Cattle producers and feeders in some areas of southern Alberta have been dealing with overland flooding, such as shown here Saturday over Highway 36 south of Vauxhall, and otherwise mushy conditions. (Photo courtesy Taber RCMP)

Klassen: Feeder market stabilizes

Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian feeder cattle prices were relatively unchanged. Stronger export demand appears to be supporting the market in Manitoba and certain pockets in Saskatchewan; however, Alberta feedlot interest remains subdued. Adverse weather continues to plague southern Alberta. Snow and freezing temperatures followed by brief melting periods have resulted in very poor […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Feeder market continues lower trend

Reading Time: 2 minutes Western Canadian feeder cattle markets traded $5 to $8 below week-ago levels; noticeable declines were noted in the lighter weight categories, which were down $6 to as much as $10. Adverse weather continues to plague the feedlot regions of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Another snowfall over the weekend caused pen conditions to erode to lowest levels […] Read more


(Gloria Solano-Aguilar photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. livestock: CME lean hogs jump on short-covering

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures rallied more than three per cent on Monday in a short-covering and bargain-buying rebound from life-of-contract lows posted last week, traders said. Some contracts, including actively-traded June, rose by as much as the daily three-cent limit as a steady slide in prices over the past […] Read more



(Bovins.qc.ca)

Quebec cattle producers join national body

Reading Time: 2 minutes Quebec’s cattle producer group is now the ninth provincial member cattle organization in the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. Les producteurs de bovins du Quebec (PBQ) announced its membership in the CCA during the provincial body’s annual meeting Wednesday and Thursday in Quebec City. “At a time when new frontiers are continually opening up and our buyers […] Read more

Attendees at the 2017 Food and Hotel China trade show watch USMEF chefs prepare U.S. beef and pork. (USMEF.org)

U.S. meat groups fear for market growth with China beef tariff hike

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — China’s proposal on Wednesday for tariffs on U.S. beef confirmed the worst-case scenario for the U.S. cattle industry, trade groups said Wednesday, even as they remained hopeful the dispute could be resolved quickly. China listed U.S. goods from soybeans to beef that could potentially incur a 25 per cent import tariff […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Rising feed grain prices weigh on feeder market

Reading Time: 2 minutes Western Canadian yearling prices were relatively unchanged from week-ago levels; however, feeder cattle fit for grass and calves dropped $4 to as much as $10 from seven days earlier. Rising feed grain costs appear to be affecting lighter weight categories more than the yearling market. Feedlots will be struggling with negative margins through the summer […] Read more

On the Noble farm in the Peace district, parents Bob and Nora with siblings Cara, Jolene and Lee. The Nobles say brothers and sisters have a winning potential for open communication.

Honest to goodness

More brothers and sisters: For the Noble family, success means learning how to change open communication from a threat into a strength

Reading Time: 4 minutes Brothers and sisters are working together on more farms all the time. More and more too, there are multiple siblings on these farms, not just one of each. To outsiders, it can seem like so many more chances for family to get in the way, and so many chances for old rivalries to flare up. […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Feedlots struggle through adverse weather

Reading Time: 2 minutes Western Canadian yearling prices experienced a week-over-week decline of $5-$8 with some pockets deteriorating $10 to as much as $12. Adverse weather in southern Alberta has resulted in limited buying interest from main feedlot operators. Feedlot Alley has received 150-200 per cent of normal precipitation over the past 60 days. Snow and rain, along with […] Read more

David Haywood-Farmer. (We Heart Local BC video screengrab via YouTube)

New chief acclaimed for national cattle producer group

Reading Time: 2 minutes A former president of the B.C. Cattlemen’s Association is the new president of the national cattle producers’ body. David Haywood-Farmer was elected by acclamation as president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association at the group’s annual general meeting last week in Ottawa. Haywood-Farmer, a cow-calf producer at Savona, B.C., about 40 km west of Kamloops, was […] Read more