Livestock
Sydney | Reuters –– Australia on Friday approved the A$386.5 million (C$379.3 million) sale of the country’s largest private landholder S. Kidman and Co. to a consortium led by the country’s richest woman Gina Rinehart, after blocking two previous bids. Rinehart and her minority partner, Chinese developer Shanghai CRED, will now complete the purchase of […] Read more
Australia approves sale of giant Kidman pastoral holdings
U.S. livestock: Hogs up again on cash prices, fund buying
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures rallied for a fourth consecutive session on Thursday, spurred by higher cash prices and technical buying, said traders. December hogs, which will expire on Dec. 14, closed up 0.975 cent per pound to 55.675 cents (all figures US$). Most actively traded February ended 1.075 cents […] Read more
Polar vortex redux? U.S. forecasters say it could hit next week
Chicago | Reuters –– Forecasters are sending chills down some spines with a prediction that much of the northern half of the U.S. could see frigid weather next week similar to life-threatening lows the polar vortex brought to parts of the country in 2014. Anticipation of a freezing blast began to build this week when […] Read more
U.S. forecaster sees weak La Nina likely to fade in early 2017
New York | Reuters — A U.S. government weather forecaster on Thursday said weak La Nina conditions were present but favoured to dissipate in the coming months. The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center said in a monthly forecast that conditions were likely to transition back to neutral during January through March. The report said […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Higher cash, pork prices extend hogs’ rally
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures gained for a third straight day on Wednesday, led by upward-trending cash and wholesale pork prices, said traders. December hogs closed up 1.325 cents/lb. at 54.7 cents (all figures US$). Most actively traded February ended 2.275 cents/lb. higher at 59.75 cents. Packers are content to […] Read more
New quarantines added in bovine TB probe
About 50 premises in Alberta and Saskatchewan are now under federal quarantine as the hunt continues for animals exposed this fall to one of six Alberta cattle with bovine tuberculosis. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced Wednesday it had added more premises to the quarantined list, covering over 26,000 animals, including infected premises. The 50-odd […] Read more
Free workshops on small-flock biosecurity
Workshops to be held in Red Deer on Jan. 14 and Whitecourt on Jan. 28
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Agriculture is holding free biosecurity workshops with practical strategies for small flocks. Hands-on activities, producer/owner participation, and guest speakers will discuss common small-flock challenges to help keep multi-generational poultry flocks healthy. Workshops will be held in Red Deer (Peavey Mart Head Office) on Jan. 14 and Whitecourt (Holiday Inn Express) on Jan. 28. To […] Read more
Manitoba situation shows what Alberta may face
Manitoba’s drawn-out history with bovine tuberculosis suggests there’s a long road ahead to control TB
Reading Time: 3 minutes As Alberta begins to feel the repercussions of a confirmed case of bovine tuberculosis, Manitoba looks to close its nearly two-decade-long chapter with live animal TB testing. “As we witness what is happening in Alberta, it really shows how quickly this can take place and how fast it can affect the entire province. We certainly […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cash, pork prices drive hogs to two-month high
Chicago | Reuters –– Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures on Tuesday reached their highest level in two months, fueled by rising cash prices and decent pork demand, said traders. February and April futures punched through their respective 100-day moving average of 55.845 cents and 62.07 cents, which triggered fund buying and buy stops (all […] Read more
The gap between genomics theory and real-life cattle production
Genotyping works well in the purebred world, but not so much in a commercial herd
Reading Time: 2 minutes Lakeland College’s student-managed farm’s research project brings together visual appraisal, phenotypic data from a residual feed intake test, and genomics to measure a herd of 50 heifers. “We wanted to take in visual and phenotypic data, and because we have so many tools with genomics, we wanted to add that as a third level to […] Read more