Series of Alberta meetings to tackle beef cattle production issues

Oct 20, 2017

Meetings run from Oct. 23 to Nov. 2

By Diego Flammini
News Reporter
Farms.com

Beef producers in Alberta will have the chance to network with and learn from industry professionals during a series of seminars over the next two weeks.

Beginning Oct. 23, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry will host 10 seminars across the province titled ”Tools to Build Your Cow Herd.”

The workshops feature a variety of speakers, including Barry Yaremcio, a beef and forage specialist with Alberta Agriculture. His presentation will focus on the province’s current feed situation.

“In the southern half of the province and in the north Peace Region, there are feed shortages,” he told Farms.com today.

“My presentation will discuss managing the feed that farmers do have, how to use it efficiently, how to use feedstuffs that aren’t normally considered (by producers) and if they can make it through the winter.

“Farmers need to do a balancing act between how much feed they have, how many cattle they have, and if they need to cull or sell any. Or it may be better for a farmer to move their cows to let someone else feed them.”

John Basarab, a beef research scientist with Alberta Agriculture, will discuss genetic tools for commercial herds.

Brian Campbell, a technical support manager for DSM Nutritional Products, will talk to producers about vitamin requirements for cattle. And farmers should find Campbell’s talk especially useful, Yaremcio said.

“A lot of problems we saw last spring with weak and sick calves were related to weather, but also to nutrition and vitamin supplementation,” he said. “Farmers can find out when vitamins are important and what they do.”

The seminars will also feature a local veterinarian to speak with farmers about changes to animal care practices, including needing a veterinarian/farmer relationship before being able to purchase antibiotics.

The Tools to Build Your Cow Herd seminars will kick off Oct. 23 in Lethbridge and run each weekday until Nov. 2.

Producers interested in attending the seminars must register beforehand.

Tools to Build Your Cow Herd
All seminars run from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Date	Location
Oct. 23	Lethbridge College
Oct. 24	Olds College
Oct. 25	Pollockville Community Hall
Oct. 26	Lakeland College
Oct. 27	Warburg Community Hall
Oct. 30	Thorhild Community Hall
Oct. 31	Valleyview Community Hall
Nov. 1	Spirit River Community Hall
Nov. 2	Manning Community Hall
Nov. 2	La Crete Community Hall This seminar begins at 4:30 p.m. and runs until 9:00 p.m.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.