A disease that transfers from poultry to cattle is more likely to prove deadly than one that transfers between buffalo to cattle.

Livestock infections deadliest when host species are distant relatives

Research: News Roundup from the May 2019 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

University of British Columbia researchers have found that taxonomy can help predict infection severity when pathogens or parasites leap to a new species, Bovine Veterinarian reports. Some pathogens can infect multiple species. Researchers Maxwell J. Farrell and T. Jonathan Davies found that when pathogens move between distantly related species, the infection is more likely to […] Read more


(DusanPetkovic/iStock/Getty Images)

Ottawa looks to speed up emergency access to livestock drugs

Livestock drugs not currently available in Canada could become easier to access in emergencies, if proposals for amended federal drug regulations get on the books. Health Canada, proposing to streamline the processes for emergency access to drugs for livestock as well as people and pets, on Friday announced a public comment period on its proposals, […] Read more




(Canada Border Services Agency video screengrab)

USMCA deal modestly boosts U.S. economy, trade panel finds

Washington | Reuters — The new North American free trade pact would modestly boost the U.S. economy, especially auto parts production, but may curb vehicle assembly and limit consumer choice in cars, a hotly anticipated analysis from the U.S. International Trade Commission showed on Thursday. The ITC report is a crucial step in the push […] Read more



File photo of a cowboy herding cattle near a Mexican roadside. (GummyBone/iStock/Getty Images)

Mexican farmers urge ‘mirror’ tariffs on Trump’s rural base

Mexico City | Reuters — Leaders of Mexico’s agricultural sector are urging “mirror measures” on U.S. farm imports in politically sensitive products such as yellow corn and poultry, in an effort they argue would counter decades of subsidized imports from the United States. The three-month-old government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is currently working […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Maple Leaf profit misses estimates on weak pork prices

Reuters — Packaged meat producer Maple Leaf Foods missed analysts’ estimates for quarterly profit on Thursday, as weak pork prices offset growth in its prepared meats business. Pork prices have taken a beating from the Sino-U.S. trade war, with China’s retaliatory tariffs affecting demand from the South Asian country, which is the world’s biggest pork […] Read more

Beef production is expected to rise in 2019 to 27.810 billion pounds, up 3.3 per cent from 2018.

Record protein supplies again

Prime Cuts with Steve Kay

Americans will enjoy ample supplies of red meat and poultry this year. Total 2019 production is expected to reach a record 105.570 billion pounds, up 3.0 per cent on 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (ERS). This would exceed the expected 2.4 per cent increase in 2018 from 2017. ERS […] Read more