Prices for feeder cattle are likely to see a healthy increase in 2023.

How drought might define 2023

Prime Cuts with Steve Kay

The recent holiday season brought the best possible gift to many U.S. cow-calf producers — rain. But two years of extensive drought have had a big impact on U.S. cattle numbers and this might linger in 2023. The silver lining to the drought’s impact is higher prices for all classes of cattle. Cash live cattle prices […] Read more

(RyanJLane/E+/Getty Images)

Prime Cuts: Where’s the (U.S.) beef?

Prime Cuts with Steve Kay: Global beef production expected to be fractionally lower

“Where’s the beef?,” a slogan coined by hamburger chain Wendy’s, is one of the most successful ad campaigns of the past few decades. But in light of a big decline in U.S. beef production next year, global beef users might be asking the same question about U.S. beef. U.S. production is expected to decline to […] Read more


Colleen and Dylan Biggs of TK Ranch, with locations near Calgary and Hanna, Alta.

Direct marketing in the COVID age

Two Alberta businesswomen talk shop about how the pandemic has shaped the direct marketing landscape for beef producers

It is a changed world. The time spent in pandemic lockdowns has completely altered consumer behaviour. Perhaps it has sped up trends that were already in place, such as concerns about how food was grown or raised, convenience and ease of online purchasing. According to a recent article in the Harvard Business Review on Marketing […] Read more

A creek cuts through rangeland in southwestern Alberta. Recent research from the University of Alberta finds that adaptive multi-paddock (AMP) grazing can speed the carbon cycle.

How to win fans and influence consumers

Three people share how they changed their minds about beef, becoming advocates for beef production

David Kleiman’s first visit to a ranch in the southern Alberta foothills was an awe-inspiring experience he’ll never forget. Nature and conservation have been life-long passions for Kleiman, a Calgary-based science teacher. After meeting Kimberly Wachtler of Burke Creek Ranch at a farmers market, Kleiman was eager to learn more about how cattle are raised […] Read more


“We are by nature resilient and innovative.” – Rick Strankman, Altario, Alta.

Drought dilemmas detail struggles, triumphs

A cattle producer “community coffee shop” discussion from across the Prairies

If there had been a cattle producer’s “word of the year” for 2021, it likely would have been “drought.” Beef producers across the Prairies probably muttered that word daily and vexed about the situation hourly. The condition it describes is inescapable, but just how did producers deal with it? Feed – and water Peter Schwenk, […] Read more

BeefWatch: Canadian cattle herd increases, strong beef demand seen from consumers

BeefWatch: Canadian cattle herd increases, strong beef demand seen from consumers

Prepared by the staff of Canfax and Canfax Research Services, divisions of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association

The third quarter brought opportunities and challenges as strong beef demand warrants cautious optimism for producers who must still contend with a year of drought. The Canadian cattle herd has reportedly increased for the first time since 2017 with beef breeding heifer numbers up on July 1. Beef exports have surged with strong consumer demand […] Read more


The Canadian calf crop has been relatively flat in the past three years and we’re not likely going to see much of a change for 2021.

Where are we in the cattle cycle?

Market Talk with Jerry Klassen

I’ve received many calls from cow-calf producers inquiring about the U.S. and cattle cycle. The recent droughts in the U.S. and Western Canada have resulted in a year-over-year increase in the cow slaughter. Many producers in Canada and the U.S. have liquidated a portion of their herds due to limited feed supply. At the same […] Read more

Jay Cross of Okotoks, Alta. is Sendero’s founding chair and Virgil Lowe of Nanton, Alta., is the company’s CEO.

Sendero seeks continuous improvement across supply chain

New program offers improved efficiency and profitability by improving data flow through the beef value chain

Continuous improvement opens the doors to greater possibilities, as the cattle producers behind Sendero Limited know well. By working to improve efficiency at each stage of production, this innovative new program offers tools to increase profitability across the beef supply chain. “All of our founders have been in the business for generations, and we’ve always […] Read more


The Van Osch family market most of their cattle to Cargill’s facility in Guelph, Ont.

Finding opportunity in sustainability

From a cow-calf operation in Alberta to a feedlot in Ontario, these beef producers are finding benefits in becoming certified sustainable

It’s the “right thing to do” for the Van Osch family at their feedlot, and so they belong to the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB) program.  The Blairs do it for the future of the Canadian beef industry.  Both farms exemplify the kind of commitment seen all across Canada to raising beef sustainably. Becoming […] Read more

A new US$325 million beef-processing plant planned for southwest Iowa will process 1,500 head per day and is expected to employ 750 people once it begins operation in late 2023.

For beef processors, the buck stops here

Prime Cuts with Steve Kay

As beef producers in Western Canada know only too well, opening a new beef processing plant is the easy part. Running it at an eventual profit is an entirely different matter. Maybe the producers who invested in the ill-fated Rancher’s Beef plant in Balzac, Alta., should talk with the producers who are investing in two […] Read more