Livestock
Reuters — Australia hopes to salvage the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) by encouraging China and other Asian nations into the agreement in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to pull his country out of the pact, its trade minister said on Tuesday. New Zealand’s trade minister said ministers from the remaining TPP countries would […] Read more
Australia, New Zealand pledge to salvage TPP
New rules limit livestock travel time
Comments can be made until Feb. 15
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is seeking public comment on proposed amendments to the Health of Animals Regulations: Part XII which deals with humane transportation. The most significant change would limit travel time to 36 hours (from 48 hours previously) and also increase the rest time (to eight hours). The agency says it has also […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME live cattle end four-day win streak
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures settled in negative territory on Friday for the first time in five days, led by sell stops and profit-taking, said traders. They said fund buying and futures’ discounts to this week’s cash prices later lifted contracts from session lows. February live cattle closed 0.775 cent/lb. […] Read more
Eight more quarantines added in bovine TB probe
UPDATED, Jan. 23, 2017 — Another eight properties housing about 2,000 cattle have been put under federal quarantine since last week as officials continue to track down livestock exposed to bovine tuberculosis (TB). The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Thursday pegged the number of premises under quarantine at about 58, and the number of animals […] Read more
Lactalis offer for Italy’s Parmalat seen too low
Milan | Reuters — Parmalat activist investor Amber Capital believes the price of a buyout offer by France’s Lactalis undervalues the Italian dairy group and won’t be tendering its three per cent stake. Lactalis, which won control of Parmalat in 2011 amid failed efforts in Italy to mount a domestic counter bid, has launched an […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cash prices push CME live cattle higher
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures moved higher for a fourth straight session on Thursday, driven by this week’s cash price surge, traders said. February live cattle closed 0.75 cent/lb. higher at 121.025 cents, and April closed up 0.475 cent, to 119.875 cents (all figures US$). Both contracts notched 10-month highs […] Read more
Exporters, fearing border tax, scramble to shift production
Ottawa | Reuters — Canadian exporters are scrambling to find ways to avoid a potential 10 per cent import tax promised by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, including the possible shifting of production or supply lines south of the border. Amid warnings from the Bank of Canada on Wednesday that protectionist policies brought in by Trump […] Read more
Make sure calves get the colostrum they need
University of Calgary animal health professor offers her tips on how to assess a situation and when to intervene
Reading Time: 2 minutes Many beef calves are not getting enough colostrum at birth, and the fallout can be drastic and last a lifetime. That’s why it’s important that calves consume some colostrum within the first four hours of life, said Claire Windeyer, assistant professor of production animal health at the University of Calgary. The probability that a calf […] Read more
Managing scours so they don’t manage you
Scours, the most common disease in calves, can quickly put you behind the financial 8-ball
Reading Time: 2 minutes Scours can put you in a financial hole in a hurry. “For every percentage of the herd that you lose, the rest of the herd has to pick up the slack,” said Claire Windeyer, assistant professor in production animal health at the University of Calgary. Producers who had relatively low calf mortality, around five per […] Read more
Ireland reports BSE case, says no risk to health
Dublin | Reuters — Ireland said Wednesday that a dead cow had been confirmed as having bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), but said it had not entered the food chain and there was no risk to human health or beef’s trade status. The animal tested positive for “atypical” BSE, Ireland’s agriculture department said in a statement, […] Read more