Beef cattle feeding in Ontario. (DebraLee Wiseberg/iStock/Getty Images)

COVID-19 strains already-battered Ontario beef industry

Limited processing capacity remains financial challenge for province's feedlot sector, despite recent increase in retail demand

Ontario’s beef industry was already in the midst of an economic crisis, but COVID-19 is worsening the financial toll on the province’s cattle feeders. Due to extremely limited processing plant capacity, an uncompetitive market and disruptions to trade and market access, Ontario’s beef industry was losing an average of more than $2 million per week […] Read more


File photo of the Harmony Beef plant at Balzac, Alta. in 2015. (Canadian Cattlemen photo by Debbie Furber)

Alberta’s Harmony Beef halts slaughter on positive COVID-19 test

CFIA pulls inspectors after plant employee tests positive

Ottawa/Winnipeg | Reuters — Harmony Beef, an Alberta packing plant, halted cattle slaughter on Friday after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) kept some inspectors from work, due to a positive test for COVID-19 by a Harmony worker, the company said. The partial closure follows a positive COVID-19 test by a worker at U.S. chicken […] Read more

Dan and Heather Brundige started feeding their purebred bulls a mix of CDC Super Oats and barley last year, with good results.

Ranchers talk turkey about purebred bulls

Two seedstock bull producers share how they develop marketable breeding males

There are many decisions which weigh into raising a saleable purebred bull. Do you focus on weight or conditioning? What kind of feeding program do you need to meet that goal? How do you keep them healthy and productive in the bitter winter conditions common across much of the Prairies? Seedstock producers will likely tell […] Read more



(Video screengrab from Cattlevids.ca)

COVID-19 shifts bull buyers online

As auction marts move to curb the disease's spread, technology is connecting buyers and sellers

As bull sale season stretches into the spring, online sales are helping the industry cut COVID-19 risks while facilitating commerce. The Livestock Market Association of Canada (LMAC) last week held an emergency meeting on how to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, and decided to follow Health Canada’s lead on limiting crowd size and encouraging social […] Read more


Seedstock producers selling bulls at the 2019 Pride of the Prairies bull sale in Lloydminster, Sask. COVID-19 has shifted many bull buyers online in an effort to limit the disease's spread.

COVID-19 shifts bull buyers online

As auction marts move to curb the disease's spread, technology is connecting buyers and sellers.

As bull sale season stretches into the spring, online sales are helping the industry cut COVID-19 risks while facilitating commerce. Last week, the Livestock Market Association of Canada (LMAC) held an emergency meeting on how to respond to the pandemic. The association decided follow Health Canada’s lead on limiting crowd size and encouraging social distancing […] Read more

Dennis Laycraft. (John Greig photo)

Beef sector mobilizes against supply disruptions

Keeping border open, meeting demand for beef are top priorities

Teams of livestock and government officials are quickly creating plans and policies to keep the sector functioning during the COVID-19 pandemic, says the executive vice-president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. “Our primary objective obviously is to insure there is stable beef production and trade that can continue under the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic,” Dennis […] Read more


The coronavirus’s spread has shifted beef consumer behaviours to end cuts and grinding and trim products.

COVID-19 pandemic sees cattle markets plunge

The Markets with Deb McMillin, from the April 2020 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

Fed Cattle Global uncertainty resulting from the rapidly changing COVID-19 pandemic has caused all financial and commodity markets to struggle. The cattle markets have not been excluded from this as we have watched the fed cattle price plummet in recent weeks. The fed cattle cash average is $141.54/cwt, which is $22/cwt lower than the high […] Read more

Once a calf is lying flat and has a very weak or absent suckle reflex, it needs IV fluid.

Scours in calves

Scours is a common illness in young calves. Understand the causes and effects of this disease to treat and prevent it

Scours can be caused by certain kinds of bacteria, viruses or protozoa, but other factors come into play as well. “It’s often the interaction between the immune system, the environment and the pathogen load. The old saying is that the solution to pollution is dilution (or) minimizing the pathogen load,” says Dr. Paul Hardes, a […] Read more