Livestock
The meat packing and ag input retail arms of Quebec’s La Coop federee are about to take a much longer reach in their home province. The agrifood co-operative announced Tuesday its Olymel and Sollio Agriculture businesses have an agreement in place to buy the hog breeding, pork slaughter and packing, grain sourcing and feed milling […] Read more
Olymel, Sollio to take up F. Menard pork, feed businesses
U.S. livestock: Hogs limit up on firming cash pork, China hopes
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures roared higher on Tuesday, with the most-active August and October contracts settling up by the daily three-cent-per pound limit on a mix of technical buying, firmer cash pork values and optimism about U.S. trade talks with China, traders said. CME’s most-active August lean hogs […] Read more
Manitoba to open up Crown lands for grazing, haying
Some Manitoba Crown lands not generally used for grazing or haying will be made available for temporary lease to producers this summer and fall. Citing “dry conditions in parts of the province,” the Manitoba government announced Monday that livestock producers “will temporarily be allowed to cut hay and allow animals to graze on Crown land […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME lean hogs down on ample supplies
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures closed lower on Monday for a third straight session as plentiful U.S. hog and pork supplies continued to weigh on the market, analysts said. CME’s most-active August lean hogs contract ended down 0.975 cent at 76.075 cents/lb. after dipping to 75.575 cents, its lowest […] Read more
Cattlemen’s Young Leaders’ semi-finalists chosen
Reading Time: < 1 minute Eleven Albertans are among the 24 semi-finalists for this year’s Cattlemen’s Young Leaders program. The program pairs 16 young people with mentors who help them realize their career ambitions in the beef sector. The nine-month-long mentorship focuses on areas ranging from production practices to marketing and advocacy work. The Alberta semi-finalists are Tamara Quas- chnick, […] Read more
There’s progress but best practices often ignored
A deep dive into uptake of recommended cow-calf practices shows ‘there’s room for improvement’
Reading Time: 7 minutes ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ seems to be the common thread among cow-calf producers who haven’t yet adopted recommended practices on their own operations. “Producers are happy with the performance and productivity that they’ve been getting, so they see no reason to change,” said Brenna Grant, manager of Canfax Research Services. “That can […] Read more
PigTrace tag price going up
Hog producers will have to pay more for traceability in the near future. Canada’s PigTrace program will be raising ear tag prices as of Aug. 1. Prices will go up 20 cents for every small ear tag and 35 cents for every large ear tag, a release from the Manitoba Pork Council said. The Manitoba […] Read more
Canada, EU agree to swine fever zoning rules
Canada and Europe have agreed to new zoning arrangements in a case of African swine fever outbreak, but it’s not clear what will actually change. The agreement, which Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced Wednesday. would allow for safe trade of swine products from disease-free zones if a case of ASF is found. Zoning principles applying […] Read more
China’s cabinet sees ‘shortcomings’ in bid to contain swine fever
Beijing | Reuters — China has shown shortcomings in some aspects of preventing African swine fever, and the situation remains complicated and severe, the country’s cabinet said Wednesday. The management of transporting live hogs is not strict enough, while there is insufficient capacity in testing for African swine fever virus in hog slaughtering, processing and […] Read more
Less rain equals more danger for cattle on your ranch
Reading Time: 3 minutes Polioencephalomalacia, fog fever, blue-green algae, and vitamin A deficiency. Those are just four potential health threats to cattle when conditions are extremely dry. “The biggest problem we have on the Prairies is water that is high in sulphates,” said Dr. John Campbell, professor in the department large animal clinical sciences at the University of Saskatchewan. […] Read more