With over 200 days of travel as the President of NCBA, Bill Donald has been busy. Donald has reign at the top of NCBA at a time that has been very good for Canada / United States trade relations. With Canada shipping fat cattle south and Canada purchasing one billion dollars of US beef in... Read More
Category: Livestock
This years NCBA conference saw a more positive outlook from producers and industry members than there has been for a while. That outlook comes with some qualifiers as well as some questions that have to be answered as we look ahead to the rest of 2012. I spoke to Duane Lenz of CattleFax about the... Read More
If you're in the cattle feeding business, you know how tight margins are. With feed costs continuing to be expensive and feeder prices looking toward potential record highs this year, the importance of improving feed efficiency becomes magnified. Watching cattle struggle through wet pens to get to that feed in the spring can be hard... Read More
If a person were to describe the overall mood of this year's NCBA Conference, it would be descibed as price bullish and margin bearish. As we have mentioned before, it's a cautious optimism for feeders and packers, which comes with a recognition of the volatility that producers have gone through and are also facing in... Read More
Temple Grandin's work in the livestock industry cannot be understated. Her designs and innovations in the areas of livestock handling revolutionized the industry and brought a more humane system into existence. Those insights and contributions are made all the more impressive by the fact that Dr. Grandin is autistic. That condition is part of the... Read More
There is the assumption that in general, because the world population is increasing, the demand for meat, in particular beef, will naturally grow and expand. That generalization may make sense from a North American perspective, but eating habits here aren't eating habits everywhere and any growth in the industry has to take place in export... Read More
Volatility was the recurring theme in the cattle industry over 2011. The fact is that the mood created by that volatility has carried into 2012. Even with things looking up for producers, the violent swings of the 2011 market are tempering any optimism with caution. Those sentiments were apparent at this year's Tiffin Conference as... Read More
The Canadian Cattlemen's Association released information this morning that South Korea has lifted its ban on Canadian Beef imports. This news is long overdue and we have to realize that trade resumption doesn't happen overnight. Learning from our agreement with China, Canada must complete all of the more detailed technical issues as quickly as possible... Read More
Charlie Gracey is one of Canada's more renowned experts on the beef industry in Canada. Charlie very much understands the relationship of the rancher, feeder and packer. At the Tiffin Conference in Lethbridge, Charlie discussed at length the things that the Canadian industry must do to increase markets and increase supply concurrently. Charlie believes that... Read More
As things have slowed down for us over the holidays, it has given time for me to reflect on the year that was. I can’t remember a time of more trying and yet exciting times. From weather to politics, there was something for everyone to talk about. Here is my list of the good and... Read More