Could it cost us another plant? To the surprise of no one, cattle numbers are down for the fourth year in a row. The July mid-year inventory survey found 14.8 million head of cattle in Canada, two per cent less than last year and six per cent fewer than in 2007. Almost all of the […] Read more
We’re Shrinking
Why Rush To Mandatory Traceability?
Have to hope this social engineer’s dream doesn’t turn into a producer’s nightmare When it comes to mandatory traceability of livestock, I’m with Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Minister Bob Bjornerud, What’s the rush? At the federal, provincial and territorial agriculture ministers meeting in July, Bjornerud was the only one in the room who didn’t commit to a […] Read more
Market Access Is The Key
Mr. Ritz needs to put the gas to the trade secretariat Gerry Ritz is at it again. The globe-trotting federal agriculture minister was in Peru and Colombia last month negotiating greater access for imports of Canadian agriculture products and scored a win for the beef and cattle sector in Colombia. All of this followed quickly […] Read more
Alberta Opens The Vault — Again
And puts a noose around funding for national beef programs The playing field tilted toward Alberta again late last month when provincial Agriculture Minister George Groeneveld introduced a bill to turn the Alberta beef, hog and lamb checkoffs into refundable levies on April 1, 2010. This has implications for the entire cattle industry as Alberta […] Read more
Gerry Ritz — Beef Salesman
Canada’s ag minister has put market access for beef on the priority list in Ottawa The people at the Canadian Wheat Board don’t like him much but cattle producers have reason to be thankful that Gerry Ritz is the federal minister of agriculture. It traces right back to January 9 when Mr. Ritz accepted the […] Read more
A COOL Stab In The Back
The U. S. ag secretary puts a dangerous rider on the final rule While most of Canada and the national media were fawning over President Barack Obama during his visit to Ottawa last month, his new agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack was back in Washington getting ready to stab the Canadian beef industry in the back. […] Read more
Editors’ Picks: USDA boss wants stricter COOL
The U.S. government’s relaxed rules for mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL), which led Canada to set aside a planned trade challenge, have earned a frosty reception from the incoming U.S. administration. President Barack Obama’s agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack, said in a conference call Tuesday with U.S. consumer groups, farm groups and others that he plans to […] Read more
Cattle can dampen your weed worries, if they are properly trained
Some people see a weedy pasture as the sign of poor management. Kathy Voth sees it as a sign that someone still needs to teach their cattle to eat weeds. “It’s all forage,” says the former Bureau of Land Management employee who has developed a proven method of teaching cattle how to enjoy eating weeds […] Read more
Editors’ Picks: U.S. cattle panel frosty on COOL
The U.S. cattle industry is far from unanimous in its esteem for mandatory country-of-origin labelling (COOL) if a panel assembled Thursday in Phoenix is any indication. The U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF), in a report released Friday, offered up a selection of opinion from a panel discussion at the U.S.-based Livestock Marketing Council’s meeting held […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
