VIDEO: Breeding corn for cows, not combines

VIDEO: Breeding corn for cows, not combines

Driving down the road you’d be hard-pressed to distinguish the difference between a grain or silage corn crop, but your cow surely knows the difference when it comes to nutrition and digestibility. In this video, Tyler Russell of NorthStar Genetics talks about what traits are important to cattle and to the producers who harvest the […] Read more

Drought and searing heat have had a severe impact on feed crops such as corn, wheat and soybeans.

Drought rears its ugly head

Prime Cuts with Steve Kay

BSE cases and E.Coli O 157:H7 recalls have roiled the North American beef industry over the past 25 years. But neither have had more of a long-running impact on the industry as drought. Severe to extreme drought conditions have now returned to much of the western half of the continent and are having an impact […] Read more


CME December 2021 live cattle (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle down on raised beef production forecasts

Pork supply expectations drag on CME December hogs

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures ended lower on Tuesday, after the U.S. Department of Agriculture slightly increased its forecasts for beef production this year and next year. USDA, in a monthly report, raised its 2021 estimate by 0.3 per cent from September because of higher cow slaughtering and heavier average […] Read more

CME October 2021 live cattle (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME cattle futures mixed

Hogs slip on technical trading

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures ended mixed on Monday, as cattle prices began to see a seasonal bounce and cash cattle traders were expected to firm slightly this week, traders said. CME lean hog futures, meanwhile, slipped on technical trading and some signs of profit-taking, traders said. On Monday, October lean […] Read more


CME November 2021 feeder cattle (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, brown and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Profit-taking knocks feeder cattle off high

CME lean hogs seen consolidating

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange feeder cattle futures ended lower on Friday as profit-taking pressured the market after prices set a one-month high, traders said. The setback came after the most-active November contract had rallied more than six per cent from a four-month low set on Sept. 30. The contract ended down 0.45 […] Read more

Many provinces – as well as the federal government – announced increased funding in August to help support producers hit by drought this year.

CCA reports: Better days on the horizon

From the September 27, 2021 issue of Canadian Cattlemen

I am pleased to see the world is starting to open and return somewhat to pre-pandemic life. For the first time in a long time, those able to travel had the opportunity to get together in person at the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) semi-annual meeting held in Calgary in August to discuss industry issues and […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Shortages leading to price increases

MarketsFarm — Prices for feed grains are swinging higher because of shortages, according to Mike Fleischhauer of Eagle Commodities Ltd. in Lethbridge. “One thing we are sure of is we are running out of inventory, barley for sure, and we’re 11 months away from new crop,” he said. This year’s severe drought and excessive heat […] Read more

A tract of Amazon jungle burns as it is cleared by farmers at Rio Pardo in Brazil’s Rondonia state on Sept. 15, 2019. (File photo: Reuters/Ricardo Moraes)

Brazil’s JBS bought 301,000 cattle from ‘irregular’ farms in Amazon, audit finds

Prosecutors 'negotiating improvements' with companies

Sao Paulo | Reuters — Nearly a third of the cattle bought by JBS SA in the Brazilian Amazon state of Para came from ranches with “irregularities” such as illegal deforestation, prosecutors found in a 2020 audit of the world’s largest meatpacker released on Thursday. In a presentation, federal prosecutors said they were “negotiating improvements” […] Read more


CME December 2021 live cattle (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, dark red and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME cattle rally continues on steady cash market, technical buying

Chicago hogs also find support

Chicago | Reuters — Technical buying and a steady cash market helped fuel Chicago Mercantile Exchange live and feeder cattle futures on Thursday, sending prices to multi-week highs and stretching the rally into a fourth trading session, traders said. Most-active November feeder cattle touched its highest price since Sept. 9 and ended up 3.475 cents […] Read more

CME November 2021 feeder cattle (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, dark red and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Technical buying, solid beef demand boost CME cattle

Chicago lean hogs continue lower

Chicago | Reuters — Technical buying and solid demand for U.S. beef lifted Chicago Mercantile Exchange live and feeder cattle futures on Wednesday, traders said. The cattle markets continue to rebound from recent losses that were technically overdone, analysts said. Front-month CME October live cattle futures reached its highest price since Sept. 16 at 124 […] Read more