beef Archives | Canadian Cattlemen

Bart Lardner, Janelle Smith and John McKinnon are conducting the backgrounding study.

The economics of raising ‘natural’ beef

Researchers are comparing conventional and other backgrounding systems and crunching the numbers

By Heather Smith Thomas November 7, 2019

How much of a premium do producers need to cover the extra cost of backgrounding cattle without growth-enhancing technologies and can they offset some of that cost or improve carcass quality with other strategies? Researchers are currently studying those very questions in a 2.5-year backgrounding study. The backgrounding project is one of many feeding research […] Read more

China’s hog losses due to African swine fever now represent 38.7 per cent of its total hog inventory.

Markets, News, Prime cuts

China has a protein crisis

Prime Cuts with Steve Kay

By Steve Kay November 5, 2019

You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, goes the old Scottish idiom. But you can if it is a Chinese sow. This is because African swine fever (ASF) has reduced China’s sow population by 37 per cent in just the past year. China’s hog losses due to ASF are rapidly mounting […] Read more

Livestock, Reuters

China to resume imports of Canadian beef and pork

By Kelsey Johnson November 5, 2019

Reuters – China will resume imports of Canadian beef and pork, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday, some four months after Beijing blocked shipments amid an escalating diplomatic feud between the two countries. “Good news for Canadian farmers today: Canadian pork and beef exports to China will resume,” Trudeau tweeted. The Chinese embassy in […] Read more

Livestock, Research

Spinning straw into gold

Research on the Record with Reynold Bergen

By Reynold Bergen November 4, 2019

The rumen allows cattle to digest fibre that chickens, pigs and humans can’t, and produce high-quality beef protein from feed and land that otherwise wouldn’t produce food. Understanding the rumen better is the key to improving feed efficiency and improving cattle’s ability to convert fibre to protein. There’s as much energy in straw as grain — […] Read more

Beef Cattle, Livestock, Markets, Reuters

Cargill suspends shifts at Kansas beef plant after explosion

By Reuters October 17, 2019

Chicago | Reuters — Cargill said Thursday it had suspended some shifts at its Dodge City, Kansas beef-packing plant after an explosion injured two employees. Cargill spokesman Daniel Sullivan said the company expects the facility to be fully operational soon and that it would meet all it customer commitments. The company is investigating the cause […] Read more

Livestock, Markets, Reuters

U.S. livestock: Hogs slip despite record-large pork sales to China

By Tom Polansek October 10, 2019

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures sagged on Thursday as the confirmation of record-large weekly pork export sales to China failed to impress traders who have been expecting a surge in demand for months. Uncertainty about when the pork will be shipped to China also kept a lid on gains, traders said. The […] Read more

Crops, Reuters, Weather

South America fires could disrupt its farm belt’s rainfall

By Monica Machicao October 9, 2019

Santa Cruz | Reuters — Forest fires that swept across Bolivia and Brazil this year could disrupt rainfall distribution across South America’s grains-and-beef producing regions in unpredictable ways for years to come, a scientist and meteorologist said. Recent rains in both countries have helped put out the wildfires, which were likely started by farmers and […] Read more

General, Markets, Reuters

Japan trade deal aims to put U.S. farmers on par with TPP

By Reuters October 7, 2019

Washington | Reuters — The new U.S.-Japan trade deal will provide staged reduction of Japanese tariffs for more than US$2 billion worth of U.S. beef and pork, matching access now granted to the 11 Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact countries, a text of the agreement shows. U.S. President Donald Trump presided over a White House signing […] Read more

Beef Cattle, Livestock

New meat recall prolongs Ryding-Regency shutdown

By John Greig October 4, 2019

Ryding-Regency Meat Packers remains shut down, making an already tight processing capacity situation event more challenging for Ontario farmers. The Toronto company, along with St. Ann’s Food, announced a recall Tuesday of a long list of its products because of concerns with E. coli O157:H7. More products were added to the recall on Thursday. The […] Read more

U.S. feeder cattle prices have been under pressure the last few weeks.

Beef Cattle, Markets

Pressure ahead for fed-cattle markets

The Markets with Deb McMillin, from the September 30, 2019 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

By Debbie McMillin October 1, 2019

Fed cattle Seasonal pressure coupled with leverage loss partly due to the U.S. packing plant fire resulted in smaller weekly kill capacity. Locally, demand is softer following the September long weekend, which is generally the case. In addition, front-end supply is building and packer lift times have lengthened. Over the past five weeks, the fed […] Read more

U.S. grains: Soy falls below US$9 on South America weather, trade doubts

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle sink ahead of USDA feedlot data

U.S. grains: Soybeans slide, nearing support at US$9

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