Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz today completed a trade mission to China and India to open new markets for Canadian farmers and agriculture industries. Of particular note, Minister Ritz met with China’s Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu to work to secure permanent access for Canadian live cattle valued by industry at $150 million annually once fully... Read More
Category: Cattle
Fast times are upon us in the North American beef industry. Feed is cheap, calves are in short supply, and credit is a hot commodity. Today Anne Wasko and Shaun focus on the calf market. In particular the rate at which Canadian ranchers are not retaining heifers. As Anne will share with you, the US... Read More
Almost a decade after negotiations began, the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement was signed today in Ottawa by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Korean President Park Geun-hye. The deal is expected to help Canadian agricultural exports compete against American exports, as sales of Canadian beef, pork and other commodities have declined since South Korea ratified a... Read More
With all the excitement about the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in agriculture, it’s important to understand the reliability of information collected by UAVs. Can we trust their accuracy to make farm management decisions? Beyond that, could UAV data tell us something before we see it on the ground? Researchers in North Dakota are evaluating... Read More
A coalition of North American meat and livestock organizations is keeping its legal options open as it attempts to have U.S. country of origin labeling (COOL) rules repealed. According to the industry, COOL is costing Canadian cattle and hog producers around a billion dollars per year. On Friday, a group that includes the Canadian Cattlemen’s... Read More
Snow and freezing temperatures arrived earlier than welcomed in parts of Western Canada this week. We also saw a bearish market report from the USDA and some new developments surrounding the privatization of the Canadian Wheat Board. It was also a week on the road for the RealAg team, as Shaun, Lyndsey and Bern attended... Read More
The possible arrival of the first widespread killing frost in Western Canada this week has implications for livestock producers looking to maximize feed quality for their animals. Freezing temperatures can cause nitrates to accumulate in cereal species grown for greenfeed, which can be toxic to cattle (more info here on the SaskAg website.) However, management... Read More
It appears demand for beef has remained strong despite the high prices at the meat counter. As part of the latest RealAg Beef Market Update, Shaun Haney and Anne Wasko of Gateway Livestock Exchange discuss the recent rally in cattle futures and how demand for beef has held. "All the proteins have moved higher. Pork... Read More
It's not something that's been said often in the last decade, but now is a great time to be in the cow-calf business, as cattle producers are seeing all-time record high prices. "We're running about 60 cents to a dollar a pound higher than we were last year at this time," says Rick Wright, the... Read More
Following a report that says the World Trade Organization has sided with Canada and Mexico in the dispute over U.S. country of origin labelling rules, a coalition of American food and agriculture organizations is urging Congress and U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack to immediately suspend COOL if the WTO rules against the U.S. Although the... Read More