LAKELAND - Calving season has arrived for many livestock producers in the Lakeland, with new, young calves sticking closer to their mothers.
At the Rondeau Ranch, the first calf of 2023 was born at the end of February. Since then, newborn calves have been making an appearance on a weekly and sometimes daily basis.
Albert Rondeau runs his roughly 100-heard cattle operation southeast of the Town of Bonnyville.
This spring has been fairly decent for cattle producers, according to Rondeau. Despite a long and at times harsh winter, the spring thaw quickly came and went.
With snow melting fast, it resulted in better health outcomes for calves, said Rondeau. An increase in cattle prices are also a welcome change after eight years of unfavourable prices for producers.
In February, Alberta had the second-highest price for cattle compared to other provinces 2023, at $176.40 per hundredweight, according to the Government of Alberta's website. "Calf prices increased 29.3 per cent year-over-year in February 2023 to $236.31 per hundredweight."
The last few years have seen many livestock producers thinning out their herd. Rondeau attributes this to challenges faced by producers, among them being the prevalence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and years of bad cattle prices.
Producers who rely on purchasing feed have also been hit hard due to bad growing season felt across the Prairies in 2021.