AgriProfit$ key indicators for cow-calf operations are referred to as GOLD: Growth (weaning weight), Open (rate), Length (of calving period) and Death (losses).

Measuring production and profitability in beef production

An enterprise analysis can help steer your farm or ranch towards profitability

Variations of the “need to measure to improve management” quote are staples of business and industry mission statements and dogma throughout all sectors of the globe. Ranch and farm operations are not exempt from this appraisal. AgriProfit$ measures performance For 35 years, producers in Alberta have had access to the AgriProfit$ Business Analysis and Research […] Read more

Photo: Canada Beef Inc.

Beef plant essentials

Prime Cuts with Steve Kay

It is never easy to build a new beef processing plant, let alone operate it successfully. Just ask the group of cattle industry investors who sunk $40 million into a brand new plant near Balzac in Alberta. The plant opened to great fanfare in 2006 but closed just 14 months later because of tight margins […] Read more


Greg and Trish Tetz bring complementary experience and skills to their meat business.

Crafting a new meat business

Trish Tetz shares how she and her husband Greg launched a new business at the start of the pandemic

Starting a niche marketing meat business is no small feat, but launching it at the beginning of a pandemic takes the challenge to a whole new level. For some time, Trish and Greg Tetz of Three Hills, Alta., had the dream of “opening the conversation between producers and consumers. We wanted to be transparent and […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

BeefWatch: Canadian cattle inventories shrink, fed cattle prices improve

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

Canadian cattle inventories continued to shrink at the start of 2021, while U.S. inventories declined slightly from their peak. North American cattle supplies remain ample but could tighten as the year progresses with the potential of a smaller calf crop. Canadian beef production continues to be supported by feeder imports from the U.S. The backlog […] Read more


Cattle may be a uniquely efficient solution to some of the problems we see around food loss.

Waste not want not

Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen

When I was a kid, “no dessert if you don’t finish your supper” encouraged us to eat everything on our plates. Others grew up with the guilt-based “children are starving in the Third World” approach. There are more than twice as many people on earth today as there were 40 years ago, so issues such […] Read more

Edgar Smith and his brothers run Red Angus and Red Angus-cross cattle on their operation at Courtenay, B.C.

B.C. producer narrows in on what customers want in beef

Health, environment and animal welfare top priorities for Edgar Smith’s customers on Vancouver Island and in the lower mainland

Edgar Smith and his brothers Phillip and Doug have a unique cattle operation, raising beef from start to finish and selling direct to customers. “Our family has been in the beef business since the 1940s on Vancouver Island, and the operation has evolved and changed over the decades. In the 1940s and 1950s we were […] Read more



These two Barbadian farmers discuss the merits of an Angus bull at the Agrifest Agricultural Show in Bridgetown, Barbados.

Barbados aiming for self-sufficiency in food production

As the Caribbean island gears up its food production, the beef industry will be a key part of feeding the nation’s people

Barbados’s Agrofest is much like a rural Canadian fall fair. But at this three-day event, the country’s prime minister attends the first day. The country is working towards self-sufficiency in food production and Mia Amor Mottley, Barbados’s first woman prime minister, is a driving force behind that idea. Barbados, a Caribbean island 13 degrees north […] Read more


Brett McRae and his wife Chantel on the farm in southwestern Manitoba.

Mentorship program leads Manitoba producer to regenerative ag

After participating in the Cattlemen’s Young Leaders program, Brett McRae rejigged his mixed farm to abide by the five principles of soil health

Brett McRae is a fifth-generation rancher in southwest Manitoba, near Brandon, but not the fifth generation on the same ranch. “I was born and raised here and my parents are still actively farming. I farm next to them; we farm separately but share equipment, labour, facilities and ideas. It’s the best of both worlds; we […] Read more

Hereford genetics were introduced to Mongolia’s Bulgan and Selenge provinces from Russia in the 1950s. The breed did well, but the cattle industry declined after the Soviet Union fell and state-run farms closed.

Canadian producer builds pasture-to-plate beef business in Mongolia

Blending modern feedlot practices with tradition is opening new doors for a small feedlot in Mongolia

When Jeremy and Roxy Thiessen first served their home-finished beef to friends, their guests declared they’d never tasted anything like it. While this is often how stories of direct-marketing success begin, the Thiessens had a distinct advantage based on their location and market demands, providing a unique opportunity for this family. At first glance, the […] Read more