Success starts at birth. A recent BCRC webinar highlighted just how critical those early decisions are, from precalving management to colostrum intake and postnatal care. It’s about stacking small advantages, such as nutrition, environment, timing and intervention, right from the start.

Graeme Finn could have been happy raising cattle anywhere in the world, so long as there was grass to graze and land to improve. He and his family ended up raising cattle, grazing grass and improving land in the foothill country of western Alberta near the town of Madden.

Depending on the year, beef producers in western Canada notice their cattle rubbing and developing bare patches of hair during late winter or early spring. Although lice are often suspected, follow‑up checks by producers and veterinarians show that they are rarely the cause.

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) remains a leading health concern in Canadian feedlots. Currently, pen riders quietly surveying thousands of cattle daily are a feedlot’s main defence against this challenging disease.

BVD remains one of the most economically significant infectious diseases affecting cattle worldwide. While many producers vaccinate routinely, the virus can still circulate quietly within herds, reducing performance long before obvious clinical signs appear.

Whether up north in last summer’s ash or down south in the dust, winter feeding is nearing its end, and the need for a grazing plan is mounting. Year over year, producer efforts to balance grazing and growth will hopefully result in profitable calf crops as well as healthy grasslands.

Feeding cattle used to be a pen-and-paper business. Now, more producers are relying on cloud-based software to streamline operations, but hesitation remains, especially if internet access is limited.

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Located an hour north of the U.S. border near Coaldale, Alberta, U2 Quality Seedstock is a second-generation operation raising Angus and Red Angus cattle with a focus on traits that keep commercial cattlemen in business.