As of October 1, 2016, Mexico will fully re-open its border to Canadian beef, ending one of the few trade restrictions that still remain from the initial discovery of a case of BSE in Canada in May 2003. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement in Ottawa on... Read More
Category: Cattle
It's been an interesting week for market analysts. According to Gateway Livestock's Anne Wasko, cattle prices had a tough week leading up to Friday, then "Brexit — the 'leave' victory — sort of sent markets into an upheaval." Commodity Analysts, Traders and Media React to Brexit Decision The news that the United Kingdom had voted... Read More
Are carcass weights too high? Are we not putting enough emphasis on quality feet and legs? These are questions Temple Grandin, well-known cattle handling expert, had ranchers and reporters asking themselves as they filed out of the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association's 103rd annual general meeting and convention. As part of her presentation, Grandin described a... Read More
Verified Beef Production (VBP) took a highly anticipated step today, with the official launch of Verified Beef Production Plus (VBP+). The refreshed program now includes training and auditing for animal care, biosecurity and environmental stewardship as well as the original on-farm food safety practices, in both the cow-calf and feedlot sectors. “VBP+ is a straightforward,... Read More
The last five years I have been very fortunate to moderate the Saskatchewan Stock Growers annual meeting. Over the years I have heard some great presentations and have gained a very strong connection with the ranching roots of the organization. In my time hosting the meeting I have seen freakish snow storms in the Cypress... Read More
If you have been to an agricultural meeting in the last seven years you have likely heard a presentation on advocacy. In both the US and Canada, advocacy has become a call to action for farmers, ranchers, dairymen, etc. Organizations like Ag More Than Ever were founded to focus on advocacy and enabling producers to... Read More
A big spike in the United States' live cattle cash market left producers hopeful late last week. "In the south — down in Texas, Kansas — we had the market up three dollars, to $1.28 US," explains Gateway Livestock's Anne Wasko, in this week's Beef Market Update (included below). "And the northern markets — Nebraska,... Read More
On Wednesday, McDonald's announced the completion of its Verified Sustainable Beef (VSB) Pilot, and handed the results — and recommendations — to the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB). "It's a really exciting day to talk about the accomplishment over the last year and a half that McDonald's has been doing the pilot project here... Read More
"We did it! We did it," exclaimed Francesca Debiase, chief supply chain and sustainability officer for McDonald's, pumping her hands through the air, at yesterday's celebration of the conclusion of McDonald's Verified Sustainable Beef (VSB) Pilot in Calgary. “Several years ago, McDonald’s supply chain made a really interesting discovery," Debiase explained, "and that discovery was... Read More
Earlier this week, Brian Perillat, senior analyst with Canfax, joined Shaun Haney to talk about the May 1 cattle report. The report, published Sunday, showed on-feed numbers in Alberta and Saskatchewan up 8%. What caused the bump? "As Brian alluded in that last interview, the cattle that didn't go south — the feeder cattle last... Read More