CME August 2019 live cattle with Bollinger bands (20,2) and 50-day moving average in purple. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Live cattle rise as Japan drops U.S. beef import curbs

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) closed higher on Friday, buoyed by news that Japan will eliminate long-held restrictions on U.S. beef imports, traders said. The agreement reopens full beef trade after Japan in 2003 banned U.S. beef over concerns about bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), which roiled […] Read more



Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with steel workers at Stelco in Hamilton on March 13, 2018. (File photo: Reuters/Mark Blinch)

U.S. boosts trade pact’s outlook lifting tariffs on Canadian, Mexican metals

Washington/Ottawa | Reuters — The United States struck deals on Friday to lift tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico, the three governments said, removing a major obstacle to legislative approval of a new North American trade pact. The separate agreements, which will not impose U.S. quotas on Canadian and Mexican metals […] Read more


Researchers at the Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence are comparing the economics and outcomes of feeding calves in conventional feedlot pens and in the field

U of S livestock research centre receives $250K investment from Merck Animal Health

Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence to receive $250,000 over 10 years

The University of Saskatchewan on May 16, 2019, announced details of a 10-year, $250,000 investment from Merck Animal Health for its Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence (LFCE) – a visionary research facility located southeast of Saskatoon. The long-term investment will support the LFCE’s capital build project and underlines Merck Animal Health’s commitment to the […] Read more

Subcutaneous lumps can be more visible and last longer than localized reactions from intramuscular injections. But in most cases they’re not very painful.

Be prepared for vaccination reactions in cattle

Vaccines can sometimes hyper-stimulate the immune system

Occasionally cattle react to vaccine. An allergic reaction can be mild and local, with swelling at the injection site. But if the animal goes into anaphylactic shock, it can be serious and even fatal. Vaccines contain antigens that are foreign to the body. The goal is for the body to recognize them as foreign and […] Read more






Ontario’s current system is overly dependent on calves from out of province, and the focus is to boost cow numbers.

Ontario votes to increase provincial beef check-off

Checkoff initially proposed in 2018 gets the go-ahead

[UPDATED: May 16, 2019] It took a year of planning, negotiating and explaining how the money would be spent, but members of the Beef Farmers of Ontario (BFO) finally voted in favour of a hefty $1.50 increase in the beef cattle check-off at the 2019 annual general meeting. The increase was turned down in 2018. […] Read more