Over the past few years U.S. DDGs have worked their way more and more into Western Canadian livestock rations. The energy value is good, the starch content is less, helps to prevent acidosis in cattle, improved feed conversions and the quality and yield grades of carcasses remain unaffected when switching from traditional rations. Another big... Read More
Category: Livestock
When the media talks about profitability in the cattle business most times we talk about ranchers and feedyard owners. The other part of the beef value chain that cannot be forgotten is the cattle packer. Packers have not had a real great run as of late which has meant four day kill weeks. As we... Read More
Barley is bumping off of $200, corn is $7.00 per bushel and dressed cattle prices are just under $200. What is going on here? With inputs and cattle prices both in bull runs it is easy to get caught up in the assumption that this will last forever. As the old saying goes, what goes... Read More
Hog farmers across the country have had it bad for a while. Market crashes, disease and deteriorating consumer confidence have been major issues for pork producers for quite some time. Running a hog farm is not easy or glamorous. They require an incredible amount of hands on management from farrow to finish. Hogs are hard... Read More
It has been a challenging year for cattle feeders in the respect that unhedged cattle have performed well financially but the majority of cattle for progressive producers were contracted or hedged. On top of this is the fact that replacing cattle in the feed yard is very expensive based on the break evens that are... Read More
"Those dairy farmers print money!" That's what a friend of mine says every time the subject of dairy farms comes up. Drive down many roads in Canada and it's easy to see how that perception was born. Huge brand new facilities, multi-site operations with finely manicured yards and milking parlors with nicer tile most people's... Read More
I can remember back earlier in the year when Anne Dunford told me that, "higher prices doesn't mean higher profits." It would seem that this is proving to be very true in the cattle markets. Feedyards that locked in with contracts are disappointed and wishing more cattle were being sold in the cash market. The... Read More
As the cattle industry contemplates the rebuilding of the cow herd, bull selection strategies will become incredibly important to ranchers profitability in the future. Once better known as an art, bull selection is a science now. Gone are the days when an old cowboy could walk out into a pen and say, "I like the... Read More
The way that feedyard owners handle cattle has a massive impact on gains and the overall health of the animal. Many of you have used the snake and tub concept originally designed by Temple Grandin (i think?) When I was at the NCBA convention I ran into a very cool booth that was giving live... Read More
There has been quite a bit of commentary in the media recently from certain farm groups like the NFU and R-Calf regarding the need to eliminate or more strictly regulate speculators in the market. Interest in commodities has greatly increased in recent years which has increased the volume of speculators trading in corn, beef and... Read More