Reading Time: 2 minutes Regulations to allow Canadian beef processors to irradiate fresh and/or frozen raw ground beef for food safety purposes will soon be up for public comment. Health Canada on Monday served notice it will soon propose amendments to its Food and Drug Regulations that would add fresh and frozen ground beef to its list of allowed […] Read more
Proposals for irradiating ground beef back on table
The business of beef in Canada
There’s no such thing as commodity beef anymore, says Alberta feedlot producer Ryan Kasko. It’s an attitude that is transforming the heart of Canada’s beef country
Reading Time: 13 minutes Canada’s beef industry seems like it’s built on a contradiction. It’s a sector living right on the edge of the future. Every aspect of production is undergoing change. New technology is revolutionizing how herds are raised and managed, and new consumer preferences are raising the bar in their own way too, perhaps faster in beef […] Read more
U.S. watchdog to review cattle pricing, high-speed trading
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — A U.S. watchdog agency will launch a review of cattle pricing, including the impact of high-frequency trading on futures, after ranchers complained about a sharp price drop last year. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has accepted a request from the Senate judiciary committee to study the reasons for the decline, […] Read more
Klassen: Improving margins support feeder market
Reading Time: 2 minutes Average western Canadian feeder cattle prices were $3-$5 above week-ago levels, with top-quality larger groups trading as much as $8-$10 higher. While current pen closeouts remain underwater, the deferred positions are somewhat brighter, which has rejuvenated buying enthusiasm. Most risk management strategies rely on cattle feeders staying in the game all year. There appears to […] Read more
VIDEO: What cattle buyers want
There's more than one way to sell a calf these days
Reading Time: < 1 minute Country Guide reporter Lisa Guenther caught up with Sean McGrath of Round Rock Ranching to find out how he and his family sell their calves. The McGrath family ranch south of Vermilion, Alta, and they’ve sold into a variety of beef programs. In this video interview, McGrath talks about what those buyers are looking for.
U.S. livestock: Cattle limit down after bearish USDA surprise
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle and feeder cattle futures tumbled by their respective daily price limits on Monday, declining two per cent or more in a selloff triggered by bearish U.S. Department of Agriculture data released after Friday’s session. Cattle gapped lower on their price charts at the opening of trading, before locking […] Read more
April U.S. cattle placed in feedlots at three-year high
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– The number of cattle placed into U.S. feedlots in April jumped seven per cent from a year earlier, according to a government report on Friday, far exceeding most analysts’ forecasts. Feedlots were still operating at a loss, analysts said. But lower prices for young calves allowed feedlots to buy more of […] Read more
Klassen: Feeder market bounces off previous lows
Reading Time: 2 minutes Western Canadian feeder cattle prices traded $5-$8 above week-ago levels with quality groups of steers selling for as much as $10 higher. Renewed optimism surfaced amongst feedlot operators as feeding margins appear to be moving above break-even pen closeout values. Auction markets that only had two or three major buyers at previous sales in spring […] Read more
U.S. asked to seize Bundy cattle to protect tortoises
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters –– Environmental groups have asked the U.S. government to seize hundreds of jailed militant rancher Cliven Bundy’s cattle, saying unregulated grazing of his herd on public lands in Nevada threatens habitat for federally protected desert tortoises. The request from nine organizations in a letter sent on Monday to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management […] Read more
Klassen: Drop in fed cattle prices weighs on feeder complex
Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta fed cattle prices dropped sharply last week, with dressed sales falling $10 to $20 from seven days earlier. Despite the weakening Canadian dollar, wholesale beef prices also fell US$10/cwt which offset any currency benefit. Feedlot operators froze with disbelief as the market suffered one of the sharpest week-over-week declines in recent memory. The hot […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
