I have now been to the NCBA twice and both were very interesting experiences. In 2010, the cattle industry was begging for different fortunes while in 2011 the meeting was lifted with significant bullsihness for cattle prices. I can remember meeting with Gregg Doud, NCBA Chief Economist at the 2010 meeting where I asked him,... Read More
Category: Livestock
It's very interesting to listen to the people that attended the NCBA meeting during the height of the BSE outbreak. They will tell you that as Canadian's our presence at the NCBA was met with a tiny bit of friction. Now the relationship is on much firmer footing and returning to the strength seen in... Read More
Last week Oprah really spurred controversy with her comments regarding animal agriculture. In case you missed it Oprah was toured through a Cargill facility and she took some shots at the red meat industry. At the NCBA 2011 conference I thought I would get the opinion of a real farmer and rancher on what Oprah... Read More
One of the highlights of the the NCBA convention every year is the cattle market outlook by CattleFax. As everyone left the session on Friday the consensus of the attendees was, "CattleFax is very bullish." At the NCBA 2011 convention I had the opportunity to discuss the cattle market with Duane Lenz of CattleFax. Duane... Read More
The global consumer has been evolving as the new consumers get exposed to a beef diet. Even in Canada, our tastes and preferences around our favorite meal has changed as generations evolve. Do these changes mean changes for the beef business in Canada or do they really mean a bright future? For example, as the... Read More
Databases are very powerful tools that can make business decisions more clear, companies more effective and lead to high customer satisfaction. Larry Thomas is working on a very big project that will potentially connect all the dots in the value chain for beef producers. Once this system is live it has the potential to have... Read More
It is really hard to find analysts, feeders and ranchers that are bearish on this cattle market. The industry as a whole is pretty bullish in comparison to prior years and especially in comparison to two years ago. Everyone is bullish prices in 2011 but are they bullish margins and if they are not, should... Read More
When you look back at 2010 it was a real turnaround year for the cattle markets. Both the Canadian feedyard and the rancher did quite well considering all the volatility in the marketplace. We saw higher calf prices and fat prices throughout the fall run which was much needed and required more some people to... Read More
Last weekend I was at a shop party with many of my neighbours in Picture Butte. Get a bunch of farmers, ranchers and feedyard owners together and what else is there to talk about other than grain prices and hockey. Barley was definitely the topic of discussion at several tables. For me its very interesting... Read More
You can look at volatility in two ways. Volatility in the cattle markets means that you may be exposed to risk that you did not plan for. For example, earlier this decade when the CDN dollar moved from the low 70's to par in a violent upward fashion which caught many people off guard. The... Read More