A sneak peek of Atlantic Beef Fall 2011



The sound of silence
Atlantic Beef appreciates good communication from New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, thanks to Rinnie Bradley, Hugh Harmon, Guy LeBlanc and Les Halliday. John Duynisveld at Nappan does a bang-up job for the feds with his “Letter From Nappan,” and “Pasture Notes.” From Nova Scotia there’s been the sound of silence.
There is a two-fold purpose behind provincial reports. First comes informing farmers and other stakeholders . . .



Market opens in Asia
Vietnam has become the first Asian market since 2003 to accept live Canadian breeding cattle, sheep, and goats. Canada will now be able to compete in the Vietnamese live ruminant market, worth nearly $50 million. Vietnam’s animal health department gave formal approval for Canadian export health certificates for live cattle and live goats and sheep this summer and trade is expected. . .



Great season for cow-calf farmers
Good grass, great prices auger well
by Sean Firth
A decent summer for prices and excellent grazing may make for a great end to 2011 for cow-calf producers look for a good run of fall prices for all classes of cattle. Slaughter cows continue the strong run of 2011, with a current average good cow price of 59 cents/lb liveweight, up over 20 percent from 2010 prices. The combination of lower. . .



This butcher comes fully equipped
An Australian portable abattoir, cold room and all
This past summer, through an international volunteer program called HelpX, two young people found us on the Internet and came to give us two week’s help around the place. In exchange for their working four hours a day, we provided room and board. Rosie and Chris came from Australia and Ontario respectively. They have been together several years, having met. . .



Grain harvest underway
by Les Halliday
Old Home Week (OHW) is firmly in the rear view mirror as we head into the fall harvest season. It is a time to reflect on what was probably the toughest hay and silage season ever, and look ahead to what might be in store for the winter. I remember hearing a spring weather report that predicted a hot dry summer for the Maritimes, and even by mid. . .



Cape John Pasture Field Day
Getting the most out of grass
by Olivia Finley
A cool salt mist greeted visitors to the Cape John Community Pasture on the morning of June 10. Beef producers, researchers, scientists, industry representatives, and government officials all showed up in their windbreakers and ball caps for the Cape John Community Pasture Field Day. The N.S. Department of Agriculture, the N.S. Cattle Producers, Agrapoint, the. . .



GrowSafe at Nappan?
Intelligent system measures feed efficiency
by Nina Linton
Directors of the Maritime Beef Test Station (MBTS) in Nappan, Nova Scotia, hope their facility will be the next to add GrowSafe Beef™ (GSB) and GrowSafe Feed Intake and Behavior Monitoring technology to their bag of tricks for measuring feed efficiecy among yearling bulls. The technology is currently in use in more than 60 academic and research. . .



Pasture management
What you get reflects what you do
by John Duynisveld
Managing pastures can have many benefits for you as a farmer: a longer grazing season, more production per acre, more opportunity to push groups of high needs cattle (i.e. grass finishing, show cattle), and believe it or not, reduced labor. However, managed grazing takes both time to learn and time to effect. . .



OLD HOME WEEK
by Nina Linton
The Old Home Week Beef Show has changed little since its inception. Yes, breeds have been added and entry numbers have bobbed up and down over the decades, but as a whole the Charlottetown event continues to exude the spirit of friendly competition and camaraderie on which it was founded, still drawing local breeders to bring their. . .



Saving our soils
Kennebecasis committee restores valuable watersheds
by George Fullerton
Ken Lisson has spent his life on the Kennebecasis River, and he has watched good soils from his farm disappear down it. Lisson grew up on a farm on the north side of the river, just downstream from Sussex, New Brunswick. He and his wife, Carolyn, have a 140-acre dairy farm just a few miles further downstream, on the south side of the river at Apohaqui. Over. . .



Support growing for Island beef
by Rinnie Bradley
As I write this article, the country has just received the sad news that Jack Layton, leader of the federal New Democratic Party, has passed away. Regardless of party colors, one cannot help but feel that we have lost someone very special. I’m sure Canadians will agree that Layton was passionate about. . .



Herd health project funding approved
by Hugh Harmon
The Board of NBCP has met several times over the last few months. We have some exciting projects underway over the next year. We are happy to say that the Bull Bonus Program is in place again for 2011. As of the date of writing this article, we have not been able to confirm the Heifer Retention program. We are continuing to work on it and are hoping for a positive outcome. Our application for the Herd Health II project has been approved and the. . .



Test Station future uncertain
Summer is drawing to an end as this article is written. It’s time for the children to go back to school and everyone to get back into a routine. Here at the Test Station, preparations are beginning for the upcoming Winter Test Program. Applications and entry forms for the bulls and heifers have been mailed out for the upcoming test and we hope they reach every producer interested in placing an. . .



CCA meets with Ministers
Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) President Travis Toews and Manager of Federal Provincial Relations Ryder Lee attended the annual summer meeting of Federal, Provincial, and Territorial (FPT) Ministers of Agriculture in Saint Andrews, New Brunswick on July 6. During a roundtable discussion, the CCA clearly identified the three priorities for agriculture in Canada: creating value for producers, improving



Year-round grazing
Key strategies from Nappan
by John Duynisveld
The past several months have marked a fairly significant change in the management of our beef herd at AAFC Nappan. We are shifting from a largely winter calving (January-February) beef cow herd, with some summer calving, to a spring calving herd, with most calves expected in the last week of April and early May. The goal is to reduce beef herd. . .



Improving the herd
Changes to the enhancement initiative
by Guy LeBlanc
I am very happy to report that the Department will once again be offering financial assistance for beef producers wanting to improve their beef herds. Just as last year, all the beef components of the Livestock Genetic Enhancements Initiative are again available. These include the Beef Herd Renewal, Elite Sire, Elite Cow, and Elite Embryo Components. There are, however, a. . .



Charolais in Charlottetown
CCA AGM comes east
by Nina Linton
“I know a lot of people thought we would never make it but we are here after 52 years,” said the Canadian Charolais Association’s (CCA) General Manager Neil Gillies. He was addressing a capacity crowd in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, during the first CCA annual general meeting held in Atlantic Canada since the Calgary-based breed registry’s inception in 1960. “I know this part of the world has. . .


Managing manure
It’s all in the nuance
by Wayne Riley
Keith Fuller’s computer begins to squeal and squawk like a dial-up connection. The soil scientist smiles. “That’s my field calling,” he says. The caller is a data collection unit in a field of corn, wheat, soybeans, and forages behind the Atlantic Food and Horticulture Research Centre in Kentville, Nova Scotia. Numbers appear on the screen. They are latest measurements on the flow of. . .