Farmers Fight

This video gave me goosebumps when I watched it!

BSE Discovered - Bad or Good?

Yesterday it was announced that a dairy cow in California tested positive for an atypical form of BSE, which means she probably developed it on her own rather than through infected feed.

The cow never entered the food chain and is no threat to humans whatsoever.

Here is a link to a Reuters article
In my humble opinion;
The world reacts negatively every time a new case is discovered, trades are stopped, relations squandered, markets drop, and a few less steaks are probably ate. Really though, finding these animals is a sign that the safeguards that have been established are working and that is a really, really good thing!

Here in Canada we have taken great steps in preventing an outbreak of BSE and according to the BSE Info website, “experts agree there is no risk of a BSE epidemic in Canada or USA”.
Our safeguards include;

• the removal of specified risk material (brain and spinal cord tissue) from the human food chain
• controlling imports from high risk countries
• testing high risk animals to monitor the prevalence of the disease
• a feed ban which prohibits feeding meat and bone meal made from ruminant animals to other ruminant animals. It also includes the removal of specified risk material from all animal feeds, pet food, and fertilizers.
• the Canadian Cattle Identification Program where all animals must be tagged with a registered ID tag before leaving its herd of origin, this allows for quick traceability, containment, and elimination if a threatening disease is discovered.

With all these things in effect it should be expected that a case is going to pop up here and there, especially if the disease can develop on it’s own, but we should also be rest assured that the disease is NOT going to enter our food chain or harm us. And every time we see a headline in the news talking about BSE being discovered in a cow (which is very, very seldom), we should be thankful that they are looking for it rather than scared that they found it.

And a little “food” for thought:
The odds of contracting the human form of mad cow disease is 1 in 40,000,000; the odds of choking on food and dying are 1 in 370,000.

Kimberley

Happy Easter and Chocolate Nest Cookies

Happy Easter!

Liam and I whipped up a batch of spring cookies for the occasion. To sum it all up, there was chocolate everywhere. They were a bit messy to eat but tasted delicious and great for a once a year treat!





 
Chocolate Nest Cookies (from Kraft Foods “What’s Cooking” magazine)

• 1 pkg. Semi-Sweet Chocolate (8 squares)
• 2 cups chow mein noodles
• mini eggs

1. Microwave chocolate in large microwavable bowl on medium 2 to 3 minutes or until almost melted; stir until completely melted. Stir in noodles.
2. Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of noodle mixture onto a parchment or waxed paper covered baking sheet. Indent centers slightly to resemble nests. Fill with mini eggs.
3. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm.

 Kimberley

Summer Show Prospects

It is the time of year when I pick out my potential show heifers and get them halter broke, or at least partially broke before they get turned out with the bull to get bred. 

 

This is Red South Border Julia 41Y, a heifer I bought in a dispersal sale last fall and one of my favorites this spring.

The quickest way to a heifer's heart is with a good scratch by the tail head with a show stick!

This is Red Triple Play Lassie 5Y taking the halter breaking thing all in stride!

A couple more sessions and they should be standing nice and quiet while tied up and maybe even leading if I am lucky. They will get turned out with the bull in a couple weeks before coming back in to get ready for the summer shows.

Kimberley

Even Ranchers Need A Holiday!

It can be tough leaving the ranch and all the livestock behind for any length of time, and tougher for us as we don't have any hired help to look after things while we are away. Luckily we have some fantastic neighbors who happily took over our chore duties.

At the end of January we ventured to Los Cabos in Mexico for a warm weather vacation, not that we needed a break from our above normal winter we have been having. Actually, the week before we left the temps dipped into the -30's plus windchill, so we were happy to see beaches and sunshine!

The famous arch at Cabo San Lucas. These rocks mark the tip of the Baja Peninsula and are where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific Ocean.

Scott and myself on the beach at Cabo San Lucas. This beach is only accessible by water, our boat driver dropped us off at the shore and we jumped off....thankfully he came and picked us up in an hour!

The Cabo Wabo Cantina owned by Sammy Hager formerly of Van Halen! A good place to sip a few Coronas on a hot day!

Our resort from the beach!

The only livestock we seen on the entire trip!

The view to the south of our resort on the beach.

It was great to go but it was also great to get back home to the ranch with a refreshed and relaxed mind and thankful of all the opportunities we have!

Kimberley

Who Are We?

 Triple Play Cattle Company is owned and operated by Scott Eklund and myself (Kimberley) and young son Liam. We started the business together from scratch in 2002 with a herd of commercial cows that were AI'd to club calf bulls with the goal of raising good quality 4-H steers.

We started our purebred herd in 2003 with 4 outstanding bred heifers from the Six Mile Red Angus program and our herd has been built around the foundation of those females.

Scott and I both attended and graduated highschool in Glentworth which is still our hometown! Scott spent a while at the University of Regina studying engineering but decided raising cattle was where he should be.

Scott also works as a sales consultant for South Country Equipment and enjoys working with both farmers and ranchers in that aspect as well. 

I hold the fort down when Scott is working which means I do most of the day to day operations around the ranch, which I love, but can also make things interesting! I also have a photography business, Dusty Road Photography, that I operate from home. I love all types of photography, including portraits, landscape, and livestock!

Liam was born in July 2009 (his due date was during the World Angus Forum!) and he keeps us busy! We are excited for him to grow up in this lifestyle and with Angus cattle. 


I look forward to sharing the "happenings" at Triple Play through this blog and hope to meet and connect with fellow cattle breeders as well as to help bring awareness to our industry to those that don't live on farms or ranches.


Cheers!


Kimberley Eklund