(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Feeder cattle trade lower

The “one-week wonder” from seven to 10 days ago appears to have evaporated; a softer sentiment blanketed Western Canada this week, with feeder markets dropping $4 to $6 on average. A significant slide in live cattle futures, along with softer cash prices, caused feedlots to move into a risk-averse mentality. Heavier replacements took the brunt […] Read more

Be prepared for calls if you winter graze

Be prepared for calls if you winter graze

Grazing with Steve Kenyon from the March 2016 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

I was excited this fall to get my swath/bunch grazing underway as all 450 acres are right by the highway. Normally I am swath grazing down some back gravel road and no one really gets to see it. This year I get to show it off! My neighbours already think that I’m crazy, so now […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle snap five-day losing streak

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures on Thursday settled higher for the first time in six sessions, helped by short-covering before the Easter holiday weekend, traders said. April live cattle ended 0.4 cent/lb. higher at 135.85, and June finished up 0.275 cent at 125.375 (all figures US$). The April contract led […] Read more

(Canada Beef Inc. photo)

Feed barley due for spring rally

CNS Canada –– Feed barley in Western Canada usually sees a spring rally at this time of year, although the uptrend this year will be limited by large supplies still overhanging the market. Feed grains had trended lower through late February and into early March, with feed wheat leading to the downside. Losses in feed […] Read more


A Western blot analysis, used to confirm BSE in bovine brain tissue. (Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

France confirms new BSE case

Paris | Reuters –– France’s agriculture ministry confirmed Thursday a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) had been discovered in the northeastern region of Ardennes. The suspected case, found in a five-year-old cow, was identified last week during a test carried out on cattle older than 48 months after slaughter. The farm ministry said there […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle slump fourth straight day

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle settled in bearish territory for a fourth straight session, on leftover selling and fund liquidation after contracts dropped below technical support levels, traders said. April live cattle ended 1.925 cents/lb lower at 136.425, and June finished 1.7 cents lower at 126.15 (all figures US$). Both contracts […] Read more


(Regis Lefebure photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. livestock: CME hogs see biggest one-day loss in three months

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures on Monday notched their biggest daily loss since last December, hit by technical selling and lower cash price expectations, traders said. April closed 2.1 cents/lb. lower at 69.35 cents, after drifting below the 40-day moving average of 70.31 cents (all figures US$). May ended 2.1 […] Read more




Ranching for beef and species at risk

Ranching for beef and species at risk

The expansiveness of the native prairie landscape in southern Saskatchewan is in reality an illusion because at tops it’s only 21 per cent of the original grassland area at the time of settlement. Generations of ranching families have conserved vast tracts of native grasslands that may have otherwise been turned over to crops or lost […] Read more