(GALLERY) 59-year-old charged with slaughtering sick and injured cattle and selling uninspected beef
A 59-year-old man from Wheatland County is facing a long list of charges.
In November of last year, reports came in regarding a man who was slaughtering sick and injured cattle, selling uninspected meat and then unlawfully disposing of the dead cattle.
Alberta Agriculture Inspections and Investigation Section (IIS), Wheatland County and the RCMP Livestock Investigation Unit (LIU) were involved in the arrest and shutting down of the operation.
Guardians of the Grasslands game teaches students about the role cattle play in protecting a key resource
The documentary "Guardians of the Grasslands" has now evolved into an online game for students in Grade 7 to 10.
Students in Alberta will be the first to experience the online grazing simulation game which focuses on the ecosystem services provided by raising cattle on grasslands.
Amie Peck, manager of public and stakeholder engagement with the Canadian Cattle Association says they had excellent uptake with the film in classrooms.
Skyline Dairy Ltd wins Milk Quality Award
The Grunthal area dairy owned by David and Charles Wiens was recognized as Grand Champion of the Dairy Farmers of Manitoba’s Milk Quality awards.
The farm is the first robotic dairy in the province to win such high honours and achieved an average somatic cell count (SCC) of under 57,000.
In the spring of 2022 Skyline Dairy upgraded its operation to four DeLaval VMS V300 units moving from the VMS Classic robots they had been using since 2008.
Feeder cattle prices see an increase
The latest Canfax report shows the number of cattle on feed in Saskatchewan and Alberta is down.
According to the report the number of cattle on feed as of February 1st was at 1,049,686 head down from the January 1st number of 1,087,813 head.
Last week 7,779 head of cattle went through Saskatchewan Auction Marts, that's down from the 9,400 head marketed during the same week last year.
Prices for Saskatchewan feeder steers and heifers last week were up from the previous week.
Ottawa called on to implement railway interswitching zones
Challenges and breakdowns in Canada's supply chain became evident during the pandemic.
Minister of Transport, Omar Alghabra, established a National Supply Chain Task Force to examine the key issues affecting supply chain operations.
The Task Force's mandate was to produce recommendations on how we can make our transportation supply chain stronger.
In the agriculture sector, a key challenge has been trying to get raw commodities to port in a timely fashion.
Funding is available for employers hiring youth in the ag sector
On Monday, Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced $13 million for the Youth Employment and Skills Program, to help support approximately 1200 jobs for youth in the ag sector.
She says the program helps to eliminate barriers to employment by providing meaningful work opportunities for youth wanting to pursue a career in agriculture.
The Youth Employment and Skills Program offers support for 50 per cent of wages to a maximum of $14,000 to agriculture employers hiring youth.
An Alberta farmer and aerial applicator charged with improper pesticide use in Alberta
The province has filed charges against Douglas Alf Larson and Bravo #1 Aerial Application Ltd. for not following Alberta pesticide regulations and environmental legislation.
The two are alleged to have applied a pesticide on August 30, 2021 in a way that did not follow the directions on the pesticide label and without a valid registration.
Both Larson and the company are facing nine charges:
- seven charges for contravening the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act
- one charge for contravening the Pesticide (Ministerial) Regulation
PMRA urged to reconsider label changes for lambda-cyhalothrin
Saskatchewan and Alberta are urging the Pest Management Regulatory Agency to reconsider its decision to restrict the use of lambda-cyhalothrin (products like Silencer and Matador) in controlling grasshoppers and flea beetles.
Grasshoppers are expected to be a significant concern for the 2023 growing season.
The PMRA changes mean lambda-cyhalothrin can no longer be used for any crop that may end up as livestock feed and as a result, its manufacturers have pulled their products from Western Canada.
Province announces changes for the 2023 Crop Insurance program
New for this year, Saskatchewan Crop Insurance customers will see an Individual Premium calculated for each crop they insure.
Agriculture Minister David Marit says the individual premium is unique to each farm and is calculated independently for each crop.
"This means a producer's claim on one crop does not impact their premium for a different crop. Producers will see these individual premiums be more reflective of what they are experiencing on their own farm."
CN Rail reporting strong weekly grain shipments for February
CN says overall grain shipment performance for the start of 2023 has been strong.
David Przednowek, CN's Assistant Vice-President of Grain says so far in February, they set record shipments for individual grain weeks of 667,000 tonnes in week 27, 589,000 tonnes for week 28 and over 630,000 tonnes moved for week 29.