Comment: Checked-off

If you’re confused about how much check-off you will be paying the next time you market cattle you are probably not alone. It all depends on where you live. New Brunswick producers started paying the new $2.50 national check-off on February 1, which brings their total to $6.00 per head when the $3.50 provincial levy […] Read more

Panelists Mike Buis, Mike von Massow, Jarius Maus, Joe Hill and Tammi  Ribey discuss the challenges Ontario beef producers face in 2018.

Stabilizing Ontario’s beef cattle industry

Five opinions heard at the Grey-Bruce Beef Day

If every producer put into practice two or three new ideas from the conferences they attend, the entire industry could benefit, according to Dr. Tammi Ribey. “The beef industry is us — everyone can do something,” she said. “If we all do a little something, collectively it should help.” Ribey is a veterinarian with a […] Read more



Jason Desrochers and family.

Grass lures beef production to Northern Ontario

Raising cattle in the rural outreaches has its benefits and challenges

Ontario cattlemen and the province have begun several programs to encourage more farmers to start raising beef in northern Ontario — where it is colder and the land is more suited to bush and cattle than corn and soybeans. Interest from producers considering a move north has been gaining momentum, and in mid-August 2017, the […] Read more


This barn will remain, but most of the rest of the facilities will be demolished at the University of Guelph’s Elora Beef Research Station to make way for new beef research buildings. (John Greig photo)

Guelph gets new beef research facility

The federal and provincial governments and the Beef Farmers of Ontario have all announced funding for buildings and programs at the University of Guelph’s renewed beef research station this week. The funds announced are to help create a completely new cow-calf and heifer research facility next to the current beef research station, and a new […] Read more

Bob Gordanier, shown here speaking at Queen’s Park in 2015 in his role as OASC chair, is now a provincial Liberal candidate. (OASC.ca)

Former BFO president turns to provincial politics

A former president of the Beef Farmers of Ontario will be running for the Liberals in the next provincial election. Bob Gordanier was nominated Monday as the Liberal candidate for the southwestern Ontario riding of Dufferin-Caledon, which has been held by Progressive Conservative MPP Sylvia Jones since 2007. During his farm organization service Gordanier served […] Read more


Comment: Ontario banks on branding

It was near the end of the Beef Farmers of Ontario (BFO) meeting and Sylvain Charlebois, the well-known food researcher from Dalhousie University was wrapping up his talk on changes in consumer buying habits. One final questioner asked him if he had any suggestions for the best way to convince consumers of the value of […] Read more

The Capitol Building in Washington, DC.

CCA Report: Preparing for change

From the January 2017 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

As the January 20 inauguration of president-elect Donald Trump approaches, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) is also preparing for the transition. We have worked hard over the years to build strong relationships with American industry and government officials and we will continue to do so. One of the early questions is obviously related to the […] Read more


TESA award for environmental stew­ard­ship awarded

Newsmakers from the August 2016 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

Miles Anderson walked away from the Sask­atchewan Stock Growers annual convention with two mem­­­­or­able souvenirs, the provincial environmental stew­ard­ship award (TESA) won by him and his wife Sheri and an autographed copy of Dr. Temple Grandin’s book, Humane Animal Handling, auctioned off during the annual fundraiser. The TESA award recognizes the efforts Miles and Sheri and their family put into managing their native […] Read more

Calvin Lamport, along with his sons Layne and Cole and daughter Kayla, got to see a quad birth in early March at their farm at Alida, Sask. The five-year old Charolais cross cow had birthed twins two years in a row so it wasn’t too surprising when Calvin pulled three calves from her. The bonus calf came about a half hour after the new family was put into a fresh pen. They weighed 50, 47, 46 and 46 pounds a couple of hours after the birth.

Cowboy politics

News Roundup from the April 2016 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

Beef Farmers of Ontario BFO is looking forward to another year of advancing its Beef North initiative as well as projects in southern Ontario, all aimed at expanding the province’s cow herd by at least 100,000 head. That’s the number of calves needed just by the Ontario Corn-Fed Beef value chain to meet its requirements […] Read more