(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: tight supplies continue to underpin feeder complex 

Feedlot operators shrug off past week's rally in the corn market

Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, Western Canadian yearling markets traded $2-$5/cwt higher on average while calves were up $5/cwt to as much as $10/cwt in some cases. Feather light calves under 500 pounds reached fresh historical highs with 300-400 pound steers trading from $400-$450/cwt in Southern Alberta.  Finishing feedlots continue to be aggressive on yearlings for […] Read more

Tiffany Wood, a Scottish physicist is CEO of Dyneval, a company with new semen analyzing technology.  Photo: John Greig

At Ag in Motion: New tester monitors bull fertility

Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Slow-swimming bull sperm will have no place to hide. A Scottish company, Dyneval, has created a new semen analyzer that measures a wider range of concentrations of semen than previous testing methods. This will allow veterinarians, beef and dairy producers to have more control over semen quality. The Dynescanl analyzer is also […] Read more


Photo: Canada Beef Inc.

Klassen: Feeder market continues climb

Futures spur larger feedlots to lock in ownership

Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, quality yearling packages traded $6-$10/cwt higher. In some cases, prices were up as much as $12/cwt. Calf markets were relatively unchanged although the market was hard to defined due to limited volumes. Pastures are drying up in Saskatchewan and certain area of eastern Alberta. Yearlings from these regions are coming on […] Read more

This file photo shows a rack of blood samples being tested for bovine tuberculosis in New Zealand dairy cattle. (Lakeview_Images/iStock/Getty Images)

More bovine TB cases found in Saskatchewan herd

Herd now depopulated, one separate contact herd identified

Reading Time: 2 minutes Corrected, July 14 — Postmortem testing of a Saskatchewan cattle herd culled after turning up three confirmed cases of bovine tuberculosis (TB) has yielded six more cases. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), which is tasked with testing the infected herd, said Thursday that as of July 12, a total of eight cases of bovine […] Read more


File photo of cattle in an Alberta feedlot. (Geralyn Wichers photo)

Alberta lifts feeder loan guarantee limit

Amendment boosts individual limit by 50 per cent

Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta has boosted the limit on the size of loan available under its Feeder Associations Loan Guarantee program, aiming to help producers keep up against rising livestock prices. An order in council amending the provincial Feeder Associations Guarantee Regulation was approved Monday, raising that program’s individual and joint-membership loan limit to $3 million, from $2 […] Read more

(Geralyn Wichers photo)

Klassen: Feeder market consolidates at historical highs

Higher borrowing costs offset lower feed prices

Reading Time: 2 minutes For the week ending Saturday, western Canadian yearling steer prices were quoted $2-$4 higher; yearling heifers traded $2 higher to $5 lower. Calves were relatively unchanged although volumes were limited. Larger groups of quality genetics were well bid while second tier cattle were marginally discounted off the highs. Some ranches are liquidating yearlings about one […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: U.S. feeder markets pull Canadian values higher

Feedlots aggressively seek U.S. corn

Reading Time: 2 minutes For the week ending July 1, western Canadian feeder markets traded $2-$5/cwt higher compared to seven days earlier. Quality groups of yearlings were up $8-$10/cwt from a week earlier. South of the border, major markets in Oklahoma had feeder steers and heifers trading US$5-$10/cwt above week-ago levels. The Canadian market is functioning to ration demand […] Read more

Tuberculosis bacteria under an electron microscope. (Janice Haney Carr photo courtesy Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.))

Bovine TB turns up in Saskatchewan herd

Two cases found after U.S. test flags Canadian heifer

Reading Time: 3 minutes A heifer whose tissues tested positive for bovine tuberculosis (TB) at slaughter in the U.S. has been traced back to a Saskatchewan cattle herd which has now turned up two more cases of the disease. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, in a report dated Wednesday, said it was notified Feb. 23 by the U.S. Department […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Fed market supports feeder complex

Strength in loonie tempers market upside

Reading Time: 2 minutes For the week ending Saturday, western Canadian yearlings over 800 lbs. were relatively unchanged. Feeder cattle in the range of 600-700 lbs. were up $4-$8/cwt. The market was hard to define for feeder cattle under 600 lbs. due to limited numbers. Prices for quality calves were unchanged from seven days earlier while straggler types were […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: 800-lb. steers touch $300/cwt mark

Nearby cash market at odds with futures

Reading Time: 2 minutes For the week ending June 17, western Canadian feeder cattle prices were quoted $2-$5/cwt higher on average compared to seven days earlier. However, larger packages of quality yearlings traded $8-$10/cwt above week-ago levels. The market was hard to define because available supplies are dwindling at this time of year. The quality of cattle was extremely […] Read more