We often focus our efforts on what to add to a total mixed ration in order to offer our animals the highest plane of nutrition necessary for their life stage. But, what about the substances that could create serious health concerns, or even death? "Moulds are a fungal growth, and the mycotoxins are actually a... Read More
Category: Cattle
The Saskatchewan government has announced it will match cash donations to help farmers and ranchers impacted by grassfires in the southwest part of the province last month. Fires near the communities of Burstall, Tompkins and Leader burned approximately 80,000 acres of crop and pasture land on October 17th, killing around 770 cattle. The province says... Read More
Differentiating products through marketing has long been a goal of commodity groups. The Alberta Beef Producers have (according to their website) promoted the Alberta Beef brand for thirty years. It featured widely-recognized advertisements like that of three female ranchers leaning on a fence, with text that read, "If it ain't Alberta, it ain't beef." Increasingly,... Read More
The federal government has decided to not make any changes to how it treats deferred cash purchase tickets for grain after proposing in the 2017 budget to potentially eliminate the option. Many farm groups voiced their opposition to the idea of dropping the income tax deferral mechanism during consultations held in spring and early summer.... Read More
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Alberta Beef Producers (ABP) provided an update on the bovine tuberculosis investigation on Friday, while the federal government announced additional tax relief on Monday. Testing has now expanded to trace-in herds, with the majority of the on-farm testing planned to be completed by the end of December. As... Read More
Flying, biting midges (Culicoides spp.) — sometimes called no-see-ums — are a scourge to wildlife. Hunters recognize their effects on deer in particular, which are highly susceptibility to a group of midge-transmitted viruses. But there are growing concerns about their potential effect on livestock, too. Here’s why. A midge swarm will blood-feed on animals, causing... Read More
Live cattle futures have found reasons to rally since early September, even in the face of large placements in a bearish cattle on feed report last week. It's a combination of market fundamentals — profitable margins, lower carcass weights, and strong demand — driving the market out of the lows set around Labour Day, says... Read More
The Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association is collecting donations of cash, hay, feed, trucking and "whatever people can offer" to help ranchers affected by this fall's wildfires in southwest Saskatchewan. "The fires destroyed animals, buildings, fields, feed and everything else in their way. Miles of fencing were destroyed. With winter coming, there’s a lot of people... Read More
The Canadian Cattlemen's Association (CCA) has recognized former Member of Parliament and Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz with the 2017 Beef Industry Innovation and Sustainability Award. In its newsletter, the CCA listed changes the beef industry saw during Ritz's time as Minister of Agriculture, including: His announcing, in 2014, over $3.8 million to fund the Canadian... Read More
There's a flavour for strong beef demand in the country, says Anne Wasko, market analyst with Gateway Livestock, which has producers feeling good about market positioning. Last week's slaughter report showed a 6.3 percent increase in animals killed in federally inspected plants in Canada, when compared to last year at this time. It's good news... Read More