By Sheri Monk
At the rodeo, a spectator was heard asking, “What’s that bright light in the sky?” when the sun finally came out. Others were making jokes about building arks. But for some, the spring of 2010 has been anything but a laughing matter.
Some ranchers near the West Block of the Cypress Hills lost a devastating number of calves in the May snow storms.

By Sheri Monk
On Feb. 9, The Badger published an article about a line of natural beef which is entirely U.S. sourced, a product of massive national retailer Loblaw. In the article, Loblaw asserted there isn’t enough Canadian beef to meet the company’s standards for the brand, but an outspoken Alberta producer said American natural beef is simply less expensive.
“The reality is, since February, a lot of heat has come on this and they’ve made no attempt whatsoever to source Canadian and they continue to buy U.S.,” said Christoph Weder, a …

Story by Sheri Monk, Photo by Darcy Dietrich

Rebne and Pernell Lehr purchased Eagle Valley Park Campground in 2003 and since that time, have turned the dilapidated grounds just west of Maple Creek along the TransCanada Highway into a tropical paradise.
But this year, spring preparations were difference than in any year before as the family readied for possible flooding from the Junction Reservoir – known as the Dixon Dam – located one km south of the property.
“We were getting really quite concerned that the water was getting higher and concerned that …

By Sheri Monk
While a couple of inches of rain might not make the front page of any big city newspaper, it’s a different story in the Southwest.
Some areas have an average amount of moisture in the ground and for some, average is a whole lot better when stacked up against recent years.
“It’s well over the banks already and it was up another three feet this morning when I left to go into town,” said Art Unsworth of Bear Creek near Piapot.
Though not near the flood levels of 1996, Unsworth says Piapot …

By Sheri Monk
An article published in the Canadian Veterinary Journal in September of 1989 implores the government to consider banning the use of ruminant foodstuffs to animals of any kind. The same article also suggests it would be prudent to ban the inclusion of bovine and ovine brain, spleen and tripe from baby foods, as the United Kingdom had already done. A document from 1992 spelling out the government’s position on the possibility of BSE entering Canada was woefully wrong and contrary to widely held scientific knowledge about the disease. …

By Sheri Monk
The Badger has learned a new case of BSE was discovered two weeks ago, but the public was not informed as part of the government’s new communication strategy.
The decision not to announce new cases of BSE was made in August of 2009 and the public was informed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) online.
“The CFIA is committed to providing all stakeholders, including the general public, media and trading partners, with timely information about disease detections in farmed animals. As such, we have revised how we report online …

By Sheri Monk
Shoppers seeking organic beef at any Real Canadian Superstore might be surprised to learn they’re actually buying all-American.

By Sheri Monk
All signs indicate a second cougar researcher will be coming to the Cypress Hills, ut this time, to study the cats living at the Centre Block and east bench of the region.

By Sheri Monk
All’s well that ends well – at least in the world of selling fat cattle to Canada’s largest buyer.

By Sheri Monk
Even though ground hasn’t been broken on a proposed dam to be located near Mantario, the Great Sandhills Wildlife organization has been hard at work to create a new fishing spot.