Livestock
About 2,500 Quebec farms, mostly in the livestock sector, are expected to benefit from a new five-year, $100 million fund for them to adapt to changes in the province’s ag income stabilization program (ASRA). The new program, for which the provincial ag department said last week to expect an announcement, is meant to benefit those […] Read more
Que. moves ahead with ASRA transition funding
Klassen: Feeder cattle keep trending higher
Black steers in central Alberta weighing 550 pounds have sold for just over $130 per hundredweight (cwt) while 515-pound steers reached $142. Presorted red steers averaging 420 pounds touched $155/cwt. Sharply higher fed cattle values were quickly passed onto the feeder market, as local auctions reported prices $2 to $4 higher than a week earlier. […] Read more
Feed barley bids firm as harvest winds down
(Resource News International) — Cash bids for feed barley in Western Canada have managed to hold steady, if not slowly strengthen to some degree, but any upside was seen as being limited. “There was some pretty good selling of feed barley off the combine during the harvest which helped to weaken bids, but as those […] Read more
Truckers And Marts Urged Not To Accept High-Risk Cattle – for Oct. 25, 2010
Reading Time: 3 minutes The days are ending for making a few bucks by shipping high-risk old, thin or arthritic beef and dairy cattle. Darren Malchow, a health-of-animals insector for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in Lethbridge, said the cattle industry is sending the message to all levels that the quality of animals being sent to market is vital […] Read more
Last Year’s Cattle Can Affect This Year’s Prices – for Oct. 25, 2010
Reading Time: 3 minutes beef specialist |ndsu extension service Fall cattle processing raises the question of just how much a producer wants or needs to do. What if two neighbours each were selling 30 steer calves and split the trucking cost? The calves were well-grown, typical northern calves that were managed simi larly through pre-and post-weaning. The calves averaged […] Read more
Doha Trade Talks Limp Along – for Oct. 25, 2010
Reading Time: < 1 minute WASHINGTON |REUTERS The long-running Doha round of world trade talks could stretch into 2012, but said some progress had been made over the past six months, according to a top U. S. trade official. “The U. S. view is that there is no shortcut to a Doha success,” said U. S. chief agricultural trade negotiator […] Read more
Biosecurity Is Also Vital For Small Poultry Flocks – for Oct. 25, 2010
Reading Time: 2 minutes Outbreaks of avian influenza in the past years have caused concern with the biosecurity of small backyard flocks. There is suspicion that those flocks might play a role in transmitting the virus from wild waterfowl hosts to large commercial flocks. Maintaining biosecurity is an important step in keeping a backyard flock of birds healthy, says […] Read more
Brief – for Oct. 25, 2010
Reading Time: < 1 minute On Oct. 13 USDA reported hogs, on average, weighed 272.6 lbs. in the key Iowa/Minnesota markets, up nearly two lbs. from the previous week and up 3.7 lbs. from a year earlier. Growth was slowed last year by being fed last year’s poor-quality corn from last year’s harvest. This year, hogs should continue to get […] Read more
Feeding Sows Ad Lib Boosts Piglet Weaning Weights – for Oct. 25, 2010
Reading Time: 4 minutes Feeding sows ad lib during lactation results in higher feed intake, boosting piglet weaning weights and improving reproductive performance in the subsequent parity, says Dr. Malachy Young, a nutritionist with Gowans Feed Consulting. “Advances in litter size and changes in the sow’s genetics have created new challenges in feeding lactating sows, which generally have lower […] Read more
Canada’s dark secret needs to be addressed
Beef graders and the industry need to step up to improve cattle and beef quality
Reading Time: 3 minutes The seasonality in beef grades has been well documented for many years. Early fall presents its own set of problems in beef grading, specifically a higher percentage of the cattle grading B4. These B4 cattle are commonly called dark cutters, as the muscle tissue does not “bloom” or brighten to a cherry red after exposure […] Read more
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