(ID 226357669 © Jeff Whyte Dreamstime.com)

By Alice McFarlane

Agriculture Roundup

Agriculture Roundup for Monday April 4, 2022

Apr 4, 2022 | 9:38 AM

MELFORT, Sask. – The University of Calgary is concerned people are mixing a powerful drug to sedate horses and cattle.

Professor of veterinary medicine Nigel Caulkett said xylazine produces a deep state of sedation that affects cardiovascular function and can induce vomiting.

The animal tranquillizer is already causing concern in the United States and results from a drug-testing site in Canada show it’s becoming more common north of the border.

In Alberta, there have been seven deaths between January 2019 and March 2022 where xylazine was detected in low concentrations.

–

Responsive measures

Some Sask. farmers to get winter elk hunting permits next year to protect land

Mar 12, 2026

Buy Now, Pay Later!

Spring 2026 Early Buy Program

Mar 09, 2026

SARM Convention

Sask RMs gather to address come concerns

Mar 06, 2026

A handful of ranchers in B.C.’s Interior are getting ready to put their cattle near homes and infrastructure, where they’ll graze on grasslands to help reduce the wildfire risk later this summer.

It’s the third season for the pilot program led by the B.C. Cattlemen’s Association, which saw cattle corralled to feed on grasslands in targeted locations in the Okanagan and the Cranbrook area in southeast B.C.

Spokesperson Kevin Boon said grazing promotes new, green growth which doesn’t burn with the intensity of grasses left to grow taller that are more likely to light brush and trees on fire.

Boon said he hoped the project will serve as a model to scale up across B.C. in partnership with the province, ranchers, and local communities.

Amanda Miller is an ecologist working as a researcher on the project. She said they have a good monitoring protocol to assess how the grazing affects the surrounding environment, and they’ve found no negative ecosystem impacts so far.

She said in the last two seasons cattle have reduced growth at the grazing sites by about 30 per cent, which would slow the spread of a wildfire and lower the temperature.

–

Farmers on Prince Edward Island are expected to send their first shipments of table-stock potatoes to the United States this week following a crippling four-month ban.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued its final order on Friday, which cleared the way for imports from P.E.I. to resume.

Canada stopped sending potatoes to the U.S. in November after potato wart fungus was detected in several fields on the Island last fall.

P.E.I. Potato Board general manager Greg Donald said the U.S. move is welcomed because market demand for the potatoes is high.

But Donald said Island farmers will still face challenges in re-establishing export markets because of the transport and supply chain problems that have recently plagued several industries.

He also said farmers will face about a 25 per cent increase in the cost of production during the upcoming planting season because of higher fertilizer, fuel, and labour costs.

–

alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @farmnewsNOW