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DO TRANSPORT REST STOPS PUT CALF HEALTH AT RISK?

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency revised the Transportation of Animals regulations a few years ago. Among other things, the revised regulations require longer and more frequent feed, water and rest stops during long-haul transport. Over the past few years, this column has summarized three research trials conducted by Karen Schwartzkopf-Genswein’s team at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Lethbridge Research Station. Those results repeatedly demonstrated that rest stops during long-haul transport do not provide measurable benefits for recently weaned beef calves.

In fact, new data suggests that those rest stops may pose a risk to calves. Nasal samples were collected and tested for respiratory bacteria during the three trials. The first results from those analyses have just been published (“Auction market placement and a rest stop during transportation affect the respiratory bacterial microbiota of beef cattle”; doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1192763).

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SO MANY RAMS! Who Will Be This Year's Flock Sires?

Video: SO MANY RAMS! Who Will Be This Year's Flock Sires?

Breeding season has begun at Ewetopia Farms! ?? Today we’re choosing flock sires for our Suffolk and Dorset sheep. We bring out each ram one by one, explaining why we selected him to join the breeding groups. Two of these rams are extra special — they were born here in 2023, which was our “L” year, and we’ll need your help choosing names for them!