There is not much in the world prettier than the cold morning sun hitting untouched snow. I’m not much of a skier or snowmobiler, but the sheer beauty of the glitter of a million diamonds under a late sunrise is impossible to deny, even for the most begrudging of winter enthusiasts.

It was late afternoon, and the thin layer of frail gray clouds that had made their first appearance that morning before sunrise still hung low in the sky. I knew I had barely an hour of daylight left, and I also knew that there was no way I’d finish my fence repair project before dusk overtook me.

John Smith and his wife, Laura Laing, recipients of Alberta’s 2025 Environmental Stewardship Award, are the third generation on their 450-head cow-calf operation west of Nanton, Alberta. John’s maternal grandparents, John and Shirley Hay, started the ranch in 1959.

During calving season, your herd transitions through parturition to become a lactating herd. The physiological changes during calving, not to mention the strain of parturition, require a significant amount of energy and are quite remarkable.

JPD Angus in Oro-Medonte, Ontario, grew into a family operation through evenings after long off-farm workdays and weekends spent raising Angus cattle.

Cow-calf producers often rely on calving systems shaped by their own experience or from the trusted advice of respected peers within the industry. These approaches can be highly individual and reflect a wide range of influencing factors, including regional climate conditions, herd size, available facilities and management goals.

Although cattle can survive for a limited time without water, even short-term deprivation leads to declines in feed intake and health risks, particularly increasing mortality hazards and affecting fetal development during winter.

BRSV is a common cause of respiratory illness in calves. It can have lasting and even deadly effects. Prevention is the only effective measure to control it.

As one season wanes and another somehow, almost imperceptibly, creeps into my consciousness and then into my reality, I’m often given to moments of reflection. First of all, especially in the transition from summer to autumn, I’m quite often rudely reminded by the weather and the ever-shortening days that there remains a very long list of things I failed to get done over the summer.