The WTO’s director-general, Roberto Azevedo, and Kenya’s cabinet secretary for foreign affairs and international trade, Amina Mohamed, close the fifth day of the WTO ministerial conference in Nairobi. (Photo courtesy Admedia Communication, copyright WTO)

WTO backs agricultural reforms, split on Doha

Nairobi | Reuters — The World Trade Organization reached deals on agricultural export subsidies, food aid and other issues on Saturday, capping a ministerial conference in the Kenyan capital where rich and poor countries had been split over the path of trade reform. Members said the Nairobi deal had drawn a line under years of […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle rally limit-up before report

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures settled up by their three-cent/lb. price limit Friday, driven by short-covering and technical buying, traders said. Investors tweaked positions ahead of Friday’s U.S. Department of Agriculture monthly Cattle on Feed report at 2 p.m. CT. Spot December ended at 120.15 cents, and February 125.525 cents, […] Read more


(USDA.gov via Flickr)

U.S. Nov. feedlot cattle placements slump to record low

Chicago | Reuters –– Cattle movement into U.S. feedlots in November fell 11 per cent from a year ago to their lowest level since the government began compiling the data in 1996, a U.S. Department of Agriculture report showed on Friday. Analysts attributed last month’s much smaller-than-expected placements to deteriorating margins that prompted feedyards to […] Read more



(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

U.S. Congress repeals COOL on beef, pork

The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have both approved a repeal of the government’s six-year old mandatory country-of-origin labelling (COOL) laws on beef and pork. Tucked into an omnibus appropriations bill put before Congress Friday, the repeal shuts the door on a major irritant in North American trade relations and is expected to curb […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle sink to three-year bottom

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures on Thursday slid to their lowest level in three years, pressured by more losses price-wise for unsold cash cattle, traders said. Spot December ended down 2.825 cents/lb. to 117.15 cents, and made a new contract low of 116.975 (all figures US$). February finished 2.45 cents […] Read more


(Natrel.ca)

Que. banks, funds boost stake in Agropur

Agropur is getting a second nine-figure cash injection from a group of Quebec institutional investors and banks, further backing the major Quebec dairy farmer co-operative’s expansion plans against an uncertain domestic market. The investor group, led by Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ), said Thursday it will put up $300 million, on top […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

U.S. livestock: Cash price caution drags CME live cattle lower

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures slumped on Wednesday, weighed down by investor caution while waiting for the remainder of cash cattle to change hands, traders said. Spot December ended down 0.325 cent/lb., to 119.975 cents, and February 0.55 cent lower at 124.925 (all figures US$). So far, a few market-ready […] Read more



Bayot and Franziska Britschgi.

The prairie calls

And this Swiss couple found a new home

There’s nothing else Bayot and Franziska Britschgi would rather do than raise cattle and there’s nowhere they’d rather ranch than on the open prairie of southeastern Alberta. They saw more than a few ranches in their younger days travelling from their native Switzerland to work on big ranches from Nevada through the western U.S. and […] Read more