Green Party would propose a ban live animal exports from Canada

Just wanted to point out the Green Party's answer to and animal welfare survey sent to each party by the World Society for the Protection of Animals.

What amendments to the regulations would your party propose?
Specifically, we would implement legislation that incorporates the following measures:
- Transport by road of animals destined for slaughter or further fattening to be limited to 8 hours or 500 km.
- The use of electric prods; clubs and other inappropriate weapons should be banned.
- A ban on live animal exports from Canada.

Taken from http://www.wspa.ca/voteforanimals/green.html
To date, all parties with the exception of the Conservatives have responded to the survey.

Attention aspiring cow artists

If you are an aspiring artist and need a venue to sell your work, have a look at CowArtandMore.com. Gallery owner Kathy Swift (a veterinarian and creator of jewelry sold on the site) says the website is where "art and agriculture meet".  The site offers paintings, graphics, glass, ceramics, photography and more and ships world-wide. Looks like there's room for more beef related treasures!

"Cow" art is one of those things that is always handy to have on hand for international guests, wedding presents and for that hard-to-buy-for someone in your life. Maybe a category for art should be started on the Everything Angus Market??? If you have an available Angus-related inventory, contact us and we'd be glad to give you a free promo or two. The next Ross Butler or Frank Murphy may be out there just waiting to be discovered . . .

Enough snow already!

Spring storms with blowing snow which are predicted across parts of the prairies will not be welcome this busy sale weekend. Reports say there is already more snow in parts of Saskatchewan than has been seen in over 50 years. Here's hoping the storm watch fades and everyone has safe travels and great sales.
This photo is from Connie Delorme at Robsart, SK (70 km south of Maple Creek) a few days ago. When the big melt comes, get out your hip waders!

You can see the stop sign, but where's the road?

Free Angus Classifieds & Breeder Directory in the Angus Market

Be sure to check out the improved Everything Angus classifieds at the new Angus Market - you'll find everything from upcoming sales, live cattle, semen & embryos to real estate and services. If you have something to sell, trade or offer that would be of interest to Angus breeders in Canada, this is the place to start. And it's all FREE - brought to you by Everything Angus & Angus World.

Why free? We are Angus breeders too. Every once in a while isn't it nice to get something for nothing for a change? We think so, and hope you use and enjoy.

Welcome to AngusCanada.ca (almost)

You may notice a few new logos appearing in the websites EverythingAngus.com, AngusWebMail.ca & AngusWorld.ca as we prepare to launch our new consolidated website aptly named AngusCanada.ca. The completed site will truly be "One location. One click. Everything Angus." Well, several clicks to be truthful, but all from the same starting page.

We've been working for quite some time to get a new "Angus Market" with free classifieds (up to 4 photos and 100 words) and a Breeder Directory (1 photo & 50 words) and it's almost complete - in English with French to be available. Just a few server inconsistencies yet to figure out and it is ready to roll.

Also included will be a new calendar format where more details about your events can be included. Both the Angus Market and Angus Calendar have been configured to help promote your events to the Angus world - and all for free.

Of course, all this software and work does have a cost, so we would like to thank those breeders and companies who have supported our sites with paid advertising, Angus Webmail, e-Catalogues & ads (now called e-Features). This is what keeps us going in the wee hours of the night along with countless cups of coffee. The integration of all our sites means these ads & features will now appear on ALL of them for maximum exposure.

We will make an announcement when the site goes live so get prepared now. List the semen & embryos you may have available, dust off those show supplies that have been sitting around unused, or get ready to advertise your next litter of puppies. If it is of interest to Angus Breeders in Canada, you can list it on the Everything Angus Market. Hope to see you using it soon!

You can help - please vote

You may have previously read of the work by Gloria Fantin (G A Fantin Services, Alberta Beef) rescuing and relocating parrots at the World Parrot Refuge located on Vancouver Island. The refuge provides a permanent home for pet parrots that have been abandoned or can no longer be looked after by their owners. The Pepsi Refresh Project (www.refresheverything.ca) is offering funds to proposals which receive the most votes, and the Parrot rescue is one of those in the running for $25,000 - which would help feed the sanctuary's 800+ birds for about 6 months.

You can help by registering on the site and voting for the refuge. While there are lots of worthwhile projects in the running for a variety of funds, the World Parrot Refuge is certainly worth supporting. You can vote for them at: www.refresheverything.ca/helpfeedtherefugeparrots. Vote daily!

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.