Would you buy a steak, roast, or package of hamburger online? Changes in the way consumers are purchase food ingredients may offer new opportunities, and challenges, to the beef industry. Don Close is a senior analyst of animal protein at Rabo AgriFinance, and recently completed a report entitled Food Fight! — Online and Brick and... Read More
Category: Livestock
Ontario farmers continue to spend big money on farmland, especially in the southwest part of the province. According to the annual Southwestern Ontario Land Values report from Valco Consultants, the median price paid for an acre of farmland in this region of the province came in at $12,710 in 2017, an average increase of 9.7... Read More
The Alberta and Saskatchewan governments have announced funding for provincial programs under the new Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP). The five-year federal-provincial-territorial agriculture framework is set to begin this weekend (April 1), as Growing Forward 2 comes to an end. Alberta Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay was in Calgary on Monday, where he announced $406 million... Read More
While most pastures across Saskatchewan were blanketed with snow this past winter, the landscape will change quickly as warm weather arrives. Native prairie plants such as northern wheatgrass and needle-and-thread will soon spring to life, however their undesirable counterparts, such as leafy spurge, will too. Leafy spurge is a perennial invasive weed many farmers and... Read More
The Canadian Cattlemen's Association has a new executive, led by a rancher from British Columbia. David Haywood-Farmer of Savona, B.C. assumed the role of president at the CCA's annual general meeting in Ottawa on Friday, following a two-year term as CCA vice president. The implementation of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership is... Read More
As a snowstorm bears down on the prairies just in time for spring calving, the cattle markets continue their slide downwards, and futures markets try to figure out how low they have to go to clear additional product in the value chain. That's where we start this week's discussion from Beef Market Update analyst Anne... Read More
The countdown to the sixth annual Canadian Dairy XPO is on as the dairy industry showcase readies to open its doors at the Stratford Fairgrounds on April 4th and 5th. Show attendance topped 16,000 in 2017, with 350 exhibitors representing 30 countries. CDX general manager and founder Jordon Underhill says a key driver of the... Read More
Pound for pound, the smaller the cow the better she can keep herself cool during those hot summer days. While the total days per year that cause heat stress aren't that numerous for much of Canada, there's a day or two lag in the full impact on the cows. When you add up the hot... Read More
From storage requirements to difficult-to-spell words like 'Mannheimia haemolytica' and 'rhinotracheitis,' there's a lot to consider when it comes to vaccinating cattle. And that complexity is one of the reasons Cody Creelman, veterinarian and managing partner of Veterinary Agri-Health Services, suggests producers develop a customized, written vaccination protocol, with annual reviews. "It's important to [re-assess... Read More
Livestock trucks headed south will be exempt from new electronic logging rules in the U.S. for another 90-days, as the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) wrestles with how to apply the new legislation to perishable commodities, which include hogs and cattle coming from Canada. The U.S. DOT initially granted a 90-day waiver for agriculture when... Read More