Guard your RFID credit cards

RFID technology is very familiar to cattle breeders, and it could become popular with electronic thieves with nasty intentions as well. Watch this video and then check your credit cards to be in the know and on guard. Part One can be viewed HERE. Be sure to watch Part 2 HERE (where it says 2 RFID credit cards can cancel out each other's signal). Thanks to Val for passing this on.

MVF Dispersal is now history

501 lots, 600 head and 8.5 hours later and the MVF Complete Dispersal is now history. The Virden Auction Mart was SRO (standing room only) from the beginning of the sale and almost to the end. Buyers from across Canada, the US and overseas. Complete details will follow.

Off to the MVF Dispersal

A dispersal with the depth of quality and quantity found in the Mountain View Farms herd doesn't happen very often. So I will soon be off to beautiful downtown Virden, Manitoba (leaving the cows at home in very capable hands) to join the many others who make the trek to watch Canadian Angus history in the making. 77 years in the Angus business is quite an achievement and deserves a proper celebration!
Hope to see many of you there and that the weather cooperates. If by chance you are driving a trailer from Alberta to Virden, there's a wee miniature donkey in need of a ride at Cooke Livestock. See the classifieds at EverythingAngus.com for details if you can help out.

Canada's first fully-featured app for ag news

Now available for BlackBerry smartphones and soon for iPhone and Android platforms: Canadian farmers can now track weather, futures markets and agriculture news on their smartphones using a free mobile application from Farm Business Communications. Find out more HERE.

Wine fed cows get the green light

It is being reported on The Province Blog and in Country Life that innovative Sezmu Meats has gotten the green light from CFIA to continue providing their unique wine-fed beef. Good to hear - mmmm - Angus beef self-marinated in wine . . . Read the blog HERE.

Apologies . . .

You may have noticed updates being a bit tardy on Everything Angus lately and please accept apologies for that. Much of the past two weeks has been spent transitioning to a professional email service for Everything Angus Web Mail announcements. Over the summer major changes were made to the majority of Internet Service Provider spam settings which forced the move. Keeping up with technology is a full time job requiring a degree to just be able to understand the terminology used (not gonna happen here!) so the best move was to work with the experts.
The bulk of the change has now been made and after a good night's sleep, things should be back to normal.

Watch for one other upcoming change to the Everything Angus Classifieds and Calendar. The soon to be launched site section will offer a self-serve buy-and-sell solution to Angus breeders, and all for free!

"Steer Your Deere"

If you're into tractors AND computer games you can try out "Steer Your Deere" on Agriculture.com to "Navigate a John Deere 8R Series tractor down an obstacle-strewn path" and try out the new ACS steering system (do people actually buy brand new tractors???) You can play it HERE. 
Hint: forget the obstacles and go for the ACS so you can actually steer!

Missouri agriculture fights back

You might want to check out the latest in a series of videos produced by Missourians for Animal Care to combat the agenda of the Humane Society of the United States (a society that collects big bucks while not operating a single shelter or adoption agency). The video was produced to help fight propose legislation that would "impose detrimental economic consequences for our Missouri farming and agriculture communities" - a subject that will require more and more attention in the future, as you can be sure it will not stop with one state.

Photos from the Tall Ship Silva

Thanks to Jeanne & Betty Lou for forwarding these photos from the President's Reception aboard the Tall Ship Silva during the CAA AGM in Halifax.

CAA Board of Directors

The CAA Board of Directors for the upcoming year:
President - Kirk Wildman (AB); Vice-President - David Bolduc (AB); Past-President - John Donaldson (QC)
Directors - Frank Strimbold (BC); Lee Brown, Cecile Fleming, Gary Latimer (AB); Kevin Blair, Shane Castle, Roger Hardy, Laird Senft (SK); Lois McRae (MB); Tom McDonald (ON); Jim Colody (Maritimes)

Saturday at the CAA AGM

It was a busy day at the meetings in Halifax. Bill Carr was the early morning speaker and his comedic and entertaining speech got everyone ready for the day.

Three breakout sessions were held for the rest of the morning with attendees taking in two of the three. Topics were Canadian Angus Rancher Endorsed the Maritime experience, Connecting the producer to the retailer and consumer and Genetic Defects.

Financial reports and resolutions from the floor took the afternoon. Two motions were tabled. The first was to recommend that the board of directors reconsider their decision to possibly allow green tags to be sold to producers with unregistered seedstock. This motion passed.

The second resolution was to recommend that the board of directors allow the registration of cattle with genetic defects. This motion was defeated.

In the evening the awards were handed out. Erica Easton was named the new Angus Ambassador and was selected from a strong group of 5 contestants. Congratulations! (picture above).

Two families were in attendance to accept their 50 years of breeding Angus awards. The Frank Slezina family and the Loanes were the recipients.

Two of this years honorary president's were also in attendance to accept their pins. Gary Harron and Hilda Colodey were the Ontario and Maritimes recipients.

Posted by Tim Dixon for Everything Angus On the Road.

Friday at the CAA AGM

28 degrees and sunshine made for a perfect day for sightseeing to the Annapolis Valley. The directors had a long day of meetings as much was discussed.
Delegates from all across Canada and the US were led by a piper from the Westin hotel down the road to Murphy's on the water for the ambassador speeches a delicious meal and entertainment to conclude the evening.

Alberta president Colton Hamilton eagerly awaits his lobster dinner.

CEO Doug Fee is dressed in the proper attire for a lobster meal.


posted by Tim Dixon for Everything Angus On the Road.

Maritime Junior Show & Field Day

Great weather and a good crowd at the Maritime Angus Junior Show & Field Day.
Champion Heifer exhibited by Ellen Dixon, Cornwall, PE; owned by Bannockburn Valley Farm, Cornwall, PE.
Reserve Champion Heifer owned & exhibited by Colby MacQuarrie, PE.
Judge: Kirk Wildman, Sangudo, AB.
As reported via Tim Dixon

Gearing up for the Halifax AGM

Angus attention will soon turn to the CAA Annual Meeting in Halifax. First on the agenda will be the Maritime Field Day and Junior Show followed by the many AGM activities (rumors abound regarding a tall ship). For those unable to attend, EA On The Road will bring you updates and photos as President John Donaldson convenes this important event. Thanks to Tim Dixon for being our eyes and ears in the Maritimes.
Halifax weather watch:

Foot & Mouth outbreaks causing concern

The World Organization for Animal Health database is reporting an increase of Foot and Mouth disease in some parts of the world and politicians in Japan have made it's eradication a high priority. In fact organizers cancelled the 2010 sold out Ironman Japan scheduled for June 13 at Goto Nagasaki due to the threat of FMD. Goto is a predominantly agricultural area and organisers say they cannot risk the devastation that an outbreak would cause to the local economy. Some countries have also banned imports of Japanese meat products with the outbreak being called the worst in Japan's history.
The WAHID website database states the total number of animals destroyed to date in Japan at 149,322 (21,893 cattle) with the investigation continuing. China and Korea also have continuing events concerning FMD, along with others where it is classified as an endemic disease.
Statistics by country can be found HERE.

"If I had to get a job to pay for the farm, I might as well just get a job"

Words of wisdom from Grade 11 student Wyatt Hanson, Hansons Ranches, Airdrie, AB & a member of the Canadian Junior Angus Association. Wyatt was one of many concerned young farmers who participated in the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food hearings on the Future of Farming being held across Canada. Read the entire story from the Airdrie Echo HERE.

Last time for snow - promise! (maybe)

If you've heard the news you know that parts of southern Alberta are once again white - will this never end? Two weeks ago it was +28 and now it is +2. Nothing like Alberta weather.
However, snow is wet and moisture was badly needed with more rain predicted.

More snow!

Can you believe it? It's snowing again. Not quite the amount we had last week, but loads of wind as well. But moisture and mud are still most welcome.
How about in your part of the country?

Wild Prairie weather once again

It may be spring in the rest of the country but right now in parts of Alberta it looks more like the middle of winter. Nothing unusual for these parts and moisture in any form is mostly welcome, although snow is not great for commercial operations calving right now.
Reports say that areas needing it most have received a mixture of rain and snow (10 mm for Stettler area), with the effect of the storm system reaching east to Manitoba. Parts of Saskatchewan are expecting up to 50 mm of rain, with even more in Manitoba. Bring on the mud . . .
The power is flicking on and off and internet connections are down (with the good ol' portable internet stick to the rescue once again) as heavy, wet snow plays havoc with towers and wires.

Ken Munton makes Vulcan Advocate Front Page

Unfortunately, this claim to fame is because his cattle shed collapsed in the strong winds that have plagued most of Western Canada lately. Full story available HERE.
Copy as appears below:

Ken Munton inspects damage done to his open front cattle shed on Friday morning after strong winds the day before tore half the structure's roof off and collapsed much of the rest. He was in Calgary to see his granddaughter at the time of the incident, and found the mess when he returned to his acreage, which is located east of Vulcan. None of his livestock was hurt in the incident, and although Munton has wind insurance, it was too soon to estimate the total cost of the damage. Bill McMurtry, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said that wind gusts in surrounding areas, like Claresholm and Lethbridge, were reaching upwards of the 90 kilometre per hour range during Thursday's storm, which then moved over to Saskatchewan, where that province was hit by 115 kilometre per hour wind gusts, McMurtry said. Simon Ducatel photo

Parrot rescue mission flies West Jet

Besides working for Alberta Beef (and updating EA on the best Angus beef served in Calgary) Gloria Fantin is very involved in parrot rescue and education. She and a couple other parrot lovers recently made the news while flying their feathered friends via West Jet to Vancouver Island.
If you ever have a question about the birds, Gloria is a fountain of information!

Alberta Angus Association Meets at Last!

Second attempt was a charm for the Alberta Angus Association annual meeting (the first scheduled date in December was cancelled due to weather). Attendance was down some due to calving and other commitments as AAA President Darren Hipkin chaired the procedings. An interested group listened to good financial news all round - both from the Alberta Association and regarding the World Angus Forum.

New directors elected to the Alberta Board were Carolyn Congdon, Blake McMillan and Richard Latimer. Laurie Hunter and Ricki Fleming were re-elected for another term. Doug Newton retired from the board and was thanked for his service.

Ben MacLeod is this year's Honourary President. Doug Reid was honoured with the Cecile Fleming Spirit of Angus Award for his service to the Association and the successful Alberta WAF bid. John Lee also received a special WAF belt buckle from the Alberta Association for his dedication as the WAF Chairman. Emily Pugh won the Dorothy Banks scholarship.

Two Canadian Directors from Alberta had terms that were up and both Cecilie Fleming and Gary Latimer were acclaimed to another 3 year term.

Notes: Many of the usual awards will be made later in the year - Breed Builder, Contemporary Breeder, 25 year awards, etc. Talk around the coffee urn and lunch table centered around the fantastic showing from Canadian cattle and breeders south of the border.

WAF momentum carries over to Denver

The interest and momentum created by the World Angus Forum 2009 in Canada has carried over to the Denver National Western Stock Show with reports of high interest and great sales of Canadian genetics filtering in. The showing by Canadians thus far has been extraordinary - all four Grand Champions in the Red Show were exhibited and/or bred by Canadian breeders. The Black Bull Show saw two division winners including the Reserve Grand Champion.
UPDATE: Capping off this success was Soo Line Cattle Co. winning Grand Champion in the Black Angus Pen Show.
Kinda makes you get just a little bit excited about where Canadian genetics can go from here, doesn't it?
Links to all the results can be found at EverythingAngus.com