CME April 2021 lean hogs with 20- and 100-day moving averages plus CBOT May 2021 corn (yellow line). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Lean hogs climb on falling grain futures

April live cattle close lower

Chicago | Reuters — CME Group lean hog futures climbed Wednesday, supported by lower feed grain futures and expectations the U.S. herd will shrink moving into the spring, traders said. CME’s most-active April lean hogs added 1.65 cents to close at 73.075 cents/lb., while the spot February contract strengthened 1.95 cents to end at 68.425 […] Read more

Cold weather also poses a challenge to newborn calves, but with good cow nutrition, shelter and disease management, they’re better prepared to survive those conditions.  


Preventing weak calf syndrome

Factors ranging from cow nutrition to weather to disease can cause this often complex condition

Weak calf syndrome is a general condition rather than a specific disease, and can be caused by several different factors, sometimes multiple factors at the same time. The newborn calf is weak, unable or slow to rise, stand or nurse. These calves often die within three days of birth. They are sometimes called “dummy calves” […] Read more


History book in the works for Canadian Gelbvieh Association

Purely Purebred: News from the January 2021 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

The Canadian Gelbvieh Association is compiling and publishing their first history book in celebration of the association’s 50th anniversary. The association is looking forward to preserving and documenting the past 50 years of the Gelbvieh business, as well as the evolution of agriculture and farming that has gone along with it. To help write the […] Read more

CME April 2021 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Cattle futures strengthen ahead of USDA report

CME lean hogs dip nearer cash index level

Chicago | Reuters — CME Group live cattle futures gained on Tuesday as traders began positioning ahead of Friday’s monthly Cattle on Feed report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, traders said. Feeder cattle futures also rose, supported by weaker feed grain futures. Lean hog futures declined after gaining on Friday as futures look to […] Read more



Skunks, bats and wild carnivores run the highest risk of transmitting rabies.

Rabies in livestock often forgotten

Six tips to avoid rabies exposure

Rabies is a disease based in antiquity. It has been described through pictures and text since ancient times. The end result hasn’t changed: living creatures get rabies; they die. Globally, rabies claims over 55,000 human lives every year from every continent in the world except Antarctica. Fortunately, rabies is a relatively rare disease in humans […] Read more



File photo of domestic hogs on a German farm. (FooTToo/iStock/Getty Images)

EU farmers could get cash to curb emissions from belching livestock

Brussels | Reuters — Farmers should get European Union funding to reduce methane emissions from livestock or increase organic farmland, the European Commission said on Thursday, under plans to make agriculture greener. The EU is nearing the end of a two-year battle to overhaul its massive farming subsidies scheme, to attempt to align the agriculture […] Read more


CME March 2021 feeder cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Cattle, hog futures fall as corn rises

U.S. beef, pork export sales both up on week

Chicago | Reuters — CME feeder cattle futures fell on Thursday, retreating back toward a three-month low on prospects for increased input costs for livestock operators due to surging corn prices. “It is the rising feed costs,” said Alan Brugler, president of Brugler Marketing + Management. “With the corn being up another 10 cents today, […] Read more

History: Dwarfism Is a Breeder’s Problem

Reprinted from the February 1953 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

Dwarfism Is a Breeder’s Problem By Grant MacEwan ‘Dwarf calves are creating headaches for cattle breeders and the criticism has been advanced that not enough is being done to rid the breeds of this menace. Unfortunately, there is tendency on the part of some breeders to say as little as possible about dwarfs and do […] Read more