It's day 1,665 of winter (or so it feels), and we Prairie folk are finally emerging out from a solid week of high wind chills, blowing snow, awful driving conditions and more blowing snow. The lucky few booked their warm vacations for this week, but most of us are doing what we always do in... Read More
Category: Livestock
A draft of a revised Canadian Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Beef Cattle is up for a 60-day comment period, and the cattle industry is encouraging its members to read the draft and proposed changes before the comment period ends in early March. The process of creating this draft took several... Read More
Saskatchewan forage industry members will work together to develop and implement a strategy to improve the sector's competitiveness and to ensure its long-term prosperity with the help of federal government funding announced this week. Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz was on hand this week to announce a $148,000 investment to help the Saskatchewan Forage Council... Read More
Extending the grazing season past the warm weather months isn't just a great way to save on fuel and time, it also can significantly reduce feeding costs. Bale and swath grazing or grazing stock-piled fields isn't as difficult as it first appears, though some planning is required. RealAgriculture.com asked Dr. Vern Baron, with AAFC, and... Read More
Cargill has announced that they will be shutting down its Plainview, Texas Cattle slaughter plant. Cargill cited a shrinking cattle supply as one of the reasons for the decision. Is this a big surprise, not really in terms of the excess capacity that is in North America. For Canada, the near term impact is a... Read More
Managing your risk continues to be the message that drives the decision making strategies of feedyards and ranches in Canada and the United States. One piece of stability to the Canadian market is the announcement that JBS will be exercising its option on the XL Foods purchase. All this and more in the Beef Market... Read More
China has approved four additional Canadian beef facilities that will now be able to export beef to China, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and International Trade Minister Ed Fast announced today. The newly approved establishments will increase the Canadian export capacity for beef in a market estimated by the industry to be worth approximately $20 million... Read More
Cattle's nutritional needs change throughout the production cycle. Even a full-grown bull is going to need extra energy to get through a cold winter, but pregnant cows or growing animals have even more dynamic needs throughout the winter months. In fact, a cow's energy needs can increase significantly and protein requirements can nearly double during... Read More
JBS USA, a subsidiary of Brazil-based JBS S.A., has announced it is moving forward with purchasing XL Foods's Canadian operations. JBS took over management of the Brooks-based plant in late October after E. coli contamination shut down operations at the plant. JBS, upon exercising this option, anticipates the purchase of XL Foods to be completed... Read More
New Year's Eve held much excitement in U.S. politics, not because of any ball drop or extravagant party, but because of a late-night crunch session to hammer out a tax bill that would pull the U.S. from the so-called "Fiscal Cliff" of mandatory cost cutting and tax hikes. Included in the last-minute agreement was an... Read More