Livestock
Reading Time: 2 minutes High feed costs again in 2019 have many producers wondering about the economics of overwintering their cows. “The question is, is it even feasible to keep cows?” said Ted Nibourg, a farm business management specialist at the Alberta Ag-Info Centre. “Some are liquidating their entire herds. Others are culling heavily, and many are trying to […] Read more
Is it worth feeding your cows this winter?
The cost of hay is up this fall and you can easily slip into a loss if prices are too high
U.S. livestock: Hogs rise on expectations for Chinese buying
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures climbed to their highest price since July on Monday on expectations for Chinese buying, while technical selling pushed down cattle futures. Meat traders anticipate China will increase pork imports to offset an expected shortage caused by an outbreak of African swine fever, a fatal pig virus that […] Read more
Nominations sought for dairy industry awards
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Milk is accepting nominations for the Dairy Industry Achievement Award and the Recognition of Service Award. The former celebrates individuals or organizations who have made substantial contributions to the leadership and development of Alberta’s dairy industry. The latter honours those who have served producers or the Alberta dairy industry with a high level of […] Read more
More lamb being imported into Canada
Reading Time: < 1 minute More lamb is being imported because there’s less Canadian product coming to market, says a provincial livestock market analyst. While slaughter rates in federally inspected plants in Western Canada are up nearly 13 per cent this year, they’re down in Eastern Canada as well as in provincial plants in both the East and the West. […] Read more
China to exempt U.S. pork, soybeans from additional tariffs
Shanghai | Reuters — China will exempt some agricultural products from additional tariffs on U.S. goods, including pork and soybeans, China’s official Xinhua News Agency said Friday, in the latest sign of easing Sino-U.S. tensions before a new round of talks aimed at curbing a bruising trade war. The United States and China have both […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hogs limit up again on China tariff exemption
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures climbed by an expanded daily limit on Friday as China said it would exempt U.S. pork from additional tariffs imposed during its trade war with the United States. The exemptions raised hopes for Chinese buying and were seen as the latest sign of easing Sino-U.S. tensions before […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hogs limit up on expectations for Chinese buying
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures climbed the daily exchange-imposed limit on Thursday on increasing expectations for Chinese buying as the world’s two largest economies prepared for talks aimed at breaking the logjam in their trade war. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) will temporarily expand the trading limit to 4.5 cents on Friday […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Live cattle extend recovery from nine-year low
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures shot higher on Wednesday on short covering and technical buying as the market extended a rebound from a nine-year low this week. CME October live cattle futures ended up 2.35 cents at 98.5 cents/lb. (all figures US$). The market has climbed since October live cattle […] Read more
Canadian cattle herd numbers continue their long decline
Alberta’s beef herd is down nearly a quarter from its peak, but slaughter numbers are actually up
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Canadian beef cattle herd has shrunk again and is now down nearly 30 per cent from the peak in 2005. As of July 1, there were 10.36 million head on beef operations, far below the 14.74 million head that were around 14 years ago, according to Statistics Canada’s latest survey. “I don’t think anybody […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Lean hogs advance on China trade hopes
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures jumped on Tuesday as expectations rose for China to increase pork imports from the United States, traders said. China, the world’s top pork consumer, is expected to buy more U.S. agricultural products in hopes of a better trade deal with Washington, the South China Morning […] Read more