Livestock
Reading Time: 2 minutes For the week ending June 29, Western Canadian yearling and calf markets were unchanged from seven days earlier. Many auction barns are in holiday mode and volumes were light, making the market hard to define. Late blooming stragglers and off grade calves were common.
Klassen: Light volumes characterize feeder market
U..S food safety regulators expand bird flu testing in milk products
Canadian cases at nil as of mid-June according to CFIA testing
Reading Time: < 1 minute The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has begun testing more dairy products for evidence of the bird flu virus as outbreaks spread among dairy herds across the country.
Klassen: Canadian heifer retention tightening feeder supply
Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta and Saskatchewan heifer placements in the lighter weight categories are down from year-ago levels. Comments from ranchers and order buyers suggest that Western Canadian ranchers are holding back on heifers to expand the herd. This usually results in a narrowing of the steer/heifer spread.
Bovine bird flu reports still at zero in Canada
Reading Time: 2 minutes Results of a national testing program conducted by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) released June 18 showed no evidence of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in the country’s milk supply. "Commercially sold milk and milk products remain safe to consume," said a release from the CFIA and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). It was also noted that even if traces of the virus were found, the pasteurization process would have rendered them harmless.
Feed Grain Weekly: Wild weather in Alberta gives growers pause
Reading Time: < 1 minute Susanne Leclerc, owner of Market Master Ltd. in Edmonton, said moisture levels in Alberta are not distributed evenly with the north seeing plenty of rain and the south becoming drier. A recent cold snap between Calgary and Edmonton plunged lows to around the freezing mark earlier this week, while snow fell over parts of the Foothills.
Funding to help make cattle data gathering easier
Partnership between Angus and Holstein association will look at sharing trait information and how to automate data management
Reading Time: 2 minutes New funding for the Canadian Angus Association and Holstein Canada will allow them to improve the data that goes into genetic evaluations and expand into new areas including carcass quality and traits that help limit the environmental impact of beef.
LFCE Field Day covers everything from pneumonia to drought
Reading Time: < 1 minute Attendees took in presentations outdoors on genetics and genomics, managing forage, water and drought, plus feedlot health and management. A hot topic of conversation was the drought — or lack thereof. Much of the current research at the University of Saskatchewan focuses on drought.
Maritime beef producers get price protection
Two-year pilot gives Maritime producers an equivalent program to the rest of the country
Reading Time: 2 minutes Producers in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, and soon Nova Scotia, will have access to a program that will allow them to purchase insurance on price protection for their beef cattle in case of an unforeseen market disruption.
Klassen: Quality yearlings lead feeder complex higher
Reading Time: 2 minutes Western Canadian feeder cattle markets were quoted $5 lower to $5 higher on average in the week ending June 15. However, quality packages of yearlings traded $5 to as much as $10 above week-ago levels
Dairy testing for bird flu expanded in Canada
Non-clinical dairy cattle eligible for funded testing
Reading Time: < 1 minute On June 17, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency updated their guidance for private veterinarians on highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). The update noted the expanded eligibility for testing, and that the CFIA would cover lab test fees at any Canadian Animal Health Surveillance Network (CAHSN) lab that is approved to test samples in domestic animals. The agency will not, however, pay veterinarian fees for sample collection or shipment to the lab.
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
