CNS Canada — Lethbridge’s feed barley market is sitting stagnant, as feedlots quit hand-to-mouth buying and farmers hold onto their grain. Farmers who stored their feed barley post-harvest don’t want to sell at current prices, despite relative strength, said Jared Seitz, trade manager for Agfinity at Stony Plain, Alta. “It’s not so much that prices […] Read more
Limited selling, buying leave feed barley flat in Lethbridge
Klassen: Feedlot operators throw in towel on feeder market
Weaker wholesale beef values, along with softer fed cattle prices, set a negative tone for the feeder cattle market this past week. Western Canadian feeder markets were trading $4-$8 below week-ago levels, with calves trading as much as $10 lower in some cases. Producers can become nauseous watching these live cattle futures, but this is […] Read more
Saskatchewan ag minister, ag critic return in election
Saskatchewan’s agriculture minister and opposition ag critic both easily held their ridings Monday night as the governing Saskatchewan Party completed its electoral hat trick. By about 1 a.m. Tuesday, Premier Brad Wall’s Saskatchewan Party had won 51 of 61 ridings, for a third straight majority mandate coming out of Monday’s general election. The opposition New […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hogs fall to 10-week lows on pork price losses
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hogs tumbled to the lowest in 10 weeks on Friday as pork price declines triggered selling by technical traders and investment funds, traders and analysts said. Hogs fell more than one per cent at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, led by losses in deferred contracts such as June and August […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME feeder cattle limit up on bearish corn data
Chicago | Reuters –– Chicago Mercantile Exchange feeder cattle futures on Thursday settled up their 4.5-cents/lb. maximum daily price limit, spurred by the morning’s bearish government grain report, traders said. U.S. farmers intend to plant 93.6 million acres of corn and 82.2 million acres of soybeans in 2016, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on […] Read more
Don’t graze cattle too early this spring
It’s tempting to start grazing when pastures green up, but nutrient quality is poor
Reading Time: 2 minutes Pasture recovery is an important topic on the heels of last year’s dry conditions, particularly given this year’s poor snow cover in the central and southern regions of Alberta. “If we have a dry spring, producers will need to balance potential feed shortages with the need to protect their recovering pastures,” said provincial forage and […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME hogs finish higher
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures gained for a second straight day on Tuesday in a quiet session, with help from short-covering and technical buying, traders said. April closed up 0.325 cent/lb., to 70.25 cents (all figures US$). May ended 0.575 cent higher at 78.85 cents and June finished up 0.475 […] Read more
End of China’s corn stockpiling threatens global feed trade
Chicago | Reuters — Grain traders worried on Tuesday about the risk for reduced demand from China after the government said it would scrap its corn stockpiling program at a time when global markets are awash with excess supplies. Traders said importers in China would likely reduce purchases of farm products used to feed livestock, […] Read more
Klassen: Feeder cattle trade lower
The “one-week wonder” from seven to 10 days ago appears to have evaporated; a softer sentiment blanketed Western Canada this week, with feeder markets dropping $4 to $6 on average. A significant slide in live cattle futures, along with softer cash prices, caused feedlots to move into a risk-averse mentality. Heavier replacements took the brunt […] Read more
Ecological services program catching fire in Alberta
ALUS grew slowly after arriving in Alberta in 2010, but it’s taken off in the past year and now 10 counties are on board
Reading Time: 4 minutes The notice in the county newsletter about funding for environmental projects immediately caught the attention of Gerry Taillieu. “I thought, ‘This is something I need to look into’ because it was offering financial assistance to do something we were already going to do,” said the manager of Tomahawk Cattle Ranch, a 14,000-acre operation in Parkland […] Read more