will slide a glove on and check her by palpation. So this slows down the process. Ultrasound does save wear and tear on the veterinarian’s arms and shoulders, but for the beef producer cost is a factor. To me, cost would have to be the same as for palpation in order for ultrasound to be feasible,” he says.

Palmer started out doing palpations in dairies. “A good dairy vet can detect pregnancy as early as 30 days. With ultrasound you can detect pregnancy as early as 21 days, but there will be quite a bit more error at that stage. We generally consider ultrasound to be fairly accurate at 26 days and up, but that’s only four days sooner than detecting with palpation.

You also have more risk of early pregnancy loss during the first 60 days of gestation. The risk is greatest before 33 or 34 days,” he says. So even if a cow was determined to be pregnant at that early stage, she might lose the pregnancy and end up being open.

Thus there is no real advantage in checking with ultrasound at a very early stage. A certain percentage of those cows that you thought were pregnant will not calve. “These early embryonic death losses can be in a range of 10 to 15 per cent or more,” says Palmer.

There are also some losses after preg checking at a later date. “The losses that occur after 60 days’ gestation and up can amount to two to four per cent.

If you are preg checking in the fall, after breeding season is over — when cows are 100 to 150 days pregnant — typical losses after that time are one to two per cent. This is completely normal,” he explains.

But if you discover five to 10 per cent are open in the fall, they should be taken out of the equation for calving and sent to market at an opportune time. It’s usually best to not sell them right at weaning time, however.

“Last year at weaning I had suspicions that two of my cows were open, so I palpated them and took them right to the auction. With those, I had more than 10 per cent shrink. I was surprised at how much they’d shrunk, so I did a literature search on shrink and learned that the greatest amount of shrink is www.canadiancattlemen.ca

on cows that have just had their calves pulled off for weaning. They stand around and bawl for their calves, and don’t eat or drink,” says Palmer. If you know you have some open cows, it usually pays to hold them awhile — at least long enough to get them past the weaning stress so they won’t shrink so much at sale time.

“After you determine that they are open, sort them into another pen or pasture and feed them a bit before you sell them. A 10 per cent shrink on a 1,500-pound cow is 150 pounds. At 75 cents per pound, that’s a lot of money lost. You can afford to feed her a few more days,” he says.

C — Heather Smith Thomas

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VET ADVICE

B

Is besnoitiosis in store for North America?

ovine besnoitiosis, caused by a cyst-forming protozoan parasite called Besnoitia besnoiti (B. besnoiti), is widespread in Africa, Asia, southern Europe and South America. Where present, B. besnoiti leads to major economic losses in beef and dairy cattle as a result of decreased milk production, infertility of bulls, unthriftiness and mortality. Carcass trim and condemnation at slaughter would be a major issue under Canadian and U.S. meat inspection systems.

Although a form of the disease is common in caribou, reindeer and muskoxen (B. tarandii) in Canada, and has been diagnosed in donkeys from several U.S. states (B. bennetti), bovine besnoitiosis has not been reported in North America.

Could it become a new disease threat in North America? Like many other diseases that started elsewhere only to emerge on North American soil, besnoitiosis needs to be watched. The ingredients are here.

Over the last 10 years, B. besnoiti has spread from pockets where it traditionally occurred into new areas in Spain and France. It was diagnosed in Germany and most recently appeared in Switzerland and Italy. Animal health officials are concerned the parasite is becoming established in areas where it has never existed before.

Recent epidemiological data confirms an increased number of cases and geographic expansion of besnoitiosis in cattle herds in EU states. With development of better diagnostic tools, scientists are keeping a close watch on the creep of subclinical disease in beef and dairy herds across Europe. U.K. officials are concerned about the potential introduction there. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has recently issued a paper suggesting that bovine besnoitiosis should be considered an emerging disease in the EU. Because many aspects of the epidemiology of besnoitiosis remain uncertain, including the prevalence and incidence of infection, routes of transmission and risk factors associated with the disease, the paper highlights the urgent need for research programs to improve efficient and sustainable control methods.

Clinical signs Besnoitiosis is a disease that primarily affects the skin and subcutaneous tissues below the skin. Cysts are commonly found in the conjunctiva surrounding the eye and in the lining of the throat and external reproductive tract. Through early stages of the disease, fluid (edema) often collects along lower portions of the body associated with disruption of small blood vessels. Eye and nasal irritation is common.

During more chronic stages of the disease, a multitude of tiny skin cysts create very noticeable lesions. Skin nodules form and the skin becomes dry, thickened and hairless, sometimes described as elephant skin. As the disease progresses, animals become emaciated and have difficulty moving. At this point, their welfare is compro-

34 CATTLEMEN / OCTOBER 2012

mised. Cysts are hard and have a slight roughness that gives connective tissue below the skin the appearance of being sprinkled with “corn meal.”

The severity of the disease may vary between mild and severe. Seriously affected animals can die. Many infected animals remain asymptomatic, the only sign of disease being the presence of cysts in conjunctiva around the eye, or in the lining of the vulva in cows and nasal passages of all cattle. The testes of bulls can degenerate and atrophy, rendering them sterile.

Although mortality is low (less than 10 per cent), convalescence is slow in severe cases. Affected animals remain carriers for life. Up to 50 per cent of animals in a herd can be infected with most infected animals showing no, or only mild clinical signs. Herd productivity suffers.

Transmission The complete life cycle of the B. besnoiti remains unclear. Several routes of infection are probably involved.

The bovine is considered an intermediate host, capable of spreading infection through direct contact with herd mates. Wild carnivores, dogs and perhaps cats act as definitive hosts capable of contaminating pastures and feedstuffs with infective stages of B. besnoiti. Wild ruminants and probably rodents should not be disregarded as reservoirs of the parasite and a potential source of parasites to carnivores. Transmission between intermediate hosts independent of definitive hosts may occur through biting insects.

The seasonal pattern of besnoitiosis in beef cattle on summer pasture suggests transmission by direct contact between cattle (including natural mating) may be one possible route of transmission. The mechanical transmission of parasites by biting insects like horseflies and deer flies is considered another way parasites are transmitted between infected and non-infected cattle. At present, bovine besnoitiosis has not been reported to infect humans.

Diagnosis A common diagnostic finding is the appearance of cysts in the scleral conjunctiva at the junction of “white and colour” of each eye and in the nasal mucosa. The crescent-shaped organisms can be found in skin scrapings, skin biopsies, and conjunctival scrapings. Blood and PCR tests are also used. In some countries, cattle are immunized with a live, tissue-culture-adapted vaccine. There are no effective drugs or vaccines available in North America at present. Oxytetracycline may have some therapeutic value if given early in the course of the disease.

Dr. Ron Clarke prepares this column on behalf of the Western Canadian Association of Bovine Practitioners. Suggestions for future articles can be sent to Canadian Cattlemen (gren@fbcpublishing.com) or WCABP (info@wcabp.com).

www.canadiancattlemen.ca

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RESEARCH

More on genomics

T

his column recently featured The researchers pointed out that the DNA in and an introductory article about around the polled mutation(s) does not code for any genomics. To recap, many known protein. This opens a whole new can of worms. of the important jobs in Scientists have long suspected that only a tiny fraction the body are done by proteins. Proof the DNA in humans, mice or cattle actually codes teins are chains of amino acids. The for proteins. There are believed to be 20,000 to 30,000 amino acid sequence determines the protein-coding genes in the genome, even though there shape and function of the protein. The is enough DNA to code for over a million. For many amino acid sequence is determined years it was believed that 98 per cent of the DNA in the by the DNA sequence that is bundled genome had no real purpose, and was often called “junk up in the 30 chromosomes found in nearly every cell in DNA.” A large team of scientists who unravelled the the body of beef cattle. The genome is the sum total of entire DNA sequence of humans recently reported that all of the animal’s DNA. Small changes (mutations) in up to 80 per cent of this DNA isn’t junk after all. It is the DNA sequence sometimes change the amino acid actually involved in determining when and where parsequence of the protein, and change whether (or how ticular protein-coding genes are turned on and off. well) the protein does its job.

This suggests that 98 per cent of DNA in the genome The function and structure of proteins are often first regulates the two per cent of DNA that produce the discovered in humans or laboratory animals. For examproteins that do all of the important work in the body. ple, studies of extremely fat mice led to the discovery of It may sound like the genome suffers from bureaucratic leptin, which is also involved in appetite and carcass fatoverload, but remember that nearly every cell in every ness in cattle. Studies of humans with abnormal growth organ of the body carries a complete copy of the entire led to the discovery of somatostatin and the mutations genome. Each cell must turn the right genes on (and off), that cause the “double-muscled” phenotype in some at the right time, and at the right amounts for the body to breeds of cattle. This approach function properly. For example, sometimes allows beef genetithe heart and lungs carry all of cists to piggyback on the lesthe genes needed to produce Ninety-eight per cent of sons learned by researchers in all of the digestive enzymes, other branches of biology. But but they never express them.

DNA regulates the two per some traits can really only be Extremely careful regulation studied in cattle — humans is needed to prevent the body cent of DNA that produces or mice don’t have horns, for from digesting itself, make sure the proteins that do all the instance. that hair only grows on the Nearly 20 years ago, Dr. outside, keep the bones on the important work in the body Sheila Schmutz and co-workers inside, and so on. Perhaps the at the University of Saskatchepolled mutations discovered by wan were among the first in the world to discover that the the German team are in a regulatory DNA sequence polled mutation in cattle is located on Chromosome 1. In rather than a protein-coding gene.

June 2012, a team of German researchers led by Dr. Ivica Researchers at the University of Alberta and University Medugorac reported some mutations on Chromosome 1 of Guelph were involved in a similar international effort to that appear to explain the polled trait. In many breeds, decipher the entire DNA sequence of the bovine genome a particular mutation (named P202ID) was able to disthat concluded in 2009. Since then, these researchers have tinguish between individual cattle that were homozygous been searching for DNA sequences that may be associated polled and those that still carried a copy of the recessive with feed efficiency and tenderness. Producer checkoff horned allele. Homozygous polled cattle have the P202ID funds have been supporting this research, and preliminary mutation on each copy of Chromosome 1. Heterozygous results should be available in the upcoming months. polled cattle (carriers) have the P202ID mutation on one The Beef Research Cluster is funded by the Canadian copy of Chromosome 1, but not the other. Horned cattle Cattlemen’s Association and Agriculture and Agri-Food don’t have the P202ID mutation on either copy of ChroCanada to advance research and technology transfer mosome 1. The P202ID mutation explained the polled supporting the Canadian beef industry’s vision to be rectrait in a variety of beef breeds, including Angus, Herognized as a preferred supplier of healthy, high-quality eford, Charolais, Simmental and Limousin. A different beef, cattle and genetics. mutation in the same vicinity of Chromosome 1 explained — Reynold Bergen the polled trait in Holstein and Jersey. Either mutation caused cattle to be polled; it’s just that the P202ID mutaReynold Bergen is the science director for the Beef Cattle tion was found in some breeds and the second mutation Research Council. A portion of the national checkoff is was found in other breeds. Some more validation may be directed to the BCRC to fund research and development activities to improve the competitiveness and sustainability of needed, but this discovery should help improve the accuCanada’s beef industry. racy of commercial DNA tests for the polled trait.

36 CATTLEMEN / OCTOBER 2012

www.canadiancattlemen.ca

BUILDING TRUST IN CANADIAN BEEF

Two Maritime beef industry leaders first to be VBP audited First audits in the region are a milestone The Verified Beef Production (VBP) program, Canada’s beef on-farm food safety program, got an important boost with the announcement that two industry leaders both received their VBP audits. Both occurred on the same day.

Brian Morrison of Morrison Farms Inc. in Summerside, P.E.I. and Darlene Sanford, of Mont Carmel, P.E.I., both feedlot operators, completed their audits this spring. That audited status means they have implemented accepted Standard Operating Procedures, and their recordkeeping systems have been reviewed by a third-party auditor and officially recognized by the VBP program.

Both Morrison and Sanford say they hope other beef producers will be encouraged to get involved in the VBP program, as a way of giving consumers more confidence in the beef they purchase at the meat counter.

Record-keeping lessons For Sanford, a longtime beef industry leader who operates a 400- to 500-head capacity feedlot and family farm, one of the most useful parts of the VBP experience has been to understand the value of record-keeping systems to the beef industry.

“Some producers seem worried that the VBP program will require more record-keeping, but when you boil it down, there really isn’t much effort to records for VBP. It is flexible enough that it can be set up to work for you and the program, and it doesn’t have to be a cumbersome thing.”

Sanford keeps manual herd records in a binder and she appreciates having all the information she needs in one place. “If I want to know how the calves from one producer performed, I have that. If I want to check health records I can do that. I can find anything on any animal in under five minutes,” she says.

“These records help me make better management decisions.”

Adding value

Darlene Sanford of Mont Carmel, P.E.I.

Morrison says he saw value in the program from his experience in the P.E.I. Cattle Producers and thought it was important to complete the audit to show others how it could work. He’s hopeful it will lead to value-added opportunities for the industry.

Brian Morrison, Summerside, P.E.I. “When you’re a small feeder in a small province, you need to find every opportunity to add value. Hopefully this could be one way to give us a marketing edge with some specialty products.”

“The message I’d like other producers to see is that there is value in this VBP program. It’s professionalizing your feedlot or farm. At the end of the day we handle food, and the consumer wants to know that it is being handled properly.

This is a vehicle to do that.”

Audit simple Both Sanford and Morrison agree the audit itself was basically a “painless” exercise.

Sanford says the process was simply a matter of showing the auditor around the operation, answering questions and then reviewing the herd records and answering any further questions.

Morrison adds it used to be that one person knew everything that went on, but today there are often several people involved. This program is a way that any one of them can step into the operation and pick up where the last person left off.

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VISTA Once Canadian Cattlemen QSH.indd 1

12-08-10 1:51 PM

C C A

T Martin Unrau is president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association

r e p o r t s

he Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) spends a considerable amount of time lobbying for policy that will ensure the long-term competitiveness of the beef cattle industry. The agriculture issues that we bring forward for discussion in Ottawa are varied and broad and reflect the truly complex nature of the beef cattle business.

Of course some of the issues that we deal with are shared by beef-producing countries around the world. As a member of the Five Nations Beef Alliance, the CCA works with like-minded cattle organizations to address fundamental issues within the industry that know no borders. Indeed the overriding principle of the Five Nations Beef Alliance is “to exceed global consumers’ expectations in respect to beef, while eliminating nonscientific and political trade restrictions.”

In September, the CCA had the honour of hosting the Five Nations Beef Alliance 2012 conference in Banff, Alberta. The CCA welcomed member countries Australia, Mexico, New Zealand and the U.S. and their respective associations the Cattle Council of Australia; Confederación Nacional de Organizaciones Ganaderas; Beef + Lamb New Zealand and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

For those not familiar, the Five Nations Beef Alliance represents producers from countries that account for one-third of global beef production.

The role of the alliance is to develop strategies that address the mutual concerns of its members and ensure that global beef trade increases.

The CCA wants consumers throughout the world to understand that high-quality Canadian beef is produced in a sustainable manner. At the conference, it was clear that sustainability is an issue that all Five Nations Beef Alliance member countries can and are relating to. Sustainable production made for a particularly poignant discussion point this year with the widespread drought in the U.S. and parts of Canada driving up prices for feed grains and corn, in addition to concerns about water. As an industry, we are used to adjusting and adapting to changing scenarios as a matter of survival but it is always more difficult when factors like economics and consumer preferences collide with uncontrollables like the weather.

Times like these underscore the importance of the CCA’s ongoing efforts to achieve a number of objectives that would ensure the long-term competitiveness of the Canadian beef cattle industry.

The CCA would like to see the elimination of the ethanol production mandates that require corn and other grains to be diverted from livestock feed to ethanol even in the current situation where grain and other feeds are in critically short supply.

Our efforts continue toward achieving a federal/provincial agreement to fully implement a

38 Cattlemen / October 2012

by Martin Unrau

national disaster response and recovery program that includes the three main elements proposed by the CCA: revenue deferral options for producers who choose to sell their herds or a portion thereof; a per-head payment that enables producers either to purchase feed or to move their cattle to areas where feed is available; and depending upon the nature of the disaster, a per-acre payment to rehabilitate pasture land.

Where grain and forage crop producers make a claim under crop insurance, the CCA would like to ensure that whatever crop remains is permitted to be salvaged for livestock feed rather than being destroyed.

The CCA would like a continued emphasis on expansion of international market access for cattle and beef products to minimize price impact resulting from rapidly changing market conditions in either the domestic or specific export markets.

Specific CCA priorities include completion of the Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement and commencement of TransPacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations.

Our work continues to further progress to achieve federal/provincial agreement to implement the Growing Forward 2 (GF2) agricultural programming. In this regard, the CCA participated in the recent meeting of federal, provincial and territorial agriculture ministers in Whitehorse.

The CCA has been working to make sure the GF2 suite of programs works for cattle producers and provides a level playing field between sectors and across the country. The Business Risk Management program changes agreed to in Whitehorse are different from what the CCA lobbied for but we appreciate the commitment to continue examining expansion of insurance for livestock producers.

The CCA is also pleased that the implementation of GF2 is on pace to begin on April 1, 2013, which would ensure a seamless transition in programming. The April 1 start date is important for Canada’s cattle industry as it ensures consistency in the programming that will continue under GF2 including the commitment to research and innovation.

The CCA is working to improve the environment, food safety, training and regulatory aspects of GF2. We will continue to work on this along with provincial partners to promote policies and programs that move the cattle industry forward.

I’d also like to acknowledge the creation of the Agri-Innovators’ Committee with CCA past president Travis Toews as a co-chair. This new body will provide advice and direction on innovation to Canada’s governments. The experience that Travis brings to the table and the advice that he will bring forward will help us be in good stead, and that is good news for the agriculture industry. www.canadiancattlemen.ca

STRAIGHT FROM THE HIP

What is on your plate?

A

s I awaited the processing once was responsible for holding up the security line at of my Indian visa I explored the airport because I had eggs. The delay was not that the nearby ethnic food store my eggs may have been classed as liquid. It was the staff with the intent of pricing wanting to look at “real eggs from a real farm.” goat meat, beef’s real competition.

In our world the trade in food is truly borderless.

What I found were aisles of fruits If the beef industry believes our foreign-born populaand vegetables I had never seen or tion will conform their tastes to our product it is sadly heard of. I could not determine what mistaken. It is, however, a wonderful opportunity to many of the processed products were connect with a consuming public and many ethnic perused for. In the back, stacks of cubed, sons want to be part of the story of their food. In this frozen, goat meat was presented in large plastic bags new world it is not about advertising what you have without a code or source of origin. and trying to get someone to buy it. This is the age of It became apparent that there must be opportunities testimony and the beef industry needs advocates. Not in growing some of this food, if only I knew what it beer-belly steak and suds advocates or even over-the-top was. Currently 90 per cent of the fruits and vegetables athletes, but on-the-ground people who say on Facefor the ethnic palate in Canada are imported and it is book or Twitter that “they learned how to cook with this market that many farmers want to break into, espebeef and loved it,” or they “made a great dish with beef cially if they have access to urban centres. Farm Credit and met the farmer” (very important). If we are not Canada published an article this summer on the cultural exploring the borderless world in our own backyard, mosaic in Canada and the opportunity it presented for we might be like many ancient cultures that believed the farmers. The article noted there are no easy answers, world was flat and never went out to see if it was true. yet acknowledged that there is great opportunity for The only thing flat is beef consumption. There is no growth in ethnic food. arguing the numbers or denying For the beef industry this the fact. Perhaps it is the variety of presents a challenge because protein available that keeps beef many of these cultures do not subdued. Perhaps it is the cost.

The only growing always use meat, let alone Whatever the argument, the only domestic consumer beef, as a principal dish. growing domestic consumer demoRather, animal protein is a graphic is foreign born. It is this demographic is foreign small part of the overall meal, market that we need to tap into. often presented in very small While we are busy spending time born. It is a market that portions or as a flavouring. and money tapping into foreign we need to tap into Should the beef industry care? markets where there is limited beef Think of it this way. If you consumption, we may be limping have a grandma she likely makes some rendition of a along because we are ignoring those same people within dumpling reflective of her cultural background. In this our borders. analogy we learn that some things do not change and At our office, we put on specialized food tours for we need to accept that. our clients and bring in international speakers for the The greatest ethnic population in an urban centre on in-depth study of retail. A few of this group want to go the North American continent is in Toronto. A full 45 to China because of the escalation of domestic spending per cent of Toronto’s population is foreign born. Only power there. And we will. But first we go to Toronto, Miami comes close at 40 per cent but the next-largest Vancouver and Montreal to see what the rest of Canaforeign-born population can be found in Vancouver at dians eat.

38 per cent with Montreal not far behind. Looking at So what is on your plate? It might look a little forthe bigger picture, these cities are not only foodie paraeign but it is the food of a diverse and vibrant nation. A dises but their ethnic populations also carry the majorCanada that also has the good fortune of a sound econity of the vote; a vote that has a huge impact on future omy. It is our industry’s time to explore the borderless food policy. world and engage our foreign-born population — they Regardless, this is not about “us” and “them.” In would appreciate it and just may be the beef industry’s my hosting of various people I find foreign-born Canastrongest advocates. dians are often very interested in the farm. Even as the — Brenda Schoepp lady processed my visa application she asked about our farm and if she could visit. Later that same day, a young Brenda Schoepp is a market analyst and the owner and Turkish man in a parking lot asked if we sold goat or author of BEEFLINK, a national beef cattle market newsletbeef at our farm. (We must look the part.) Our Lebater. A professional speaker and industry market and research consultant, she ranches near Rimbey, Alta. Contact her at nese friends arrive en masse and although they do not brenda.schoepp@cciwireless.ca or visit www.brendaschoepp. eat a lot of beef, we are slowing introducing them to the com. All rights reserved 2012. product. There is so much interest in farm-fresh food. I

www.canadiancattlemen.ca

CATTLEMEN / OCTOBER 2012 39

P r i m e

c u t s

by Steve Kay

Protecting productivity gains A North American view of the meat industry.

Steve Kay is publisher and editor of Cattle Buyers Weekly

A

t a time when cattle numbers in North increase would disappear if producers no longer America are shrinking, it’s worth used management practices and technologies that remembering the remarkable producimprove efficiency, making it difficult to meet the tivity gains that cattle producers have world’s growing demand for animal protein. made. U.S. cattle numbers peaked at 132 million Moreover, producers would need signifihead in 1975 and the industry produced just cantly more inputs and resources to produce the under 24 billion pounds of beef that year. Beef same amount of beef, and waste output will be production in 2002 was a record 27.2 billion increased, they say. Ten million more cattle would pounds yet the national herd had shrunk to 96.7 be required in the U.S. beef herd to produce the million head. Canada saw similar gains over the same amount of beef as today if the technologies same period. weren’t used. In addition, three million more fed Such gains, along with huge improvements cattle would need to be harvested, 81 million in red meat yields, are why the U.S. and Canada more tons of feed would be needed, 17 million have the highest productivity per animal among more acres of land would be needed for grazing the world’s top beef-producing nations. The U.S. and growing feed, and 138 billion more gallons in 2010 produced 761 pounds per head on a carof water would be required for producing feed cass weight equivalent. Next came Canada with and maintaining animals.

747 pounds per head. The EU-27 was well back In addition, 18 million more metric tons (mt) at 606 pounds per head of carbon dioxide equivawhile Brazil had a meagre lent (CO2eq) would be 498 pounds per animal. released in the U.S. alone, Ten million more cattle Carcass weights for they say. These effects U.S. fed steers and heifwould be equivalent to would be required in ers are currently 15-16 imposing an 8.2 per cent the U.S. to produce the pounds above year-ago tax on U.S. beef farmers levels. Cattle feeders are and ranchers and would same amount of beef as feeding to heavier weights reduce U.S. beef producand selling more on a cartoday if the technologies tion by 17 per cent. If cass basis to offset higher global demand for beef weren’t used feed costs. They are also were maintained, within extensively using two beta15 years Canada would agonists that add from 17 pounds to 33 pounds, increase beef exports by 36 per cent but would on average, to hot carcass weights. This makes a release an additional 284 million metric tons of report just out all the more relevant.

CO2eq into the atmosphere.

Animal scientist Jude Capper, Washington My takeaway from all this is: The beef indusState University, and economist Dermot Hayes, try in Canada and the U.S. must protect the Iowa State University, measured what the loss of use of all productivity-enhancing technologies in all of our productivity-enhancing technologies every way possible. This includes being proactive would mean. Their conclusions: the loss would in telling consumers that such technologies are increase U.S. beef producers’ cost of production fully approved and perfectly safe, and why they by 8.2 per cent and drive down their competitiveare used, before consumers start questioning their ness in the global market. This would cause other use. It would be catastrophic for the beef industry countries to expand beef production. The loss if their use was defamed in the way lean finely would have environmental and economic effects textured beef was earlier this year. on the U.S. and the rest of the world that are both significant and undesirable.

Cattle Buyers Weekly covers the North American meat U.S. producers have increased productivity draand livestock industry. For subscription information, matically during the past 30 years, thanks to the contact Steve Kay at P.O. Box 2533, Petaluma, Calif. 94953, or at 707-765-1725, or go to www. adoption of innovative management practices and cattlebuyersweekly.com. technologies, say Capper and Hayes. Much of this

40 Cattlemen / October 2012

www.canadiancattlemen.ca

NEWS ROUNDUP WELFARE IT HAPPENED AGAIN California processor Central Valley Meat Co. is the subject of a recent Internet animal cruelty video released by an anti-meat organization, “Compassion over Killing.” The video captured instances of inhumane handling practices that are not condoned by the beef and cattle industry or the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA).

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) suspended operations at the company pending investigation of the animal welfare issues cited in the video. The plant reopened after federal officials approved corrective action plans to improve the treatment of animals.

As a result of the video, major customers, including McDonald’s Corp., cancelled or suspended contracts with the company.

These types of undercover videos, typically taken by activists with an ordinary cellphone, draw attention to animal welfare issues. Their underlying motivation in exposing such acts is not to improve animal agriculture, but to end it by falsely portraying inhumane practices as the industry norm.

There is no questioning their effectiveness with consumers; the video made international news. It is important to note that after reviewing the video, renowned animal welfare expert Dr. Temple Grandin indicated that of the many animals filmed, only one

STAMPEDE

animal was improperly stunned in the video. That does not make the inhumane handling incidents in this video excusable, incidents that would no doubt sadden many producers.

The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) fully supports the statement issued by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), which called the actions depicted in the videos disgraceful and not representative of the cattle community.

The video shows a lot of cattle being prodded when they have trouble rising or walking. It has long been illegal in Canada to haul infirm animals unless it is to a veterinarian for treatment. The CCA and industry as a whole supports this law as animal welfare is of primary importance to cattle producers.

Additionally, the CCA has long been supportive of the Canadian Livestock Transport (CLT) Certification Program. The CCA views this training course for livestock transporters as proactive towards ensuring the safe transport of animals.

This latest activist video serves as an excellent reminder for producers to remain vigilant at all times about animal welfare. No doubt packers will be watching this video and working to ensure that they continue to do all that they can to prevent similar occurrences from happening at their facilities.

But the packer is not solely responsible for this situation. Generally speaking most of these problems originate at the farm. Producers and truckers have an important ethical and legal responsibility not to load cattle that are unfit for the trip to the auction mart or the plant. Producers, cattle buyers and transporters can help avoid this type of situation by conscientiously shipping only cattle that can travel without suffering.

It only takes seconds for a smartphone to record and post a video to the Internet. Take some extra time to think about the animals you are planning to truck before you load them.

Continued on page 42

WELSH BLACK SELECT FEMALE SALE

By Jerry Palen

NOVEMBER 24,2012 1:00 PM OLDS AUCTION MART, OLDS, AB.

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CATTLEMEN / OCTOBER 2012 41

News Roundup Continued from page 41

Feeds Be cautious with oddball feeds Alternative feeds can help reduce feed costs or stretch feed supplies, but it’s important to take the time to understand the nutritional quality of the feeds that are available, and become aware of any potential health risks to your cattle by including them in feed rations.

A producer from south-central Manitoba who has had to pull his cows off dry pasture early recently asked the scientists at the Beef Cattle Research Council about feeding soybean straw and kochia. Their response is shown below: Soybean straw Like other straws, soybean straw is high in fibre so it is not very digestible.

It also has very low energy content, so an energy supplement may be neces-

Kochia Kochia has good energy and protein content, so it can be a useful feed but should be less than half of the diet.

Like hay, kochia’s nutrient value and feeding recommendations depend on its maturity.

Risks with feeding kochia: Kochia contains oxalates. At high levels, these can cause kidney damage, sensitivity to light, and interfere with calcium availability, which is especially important near calving.

Kochia can accumulate nitrates if it is harvested shortly after it has been stressed, as in a drought.

Both oxalates and nitrates appear to be more of a risk as kochia matures.

Kochia can have a laxative effect, so some nutrients may pass through into the manure without being absorbed by the animal.

Kochia contains saponins, which can increase the risk of bloat.

When grown on saline soils, kochia can have high salt content. This may reduce palatability and intake.

TIPS & TALES

We need your...

sary. Energy supplements can include high-quality hay, or even grain, screenings or byproducts like distillers grains.

CALVING

Friends and neighbours, we are once again looking for your best calving tips and tales for CATTLEMEN’S expanded January 2013 Calving Special. We’re looking for good ideas, practical advice, or humorous tales and photos to share with fellow readers. A reward will be sent for Tips & Tales printed in this special.

42 Cattlemen / October 2012

Nutritional quality can vary widely, so a feed test is strongly recommended before using any alternative feed. Talking to a nutritionist and your veterinarian are also recommended. The costs of doing so are an inexpensive insurance compared to the cost of dealing with larger problems later on, like thin cows in the spring that lead to later calving and lighter weaning weights in 2014, for example.

A nutritionist can help you assess the feed supply in relation to the cow herd, decide how best to work alternative feeds into the diet, determine if a mineral supplement is needed to help deal with potential salt, oxalate and nitrate concerns and develop a strategy to manage the feeds like kochia over the winter. For example, they may recommend feeding lower levels of straw and kochia in the preand post-calving period, and keeping better-quality hay for growing replacement heifers.

Your veterinarian can give you advice about signs of potential problems related to alternative feeds, such as nitrate poisoning, kidney damage and photosensitivity. Health and performance problems are less likely if the ration is balanced properly, but

Enter before November 30, 2012

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being aware of the signs will allow problems to be detected and corrected sooner.

Clean, fresh water is always an essential nutrient for all classes of cattle.

Management DIGITAL AGRIMAPS MADE EASY Drawing maps of your land to store as a record of past activities or plan future projects just got a whole lot easier with AgriMap, a free online mapping application developed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). You certainly don’t have to be a computer whiz to enjoy using this program, but it does offer advanced functions for more detailed map-making without the need for specialized software or access to large data sets.

AgriMap versions for Saskatchewan and Manitoba are currently available and efforts are underway to expand its reach to other regions of Canada, says Erl Svendsen, senior environment resource specialist with AAFC’s Agri-Environment Services Branch (AESB). He welcomes feedback and ideas on how to improve AgriMap, as well as potential mobile ag-apps.

Some features will be familiar to users of the former Sask AgriMap and Manitoba’s riparian health mapping applications. Svendsen says AgriMap combines the best of both and adds new tools, features and data, including recent aerial imagery for most of Saskatchewan. Not all features are Continued on page 44

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Cattlemen / October 2012 43

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44 Cattlemen / October 2012

News Roundup

Add high-resolution aerial imagery or SPOT satellite imagery to your map to view natural geographic features and man-made structures. Or choose from the hydrology and agriContinued from page 43 environmental options to see colourkeyed overlays showing watersheds, available for both provinces. The new sub-watersheds, wetlands, topography, program was first released in July 2011 landcover, surface soil texture, slope, as a national riparian health mapping drainage, risk of water erosion, capacapplication and relaunched earlier this ity for agriculture, soil zones and soil year with some additions as AgriMap. landscapes.

In general, you can search parcels Drawing tool makes quick work of interest by geographic name or land of installing existing and new fences, location (township, section, quarter facilities or utility lines to scale. Any section, river lot, parish/settlement, lot shaped field or structure is easily drawn type, lot). Basic zoom and pan tools let and customized with colours and text. you zero in on a single quarter or get The area and perimeter of each graphic the big-picture view to take in other field or pasture appears in a window as landmarks such as towns, rural municithe feature is drawn and easily resized, palities, First Nation reserves, provincial or dragged to a different location, or and national parks, railways, roads, deleted. A fencing calculator estimates rivers, lakes, conservation districts and the cost as the line is being laid down community pastures. on the map.

It is easy to locate the exact longitude Map images can be saved in jpeg, and latitude of any point, or drag the png or pdf formats. It can also be saved cursor to obtain distance and area meain layers as a geoJSON or shapefile, surements in metric or imperial units. says Svendsen.

Maps created with GIS software or data collected from a GPS unit, can also be uploaded into AgriMap using this Quality Grain Bags & Net Wrap layering function as long as it has been Self-unloading Hay Trailers saved inPage compatible file formats and the CSA 12/9/03 1 Hay Bus. Feeders,Card Gates Jan04 & Panels, Steel Fence 11:21 AM data are in longitude-latitude form.

The resulting customized AgriMaps can be printed, or layers can be emailed to partners, consultants, contractors or Unbeatable Maternal Performance suppliers for quotes and consultation.

The more you use AgriMap, the more uses will come to mind — planning pasture rotations, mapping noxCanadian Simmental Association 403-250-7979 ious weed patches, soil attributes or 13 - 4101 19 Street, N.E. Calgary, AB treatments, and marking buffer zones www.simmental.com or recreational areas requiring special attention are just some examples.

CANADIAN HEREFORD When you are looking at purchasASSOCIATION ing or renting a parcel of land, Agri5160 Skyline Way NE Map will display some of the details Calgary, Alberta T2E 6V1 Phone: (403) 275-2662 Toll Free (888) 836-7242 necessary to assess its productivity and Fax: (403) 295-1333 Toll Free: (888) 824-2329 potential environmental challenges. www.hereford.ca The application is designed for use More Efficient Means More Hereford by producers, agricultural groups, land managers, watershed associations, Make Your Decisions Profitable municipal planners and anyone who needs to make informed land-use decisions and avoid potential conflicts, (in Bank on the Carcass Breed the accessible provinces) right from a Canadian Limousin assoCiation #13, 4101 – 19th Street N.E., Calgary, AB T2E 7C4 producer’s cropping plan to a municipal Phone: (403) 253-7309 planner.

Web site: www.limousin.com You’ll find AgriMap at http://www. agr.gc.ca/agrimap-sk or http://www. agr.gc.ca/agrimap-mb. While there, check out the other types of maps in the collection. For more details or to offer some feedback contact Svendsen at 306-975-4142 or email: erl.svendsen@agr.gc.caz.

Limousin

www.canadiancattlemen.ca

policy CCA happy with much of GF2 The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) is pleased with the federal, provincial and territorial agriculture ministers’ approach to Growing Forward 2 (GF2) released after their meeting last month. Quebec didn’t sign the agreement as it was between ag ministers at the time.

“We thank Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and all the ministers for the strong emphasis on research and innovation and market development in Growing Forward 2; areas that build the competitiveness of our beef cattle industry, and Canada’s competitiveness, as a whole,” said CCA president Martin Unrau.

The provinces and territories will now need to complete bilateral agreements so they will have programs in place when the current agreement expires in March.

The new framework will invest over $3 billion in agriculture, with a 50 per cent increase in cost-shared initiatives not related to the business risk management programs. It also calls for “greater flexibility for provinces and territories to tailor programs to local needs” and more opportunity for those governments to invest in environmental initiatives and on-farm water infrastructure.

However, the statement on funding for business risk management (BRM), the biggest portion of the last two ag policy funding frameworks, goes only so far as to say their governments “will continue to deliver a complete and effective suite of BRM programs to ensure farmers are protected against severe market volatility and disasters.”

The governments also pledged to work with the ag sector to encourage the development of private-sector risk management tools to monitor and review BRM programming over the five-year term of the framework, specifically pledging a mid-term review of the BRM suite.

GF2 calls for lowering AgriStability margin coverage from 85 to 70 per cent. The producers’ reference margins will be limited to the lower of their historical reference margin or allowable expenses reported in previous years. And the payment will not be based on a tiered support system but on the same level of government support, 70 per cent, regardless of the extent of margin loss, including negative margins.

Governments’ annual matching dollars on a farmer’s AgriInvest contributions will be lowered to one per cent from 1.5 per cent of a farmer’s allowable net sales (ANS).

However, a farmer will be able to contribute up to 100 per cent of his or her ANS per year to AgriInvest, and up to 400 per cent of ANS in total, to better use AgriInvest as a risk management tool.

The CCA also welcomed enhancements to the Market Access Secretariat to help it open more markets to Canadian beef, and the expansion of the Science Clusters that allows industry to partner with governments to seek advancements in areas such as feed efficiency and animal health that make the beef sector more competitive.

The BRM program changes agreed to are different from what the CCA lobbied for but the release says the association appreciates the commitment to continue examining expansion of insurance for livestock producers. The CCA wants to make sure the new BRM programs work for cattle producers and provide a level playing field between sectors and across the country.

The cattlemen also appreciated the ministers’ commitment to the April 1, 2013 start date for the new framework. “It ensures consistency in the programming that will continue under Growing Forward 2,” said Unrau.

C www.canadiancattlemen.ca

Cattlemen / October 2012 45

purely purebred GRASS ROOTS OF GRAZING NOVEMBER 28 & 29, 2012 SHERATON HOTELS & RESORTS RED DEER, AB Optional Field Tour - November 27 Lacombe Research Station - Swath Grazing Trials

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Banquet: David Irvine Working with the Ones You Love: The Human Side of Agriculture For more information contact:

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My phone number is 403-325-1695 Email: deb.wilson@ fbcpublishing.com

Deborah WILSON ◆ The Canadian Simmental Associa-

tion’s (CSA) 44th annual general meeting was held on August 25 in Truro, Nova Scotia. Simmental breeders and guests from across Canada and the United States were welcomed by the Maritime Simmental Association. The three open director positions were filled by new director Wes Mack of Estevan, Sask., and returning directors for a second term Randy Mader, Carstairs, Alta., and John Sullivan, Kazabazua, Que. CSA president Ron Nolan thanked retiring director, Judy Sweet of Drayton Valley, Alta., for her contribution to the CSA. The board then once again elected their 2012-13 executive: Ron Nolan president, Fraser Redpath, first vicepresident, and Randy Mader, second vice-president. During the meeting, the CSA and Young Canadian Simmental Association (YCSA) also announced the

two members who have won the right to attend the American Junior Simmental Association (AJSA) National Classic in Lincoln, Nebraska in July next year.

Connor Morse of Kingston, N.S. and Krista Whalen of Gould, Que. will represent Canadian Simmental breeders at the annual U.S. youth show. Returning CSA president, Ron Nolan closed the gathering by stating, “It is a great time to be in the cattle business and an even better time to be in the Simmental business. I look forward to working with this year’s CSA board and staff to continue to position Canadian Simmental as the leader in genetic improvement for the Canadian beef industry. ”

◆ 2012 has been a year of changes for the Salers Association of Canada (SAC).

The association bid a fond farewell to Kathy Adams, their former secretary/ manager and registrar. The association has also moved the Salers office from Carstairs to its new home at 5160 Skyline Way, Calgary. With a new office they welcome aboard a new registrar Lois Chivilo. SAC has been working on a new marketing and promotion strategy in conjunction with Olds College, which has been an exciting process for all involved. The AGM was held at the Ramada Inn, Olds, Alta. back in June.

The guest speakers for the day included

◆ Well I have run out of Old-timer Photos!!! I need your help if this is to continue — so dig deep and email or mail those pictures to me.

The photo from September was courtesy of Lynn Combest, Erskine, Alta. The photo was the sale crew from the Sandan Charolais Sale in 1975, at Erskine, Alta.

Back row (l to r): Don Cox, Ken Cox, Elmer Radke, Lynn Boake, Verny Cox, Leigh Boake, Rick Lorenz, Evelyn Slezina and Millie Boake. The two fellows in the front row (l to r): Lynn Combest and Vern Anderson.

Location: Westlock, AB

When: Nov. 12th, 13th & 14th, 2012 Can you Graze 365 days a year? We provide a 3-day course that will take you right into the design and planning of a year-round grazing system.

The course tuition is $800/Farm Unit, which allows two members from your farm business to attend.

This course is well worth the investment.

Also be sure to attend:

*Profitable Pastures* When: April 16th and 17th, 2013 To register please contact:

Steve Kenyon

Greener Pastures Ranching Ltd. (780) 307-2275 www.greenerpasturesranching.com skenyon@greenerpasturesranching.com

46 Cattlemen / October 2012

www.canadiancattlemen.ca

Rob Eirich and Joanne Solverson of Olds College as well as Mike McMorris and Betty Jo Almond of BioGenetics. Max Tateson from Alberta was named commercial breeder of the year; Ray and Wendy Mader from Ontario were the breeders of the year; Ken and Wendy Sweetland from Manitoba, performance breeder of the year and Ellen Hondi of Alberta, junior of the year.

◆ The Canadian Simmental Association (CSA) inducted William E. (Bill) MacLeod into its Hall of Fame during the meeting. Bill purchased his first Simmentals in 1987 and has been involved in advancing the breed ever since as a CSA director for three terms and chair of its promotion and marketing committee. Provincially he’s served as treasurer of the New Brunswick Simmental Club, director and currently treasurer of the Maritime Simmental Association (MSA). He’s also co-ordinated the MSA Salt Water Classic Sale for the past 10 years. He and his wife Susan Jamieson-MacLeod have two children and seven grandchildren.

event the breed has commissioned a special Gelbvieh print by Bernie Brown.

The first print will be unveiled and auctioned during the anniversary banquet.

The remaining 22 will be available for sale following the event.

In addition to the prints the 40th anniversary celebration committee is offering 40 Troy Fischer silver belt buckles to commemorate the event. The handcrafted buckles, each stamped with an edition number, sell for $325. The first buckle, valued at over $1,000, will also be auctioned off at Agribition. To order call Tara at 306-625-7345; lonesomedoveranch@ sasktel.net or Ian at 306-456-2555; tgfis@sasktel.net.

◆ The Saskatchewan Hereford Association elected Doug Mann as its president at its annual meeting held earlier this summer. Doug and his wife Wanda own and operate Phanton Creek Livestock at Swift Current. Karen Lischka of Steelman is vice-president. Karen Wagner, Consul, Lyal Heidecker, Middle Lake, Chad Wilson, Wawota and Gordon Gustafson, Imperial were elected as directors for a three-year term joining Gordon Craig, North Battleford, Chris Lees, Arcola, Dale Shillington, Prince Albert, Grant Crittenden, Watrous, Greg Barber, Leslie and Stephen Myer of Maidstone on the Continued on page 48

◆ The Canadian Simmental Association’s (CSA) Garth Sweet Simmental Foundation (GSSF) held its annual charity auction in August at the breed’s annual meeting in Truro raising a record $22,380. In total the foundation has raised $86,458.50 through these charity auctions. Two-thirds of the funds go to the Young Canadian Simmental Association (YCSA) for development programs and the rest is put toward the CSA’s genetic research program. New to this year’s auction was the introduction of the Friends of the Foundation award to recognize the donor and buyer of the top-selling auction item. Gibbons Farms — Vaughn and Cindy Gibbons of Stevensville, Ont. and More Brothers of Virden, Man., were the first recipients of this award. More Brothers purchased the bred heifer, Bar 5 FF Peona 1211Y donated by Gibbons Farms.

Kara Enright, the GSSF auction chair noted that this year’s total easily surpassed the total raised in past auctions and that the money will go a long way toward ensuring the future strength of the Simmental breed in Canada. ◆ The Canadian Gelbvieh Association is extending an invitation to joing them for their 40th Anniversary of Gelbvieh Cattle in Canada celebration Nov. 21-22 during Canadian Western Agribition in Regina. To commemorate the www.canadiancattlemen.ca

Cattlemen / October 2012 47

Continued from page 47

board. Murray Andrews of Moose Jaw was elected to the Canadian Hereford Association board of directors to serve with David Reid and Doug Mann on the national board.

◆ Canadian Cattle Genome Project —

Bull of the Month: The Canadian Cattle Genome Project is focused on bringing cost-effective genomics (DNA) tools to Canada’s beef producers to improve producer profitability and efficiencies in beef production. We are gathering samples from animals that have the greatest genetic influence on the Canadian cattle herd for DNA sequencing and genotyping. Over the next few months we will highlight bulls included in the project that helped establish their respective breeds in Canada.

This month’s profile is a Simmental bull named “Signal.”

Signal is one of the most wellknown Simmental bulls. Born in France in 1969, sired by Opera and Joliette, and then raised in Canada he is, genetically, the most influential bull in the current generation (2006-11) of Canadian purebred Simmentals. Signal was known especially for his excellent maternal qualities that exemplify the breed. These include daughter’s first calf weaning weight, yearling weight, weaning weight, and daughter’s calving ease. Signal’s descendants were top-selling animals at sales throughout the U.S. and at the time of his death in 1982 it was estimated that he had already sired more than 100,000 direct descendants over his 13 years. In Canada alone there are currently almost 5,000 progeny and more than 500,000 descendants registered with the Canadian Simmental Association.

Next issue we will feature another bull from a different breed that is involved in the Canadian Cattle Genome Project. For more information on the project see the website at www. canadacow.ca. If you have samples of 48 Cattlemen / October 2012

influential bulls that you would like to donate to the project please contact Mary DePauw, project manager at mdepauw@ualberta.ca or Steve Miller, project leader at miller@uoguelph.ca.

◆ The 2012 National Limousin Show will be held in conjunction with the Manitoba Livestock Expo, November 1-3 in Brandon. Lim-Flex breeders may enter their animals in the “mixed breed” division. An all-breed junior show will also take place. Showmanship classes are open to all breeds but conformation classes are divided by breed. The Canadian Limousin Association is offering its members: a 10 x 10 display space in the Limousin Barn for $250. The banquet will be held on Friday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. at the Road House Bar in the Canada Inn Hotel.

Tickets are $20 and can be obtained from Pat Cochrane at 204-724-2992. ◆ New in 2012 the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture with the support of the Canadian Beef Breeds Council (CBBC) and Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency Ltd. (ALMA) is offering an incoming buyers program at the Canadian Western Agribition in Regina. It offers to reimburse the cost of the flight for first-time international buyers with preference given to first-time attendees, particularly those with the capacity to purchase Canadian products who are guests of the Partners of the Canadian Western Agribition International. ◆ Cattlemen’s Young Leaders Profiles

— I will feature three or four of the mentees from the Cattlemen’s Young Leader program in each issue, over the next six months.

Katie Wood is a PhD candidate in the department of animal and poultry science at the University of Guelph where she is studying beef cattle nutrition and molecular physiology. Her research is focused on developing a better understanding of metabolic factors which may influence feed efficiency in beef cows.

She also completed a BSc (agr.) majoring in animal science before pursuing an MSc in ruminant nutrition, with research focusing on alternative feeding strategies for the feedlot and cow-calf producer.

She has been the recipient of numerous scholarships and fellowships, including the Animal Nutrition Association of Canada Scholarship, Ontario Graduate Scholarship in Science and Technology as well as the ILC Calgary Travel fellowship in 2010 and the ILC Denver

Fellowship in 2011. She has been an active member of 4-H in a variety of clubs and volunteers her time as a 4-H club leader. Previously she had served as the national vice-president and executive officer of the Young Canadian Simmental Association (YCSA), where she also served for many years as Ontario president. She also served as director on the Ontario Simmental Association and is the current adult adviser for the Ontario YCSA. In 2001, Katie started her own prefix “Red Ribbon Livestock” and focuses on breeding high-quality registered Simmental cattle and polled Dorset sheep.

Mike Nadeau is a fourth-generation cattle producer, and is passionate about the cattle industry. He and his wife are actively involved in a cow-calf operation with his in-laws. He currently serves as an Alberta Beef Producer delegate, and sits on the ABP’s cow-calf council and the drought and excess moisture advisory group. He thoroughly enjoys the beef business and hopes to gain practical skills from industry leaders and professionals.

He plans to use the Cattlemen Young Leader mentorship program to deepen his understanding and knowledge of trade regulations and opportunities surrounding the beef industry. He finds great value in ensuring that the Canadian beef industry is sustainable and competitive for the foreseeable future.

Amy Mayner is a graduate of the University of Alberta’s bachelor of science degree in agriculture majoring in animal science and hopes to pursue a career that will satisfy her keen interests in both beef production and the meat industry. As a previous member of her local 4-H beef club she worked on a total of 24 projects over the eight years that she was a member. This spurred on her interest in learning more about cattle feeding and her passion for the show ring that led her to become an active participant in cattle shows after she left 4-H. She has shown cattle at both Farm Fair International and the UFA Steer Classic at the Calgary Stampede. Her steers have won firstplace honours in her class each year at the Quality Beef Competition at the stampede. In addition to show cattle she also took part in the 2010 livestock evaluation course as sponsored by the Calgary Stampede and attended the International Livestock Congress in Denver, Colorado in 2012. She plans to expand her herd of 20 beef cattle and is passionate about making a difference in the beef industry.

C www.canadiancattlemen.ca

Deb’s Outlook

The markets

Market Summary debbie mcmillin Fed Cattle Heading into September supplies were to tighten and beef movement pick up. To date, that has not been the case. Fed steers averaged $108.92/cwt, by mid-September, down $3.70 from five weeks before. At these prices cattle sold on the cash remained in red ink in Canada and the U.S. Hedged cattle made out better.

Slower beef sales and a climbing Canadian dollar through August and September weighed on the market.

Although cattle numbers are tightening packers have been able to lean on contracted cattle leaving cash cattle to roll forward. While feedlots remained fairly current through the summer in recent weeks feedlots have been forced to back up some market-ready cattle.

Cattle on feed in Alberta and Saskatchewan on September 1 was the smallest start to the month in report history with the exception of 2003 and 2004 at 577,077 head, seven per cent under the same time last year. August placements were down 17 per cent from a combination of high grain costs and poor feedlot profitability plus good grass conditions on home pastures.

Steer slaughter remained three per cent below last year at 992,690 head. Heifers were off four per cent at 625,242 head. Fed-cattle exports totalled 245,782 head to Aug. 25, seven per cent fewer than the same time in 2011.

Feeder Cattle Rising feed costs weighed on the feeder market over the past few weeks as grain producers got their crops in for the year. Drought-destroyed crops in many areas of the U.S. drove up corn prices and pressured feeder markets. But by mid-September, 550 feeder steers in central Alberta picked www.canadiancattlemen.ca

Fed Cattle

up a bit from the week before to average $156.50/cwt which is $5.37/cwt above a year ago. Slight pressure was noted on the heavy feeders in the first half of September with the average slipping from $138 to $134.13/cwt on 850 steers by mid-month. That was nearly $6.50 better than a year ago.

The 850-pound feeder basis was -6.18/ cwt, 0.75 weaker than last year.

While the first half of 2012 saw an increase in the number of feeder cattle heading south exports slowed considerably after drought hit the Corn Belt and the Canadian dollar slipped above parity. To Aug. 25, feeder cattle exports to the U.S. totalled 104,264 head. That is still 70 per cent more than sold by this time last year but in seven of the last eight weeks fewer than 1,000 head were exported.

Non-Fed Cattle With the exception of the few weeks when D1,2 cows made their summer peak, the cow market has held relatively steady from $76 to $81 since April. The same pattern was holding through early September when cow numbers coming to market generally increase. The average D1,2 cow price at mid-September was $76.13/ cwt, $8.21 above last year.

The July 1, Canadian cattle inventory report showed Canadian beef cow numbers holding mostly steady, confirming the view that the major sell-off of cows is likely over.

Cow slaughter to mid-September was running seven per cent behind 2011 while exports to the U.S. to Aug. 25 were up nine per cent.

Bull prices slid slowly since posting record-high levels in mid-June. Bulls continued to trade near $90/cwt at mid-September. The volume of bulls sold has held fairly steady with yearago levels as favourable prices encouraging producers to cull older or extra bulls. To date bull slaughter is down 21 per cent and exports are up seven per cent at 1,827 head.

— Debbie McMillin

Debbie McMillin is a market analyst who ranches at Hanna, Alta.

More markets➤

A high dollar, high feed costs and a pressured hog market weigh heavily on current cash markets. Creeping carcass weights as the industry struggles to stay current is another concern. In the short term, packers seem comfortable with inventories, and a predicted widening of the basis as we start to move through some heavy cattle would further pressure cash prices. Farther out, nearby and deferred futures markets suggest a positive move in the cash as analysts look for a seasonal lift in demand for high-end cuts in late fall and early winter combined with a tightening in frontend supplies.

Feeder Cattle As volumes increase bids generally start to separate based on quality and type. Look for many calves to move into backgrounding lots to take full advantage of plentiful forage supplies before moving on to finishing rations. Despite the strong dollar our current costof-gain advantage could encourage U.S. buyers to hold some cattle in Canada for a while.

This added competition from backgrounders supports the calf market. Ultimately feedlot profitability sets the direction of feeder prices, however feeder supplies in North America are tight relative to the feeding capacity available. Good prices for cattle sold with forward delivery dates and strong deferred live cattle futures indicate a solid floor for the feeder run going forward.

Non-Fed Cattle The firm Canadian dollar limits U.S. bids, however strong trim prices and demand for the product, as well as relatively small non-NAFTA imports and an overall reduction in non-fed supplies, will keep a solid base under cull cattle. Typically cow prices reach a seasonal low in November. That should hold true this year except that the 2012 low will remain strong in comparison to 2011.

Cattlemen / october 2012 49

Break-even Prices on A-Grade Steers 130

ALBERTA

170

110

90 80

Steer Calves (500-600 lb.)

180

120

100

Market Prices

190

160

western Market Summary

150 140

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

130

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

95

145

ONTARIO

135

D1,2 Cows

85

125

75

115

65

105

55

95 85 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

2012

Canfax weighted average price on A-Grade steers

45

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Ontario 2011 Market Ontario prices based on a 50/50 east/west mix Summary O ntario

2012

2011

A lberta

Break-even price

2012

for steers on date sold

2013

2012

Kevin Grier2011

Market Summary (to September 8)

September 2012 prices* Alber ta Yearling steers (850 lb.)............... $135.08/cwt Barley................................................. 5.74/bu.

Barley silage..................................... 71.75/ton Cost of gain (feed)........................... 76.76/cwt Cost of gain (all costs)................... 101.61/cwt Fed steers...................................... 110.79/cwt Break-even (January 2013)............ 123.08/cwt Ontario Yearling steers (850 lb.)............... $132.93/cwt Corn silage....................................... 66.16/ton Grain corn........................................... 8.02/bu.

Cost of gain (feed)......................... 119.75/cwt Cost of gain (all costs)................... 145.47/cwt Fed steers...................................... 111.64/cwt Break-even (March 2013).............. 138.12/cwt *Mid-month to mid-month prices Breakevens East: end wt 1,450, 183 days West end wt 1,325 lb., 125 days

50 Cattlemen / october 2012

2012 Total Canadian federally inspected slaughter............. 1,923,032 Average steer carcass weight............................................ 874 lb.

Total U.S. slaughter.................................................... 23,003,000

2011 2,002,593 842 lb.

23,988,000

Trade Summary EXPORTS 2012 Fed cattle to U.S. (to August 25).................................... 245,782 Feeder cattle and calves to U.S. (to August 25)............ 104,264 Dressed beef to U.S. (to July)............................... 300.02 mil.lbs Total dressed beef (to July)................................... 395.39 mil.lbs

2011 263,355 61,334 316.54 mil.lbs 423.69 mil.lbs

IMPORTS 2012 Slaughter cattle from U.S. (to July) ........................................... 0 *Dressed beef from U.S. (to July)......................... 201.19 mil.lbs *Dressed beef from Australia (to July)..................... 16.28 mil.lbs *Dressed beef from New Zealand (to July)................. 30.44 mil.lbs *Dressed beef from Uruguay (to July).................... 15.09 mil.lbs

2011 0 207.11 mil.lbs 10.01 mil.lbs 39.78 mil.lbs 9.03 mil.lbs

Canadian Grades (to September 15) % of A grades AAA AA A Prime Total

EAST WEST

+59% 19.3 28.0 1.9 0.1 49.3 Total graded 410,642 1,495,212

Yield –53% Total 12.3 54.2 2.9 40.9 0.0 2.0 0.6 1.1 15.8 Total A grade 98.2% Total ungraded % carcass basis 67,113 66.6% 88 82.0%

54-58% 22.6 10.0 0.1 0.4 33.1

Only federally inspected plants

www.canadiancattlemen.ca

market talk with Gerald Klassen

Feeder cattle-marketing strategies

I

’ve received many inquiries over the past couple weeks 2013 was at $156. Producers can count on a $5/cwt to $8/ regarding the market outlook for feeder cattle. While cwt price increase for 800-pound steers between September feed grain prices continue to trade near historical highs, and December. prices for replacement cattle have remained rather firm If 650-pound steers are currently selling for $150 and the throughout the fall period. Many producers are asking if expected price for 800-pound steers is $140, the cow-calf they should sell earlier or wait until later in fall or early producer has to put on 150 pounds for $145. If you can winter. Forage supplies are quite plentiful across Western background because you have forage available and costs are Canada and many cow-calf operators have the option to less then $0.96/lb. gain, then it is feasible. background their calves or place them in a professional The feeder cattle futures are pointing to higher prices backgrounding operation. With the recent technological in early spring because this is when the fed market usually advances in implants, many feedlot operations are more makes seasonal highs. Restaurant and retail beef demand willing to buy lighter-weight calves as well. In this article, I usually peaks about this time and then tapers off. Fedwill discuss marketing strategies for the cow-calf operator. cattle prices tend to drift lower from April through June as The two major factors influencing the price of feeder reflected in the live cattle futures and so the feeder market cattle is the expected selling price when they are fat and also comes under pressure. I’m also expecting barley prices the price of feed grain inputs. The barley outlook is bullto reach fresh historical highs next April so this will temish (refer to the September 2012 issue) therefore, I want per the upside for replacement cattle. April 2013 live cattle to briefly look at the fed-cattle market. Feeding cattle is futures are near contract highs near $137 but March 2013 a pure competitive market so feedlot managers usually feeder cattle futures are $10 below contract highs trading at bid up the price of feeder cattle until there is no margin the $154 area. This is the feed grain influence because the or a small loss for feeding. CurMarch feeders should also be at rent break-even prices for Alberta contract highs as the two contracts feedlots on 850-pound steers that usually move in tandem.

Producers with yearlings will be marketed in December are There are a couple strategies in the range of $124/cwt to $126/ for producers if the feed 800 pounds plus should sell graincow-calf cwt on a live weight basis. At the market gets out of control time of writing this article, Alberta and skyrockets. First, producers now instead of holding and packers were buying fed cattle at could buy some call options on the feeding to heaveir weights. $110/cwt. December live cattle corn futures market. Feeder cattle futures are near $130 while the will obviously struggle to move Very seldom do I notice that April contract is trading at $136; higher if barley or corn prices rise June live cattle futures are closer to by $50 to $100/mt from current feedlots have bid up the $133. The current Alberta basis is levels. Cow-calf producers should price of feeder cattle above extremely weak, due to the strong also look at placing their calves Canadian dollar but even with a in a custom feedlot for finishing. a loss of $40 per head as normal basis, fed prices in DecemIf the costs are feasible, there may ber will likely be about $120, on be an opportunity to get a slightly they enter the feedlot the top side of my price projection. higher overall return if the feeders Producers can expect fed cattle in Alberta to sell in the range will be fat in late March or April. Finally, if you have sufof $123 to $130 in March and April. ficient numbers, it may be prudent to sell some feeders now, From the market structure mentioned above, producers background a certain amount yourself and also place some with yearlings 800 pounds plus should sell now, instead of in a custom feedlot. This will diversify your marketings so holding and feeding to a heavier weight. Very seldom do the price risk is not endured all at one time.

I notice that feedlots have bid up the price of feeder cattle One thing we have learned in the past is how the cattle above a loss of $40 per head at the time the feeders come market can sharply change within a six-month period. into the feedlot.

Assuming the futures markets are efficient and all available If you are a cow-calf operator with 650-pound-plus information is factored into the market, producers need to cattle, the feeder cattle futures need to be in focus for base decisions on the current price structure and then look your marketing strategy along with the expected fed-cattle for ways to diversify the marketing timetable. market next spring. At the time of writing this article, the October feeder cattle futures, (which is largely based on Gerald Klassen analyzes markets in Winnipeg and also maintains 800-pound feeders) was trading at $147; the November an interest in the family feedlot in southern Alberta. He can be contract was at $148; March 2013 was at $153 and May reached at jkci@mymts.net or 204-287-8268. www.canadiancattlemen.ca

Cattlemen / october 2012 51

SALES AND EVENTS EVENTS October

16-17—Livestock Gentec Conference, the Matrix Hotel, Edmonton, Alta., www.livestockgentec.com 26-27—22nd Annual Edam Fall Fair Commercial Cattle Show and Sale, Edam Community Centre, Edam, Sask.

30—Farm Animal Conference — Media Training, Saskatoon, Sask., www.facs.sk.ca

November

1-3—34th Stockade Roundup, Lloydminster Exhibition, Lloydminster, Alta.

1-4—Manitoba Livestock Expo, Keystone Centre, Brandon, Man. 2-11— Royal Winter Fair, Direct Energy Centre, Toronto, Ont. 3—2012 Ag for Life Harvest Gala, BMO Centre, Calgary, Alta.

3-11—Canadian Finals Rodeo, Expo Centre, Edmonton, Alta., www.canadianfinalsrodeo.com 5-10—Farmfair International, Rexall Place, Edmonton, Alta., www.farmfair.ca 7-10—Agri-trade, Westerner Park, Red Deer, Alta., www.agri-trade.com 7-10—Saskatoon Fall Fair, Prairieland Park, Saskatoon, Sask., www.saskatoonex.com 10-16—North American International Exposi-

AD INDEX Page Agriculture for Life 13 Beef Improvement Ontario 44 Canadian Angus Assoc.

IFC Canadian Charolais Assoc.

OBC Canadian Gelbvieh Assoc.

44 Canadian Hereford Assoc.

44 Canadian Limousin Assoc.

44 Canadian Red Angus Promotion Society 21 Canadian Shorthorn Assoc.

44 Canadian Simmental Assoc.

44 Canadian Welsh Black Society 41 Canadian Young Farmers’ Forum 45 Canfax Cattle Market Forum 47 Case-IH 8, 9 Direct Livestock Marketing 18 Farm Credit Canada 17 Frenchman Valley Cattle 43 Greener Pastures 46 International Stock Foods 44 John Deere Ag Marketing Center 15 Kubota Canada 23 Livestock Gentec 43 LLB Angus 18 Matchmakers Select 44 Merck Animal Health 7, 29, 37, IBC New Holland 19 Norheim Ranching 44 Pioneer Hi-Bred Ltd. 5 Ridley Block Ops/Crystalyx 31 Salers Assoc. of Canada 44 Scotiabank 11 Southern Alberta Livestock 45 Vermeer Corporation 27 Western Canadian Grazing 46 XL Foods 18 Xplornet 35

52 CATTLEMEN / OCTOBER 2012

tion, Kentucky Exposition Center, Louisville, Kentucky 13-14—Canfax Cattle Market Forum, Deerfoot Inn, Calgary, Alta.

15—Best of Canadian Agri-marketing Association Awards, Delta Bessborough, Saskatoon, Sask., www.bestofcama.com, www. cama.org 19-24—Canadian Western Agribition, Evraz Place, Regina, Sask., www.agribition.com 27-28—Manitoba Rancher's Forum, Victoria Inn, Brandon, Man. 28-29—Western Canadian Grazing Conference and Trade Show, Sheraton Hotel, Red Deer, Alta.

December

5—Advocates for Agriculture Communications Workshop, Saskatoon Inn, Saskatoon, Sask., www.facs.sk.ca 5-6—Farm Animal Council of Saskatchewan AGM, “Fence Lines to Corporate Board Rooms,” Saskatoon Inn, Saskatoon, Sask., www.facs.sk.ca 10-12—Canadian Forest and Grassland AGM and Conference, “Innovation in the Forage and Grassland Sector,” Radisson Plaza Mississauga, Toronto, Ont.

January 2013

3-22—107th National Western Stock Show, National Western Complex, Denver, Colorado 23-25—Saskatchewan Beef Industry Conference, Saskatoon Inn, Saskatoon, Sask.

29—Alberta Cattle Feeders AGM, Memorial Centre, Lacombe, Alta.

February

7-8—Manitoba Beef Producers AGM, Victoria Inn, Brandon, Man. 20-21—Ontario Cattlemen’s Association

AGM and Conference, Doubletree Inn, Toronto, Ont. 20-22—Alberta Beef Industry Conference, Fairmont Banff Springs, Banff, Alta.

SALES October

19-20—40th Annual Red Roundup Show and Sale, Westerner, Red Deer, Alta.

December

4—MJT Cattle Co. Ltd. — Hereford and Angus Dispersal, at the ranch, Edgerton, Alta.

15—Perrot-Martin Charolais Complete Herd Dispersal, at the farm, Niacam, Sask.

March 2013

2—Davidson Gelbvieh and Lonesome Dove Ranch 24th Annual Bull Sale, at their bull yards, Ponteix, Sask.  Event listings are a free service to industry.  Sale listings are for our advertisers.

Your contact is Deborah Wilson at 403-325-1695 or deb.wilson@fbcpublishing.com

L I V E S T O C K

C A R E

ALERT Help Line & Resource Team

To report livestock care concerns CALL

1-800-506-2273

afac.ab.ca

Supported by Alberta’s Livestock Industry

Canadian Simmental Association 2012-13 board of directors. Back row (l to r): Kelly Ashworth, Oungre, Sask.; Randy Mader (second vice-president), Carstairs, Alta.; Wes Mack, Estevan, Sask.; John Sullivan, Kazabazua, Que. Front row (l to r): Kara Enright, Tweed, Ont.; Ron Nolan (president) Markdale, Ont.; Deanne Young, Breton, Alta.; Lacey Fisher, Amherst, N.S. Missing: Fraser Redpath (first vice-president), Mather, Man. www.canadiancattlemen.ca

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