cattle production Archives

‘There’s no place like first place’ says billionaire cattleman

Just how differently do you have to think to succeed like Bob Funk?

By Anna Hobbs September 26, 2019

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

For the Andersons, key skills are learning to invest strategically in Right Cross Ranch, and also how to promote it on Facebook and their web page.

Beef Cattle, Guide Business

Taking the bull by the horns

Western Canada’s beef producers have taken control of their industry, achieving a level of stability that seemed gone forever. Here’s part of that story

By Colleen Munro February 25, 2019

Reading Time: 8 minutes Statistically, at least, it seems the long, sharp decline in Western Canada’s cattle business has stabilized. To say it’s closing the book on one of the most momentous stories in the entire history of Canadian agriculture (or for that matter, of agriculture anywhere in the world) is perhaps going too far. But it’s been an […] 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.

Beef Cattle, Guide Business

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

By John Greig March 29, 2018

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

Guide Business, Livestock

The business of being young

Ryan Boyd believes regenerative agriculture is the right strategy to get him off the expansion treadmill

By Angela Lovell July 28, 2016

Reading Time: 5 minutes About 10 years ago, Ryan Boyd came to his father Jim with some new ideas, and Jim knew it was time to listen. Ryan talked about a new strategy, adopting regenerative and sustainable approaches in order to enhance their productivity. “Dad was more than willing to try something else,” Ryan says. “He’d always believed the […] Read more

Beef Cattle, Features

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

By Lisa Guenther May 30, 2016

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

Livestock, Machinery, Weather

Study finds Canadian beef’s GHG footprint shrunk over 30 years

By Staff January 11, 2016

Reading Time: 3 minutes Efficiencies in cattle production and feeding have allowed Canada’s beef industry to produce the same weight in beef as 30 years ago with smaller breeding herds, less land — and smaller greenhouse gas (GHG) output, a new study finds. The study, led by research scientist Tim McAllister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Lethbridge, with […] Read more

Beef Cattle, Dairy Cattle, Hogs, Livestock, Sheep/Goats

Cattle herd still shrinking in StatsCan estimates

By Staff August 21, 2015

Reading Time: 2 minutes The size of Canada’s cattle herd is still in decline and almost a quarter smaller than its peak in 2005, Statistics Canada reports. The federal statistics agency on Thursday released estimates showing the herd at 13 million cattle on farms on July 1 this year, down 2.1 per cent from the same date in 2014. […] Read more

Beef Cattle, Livestock, Markets

Five-year beef plan seeks boosts in demand, efficiency

By Staff January 7, 2015

Reading Time: 3 minutes A new strategy from national and provincial cattle producer and beef marketing agencies has set five-year percentage benchmarks for the industry’s productivity, added value and cost-effectiveness. Canada’s beef sector groups on Wednesday formally released their National Beef Strategy, a guiding document for “how the organizations can work together to best position the Canadian beef industry […] Read more

Chinese meat packing giant locks in JBS supply

Virus concerns add more uncertainty to cattle market

U.S. grains: Corn, soy, wheat fall on coronavirus fears

GFM Network News