Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling markets traded $2-$4 higher on average; calves traded $2 to as much as $6 higher. The feeder market has recovered after a softer tone earlier in October. Favourable weather in southern Alberta over the past week caused Lethbridge-area feedlots to step forward more aggressively, especially in the lighter […] Read more
Klassen: Feeder market experiences bouncing behaviour
Cargill suspends shifts at Kansas beef plant after explosion
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — Cargill said Thursday it had suspended some shifts at its Dodge City, Kansas beef-packing plant after an explosion injured two employees. Cargill spokesman Daniel Sullivan said the company expects the facility to be fully operational soon and that it would meet all it customer commitments. The company is investigating the cause […] Read more
Klassen: Limited harvest progress weighs on feeder cattle
Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian feeder cattle markets were down $2 to as much as $8 in some cases. A fortuitous bounce in the barley market resulted in a softer tone for replacement cattle. It appears that the Canadian barley crop will be smaller than earlier anticipated and some of the crop will likely […] Read more
Klassen: Adverse weather tempers feeder market
Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian feeder cattle markets traded $3-$5 lower. Excessive snow in Alberta and ongoing rains across Manitoba and Saskatchewan set a negative tone. The market appeared to incorporate a risk discount, although many auction barns had limited numbers on offer. Buyers once again focused on local cattle and avoided transportation over […] Read more
New meat recall prolongs Ryding-Regency shutdown
Reading Time: < 1 minute Ryding-Regency Meat Packers remains shut down, making an already tight processing capacity situation event more challenging for Ontario farmers. The Toronto company, along with St. Ann’s Food, announced a recall Tuesday of a long list of its products because of concerns with E. coli O157:H7. More products were added to the recall on Thursday. The […] Read more
Klassen: Yearling prices remain firm
Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling markets were relatively unchanged with the exception of southern Alberta where 800-plus-lb. feeders traded $5 to as much as $8 higher. Strength in deferred live cattle futures and weakness in barley prices were the main factors driving demand in the Lethbridge area. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s bullish […] Read more
McDonald’s reiterates beef support during Beyond Meat test-drive
Reading Time: 3 minutes The world’s biggest burger chain has aimed to reassure Canadian beef producers that its trial run of a plant-based burger doesn’t mark a retreat from the company’s primary protein. McDonald’s CEO John Betts, in a statement issued Friday directly to “our valued partners in the beef industry,” said he wants beef producers “to hear from […] Read more
Major veal processor launches new brand, non-GMO label
Reading Time: 2 minutes Quebec veal, lamb and beef processor Delimax-Montpak is set to launch a new consumer brand across Canada featuring what it bills as the only GMO-free milk-fed veal on the market. The company said Tuesday it expected to have the new brand — Fontaine Family, named for the company’s founding family — available via “most major […] Read more
Last of trace-out quarantines lifted in bovine TB probe
Reading Time: 2 minutes The last of 38 cattle herds to be checked for bovine tuberculosis in a federal trace-out investigation across three provinces has been released from movement controls. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Monday reported that a central Saskatchewan herd has now been released from controls which were imposed in December last year. CFIA said in […] Read more
‘There’s no place like first place’ says billionaire cattleman
Just how differently do you have to think to succeed like Bob Funk?
Reading Time: 9 minutes What does success mean to you? If you posed that question to billionaire cattleman Bob Funk — who grew up on a small, impoverished family farm and went on to earn fame and fortune — you might be surprised by his response. “Money is not my motivator and never will be,” Funk says. “Entrepreneurship is […] Read more