BEEF CATTLE KILLED IN ROOF COLLAPSE . . . HEIFERS DIE IN BARN COLLAPSE . . . SNOW WOES . . . GETTING EXCITED ABOUT WEEDS – NO, REALLY . . . UNB RECEIVES FUNDING FOR BIOFUELS RESEARCH . . . OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST...

MacKenzie Rhodenizer comforts her 4-H Maine Anjou heifer badly injured Saturday night when the barn sheltering heifers and cows at E-I-E-I-O Farm in Blockhouse, N.S., collapsed under the weight of snow.

BEEF CATTLE KILLED IN ROOF COLLAPSE
Source: AtlanticFarmer.com
As many as four valuable heifers and cows, three of them registered Maine Anjou, were casualties of a barn collapse at E-I-E-I-O Farm in Blockhouse, N.S. Saturday night, Feb. 21-22.
   Owner Corey Rhodenizer discovered the wreckage of the farm’s dry-cow building when he began chores. One heifer had been killed outright. A second had to be put down on recommendation of the farm’s veterinarian. Two more show heifers were badly injured but may recover.
   Carmen Rhodenizer, Corey’s wife and mother of the family’s three daughters, Sydney, Leah, and MacKenzie, was close to overwhelmed by a combination of grief for the losses and gratitude for the way volunteer fire fighters from four departments plus neighbors and friends rallied to help get the surviving cattle out of harm’s way, shovel snow from adjoining barns, and even bring jugs of coffee from Tim Horton’s. One neighbor stopped by, telling Carmen she had left some food in the kitchen. Indeed she had, “Sandwiches, and fresh-baked banana bread.”
   Late into the afternoon Corey and a friend, Stephen Freeman, were still at work clearing snow as darkness approached and more snow began falling.

STEPHEN FREEMAN HELPS OUT CLEARING SNOW FROM A BARN ON THE E-I-E-I-O FARM IN BLOCKHOUSE, N.S., WHERE A BARN HOUSING DRY BEEF COWS COLLAPSED SATURDAY NIGHT KILLING TWO AND INJURING TWO OTHER REGISTERED AND COMMERCIAL ANIMALS.

STEPHEN FREEMAN, WITH A LONG-HANDLED SCRAPER, ASSISTS COREY RHODENIZER, OWNER OF E-I-E-I-O FARM IN BLOCKHOUSE, N.S., IN CLEARING SNOW FROM A BARN NEAR ONE THAT COLLAPSED UNDER WET SNOW SATURDAY NIGHT.

HEIFERS DIE IN BARN COLLAPSE
Source: AtlanticFarmer.com
Eight heifers are dead as a result of a barn collapse in Hardwood Lands, N.S., resulting from a heavy snow load.
   The Grant Holdings dairy barn was one of half a dozen recent barn collapses between Pictou and Windsor, N.S., according to anecdotal reports shared among cattle farmers at the Nova Scotia Cattle Producers association Annual General Meeting in Truro Saturday. Five were dairy barns, one a farm machine shop.
   The Grant farm collapse occurred sometime between 11 pm Thursday and 5:30 am Friday, according to Andrew Grant, who said his uncle, who was looking after the 120 replacements heifers kept in the barn, discovered what had happened. The free-stall barn with two-by-ten trusses supporting a pitched roof was built in 1979.
   The heifers that were lost either died as a direct result of the roof falling in or were badly injured and euthanized later on the advice of the farm’s veterinarian. Insurance will not cover the farm’s losses, said Andrew. “They're saying it was ‘an act of God.’”
   Anticipating worse to come with rain in the forecast the Grant family and friends were busy Friday shoveling snow from other barns on the property. At one point Andrew counted 27 people shoveling. He counted so his wife, Allison, might have an idea how many pizzas to order from a shop in Milford.

NINE SHOVELLERS EARLY ON FRIDAY CLEARING SNOW FROM A BARN ROOF ON THE GRANT DAIRY FARM IN HARDWOOD LANDS, N.S., WHERE THE NIGHT BEFORE EIGHT HEIFERS DIED WHEN THE ROOF OF THEIR FREE-STALL BARN CAVED IN UNDER HEAVY SNOW. THE NUMBER OF NEIGHBORS AND FRIENDS SHOVELING GREW TO 27 BEFORE THE DAY WAS OUT. (ALLISON GRANT PHOTO)

SNOW WOES
Source AtlanticFarmer.com
Insurance companies were making a killing in the Atlantic provinces the last week of February as “God” brought down greenhouses, chicken, dairy, horse and beef barns laden with snow. Few, if any, of the structures or animals within are covered by insurance, for when asked, the farmer who has been paying for protection against catastrophic loss perhaps for decades is told, “Sorry. That’s considered an ‘act of God.’”

GETTING EXCITED ABOUT WEEDS – NO, REALLY
Source: Dalhousie University
For most people, annoyance, displeasure, and frustration are prompted by the very mention of weeds. Who could really be excited over something as annoying and pesky as garden invaders? Scott White gets excited. His face lights up at the mention of weeds and his enthusiasm increases as he goes into detail about his research. “I find weeds quite fascinating,” he explains. “These plants are here specifically because they have been able to survive everything that Mother Nature has thrown at them up to this point in their evolution. You have to give them a bit of respect for that. (read more)

UNB RECEIVES FUNDING FOR BIOFUELS RESEARCH
Source: Pulp & Paper Canada
The University of New Brunswick will receive $306,200 over three years to develop new technology to help Canada develop better, cleaner and cheaper renewable fuel from biomass. UNB’s Dr. Ying Zheng, Canada Research Chair in Chemical Processes and Catalysis, and her team will work in collaboration with Queen’s University at Belfast and Atlantic Hydrogen Inc. to build on previous catalyst discoveries that improve biofuel quality and yields, and reduce the energy consumption involved in refining them. This research will allow small biorefineries to use this new technology as a cost-effective solution to produce the next generation of biofuels used in diesel and gasoline. (read more)