Parasites are often a hidden health hazard because cattle don’t look sick, says parasitology professor, John Gilleard.

Parasites could be costing you big bucks without you even realizing it

Infected cattle often look healthy, but their daily gain might be up to half a pound lower than it should be

Reading Time: 3 minutes Little is known about the impact of parasites on Canadian cattle production. But one thing is sure — resistance to the medication used to treat these parasites is growing. “There’s a lack of local information and a lack of information on parasites in Canada. That’s a problem,” John Gilleard, professor of parasitology in the University […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Feeder market stabilizes

Western Canadian feeder cattle prices traded steady to $5 higher over the past week largely due to stronger U.S cattle markets. Alberta packers were relatively quiet but fed cattle prices in the U.S. southern Plains jumped US$5, reaching US$110. This sudden reversal caused Canadian feedlot operators to hold out for higher prices and the positive […] Read more


(Regis Lefebure photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. livestock: Hogs plunge to contract lows on supply

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures fell three per cent or more on Monday, with many contracts reaching lifetime lows on pressure from robust hog supplies and technical selling, traders said. Live and feeder cattle futures were mostly lower at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, weighed down by profit-taking after cattle earlier hit multi-week […] Read more



Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD), led by the country’s economy minister Sigmar Gabriel, shown here in March, have voted at their congress to approve a Canada-E.U. trade pact. (Susanne Eriksson photo, BMWI.de)

Germany’s Gabriel gets green light to support CETA

Wolfsburg, Germany | Reuters — Germany appeared set on Monday to back an ambitious trade accord between the European Union and Canada after the leader of the Social Democrats (SPD), junior partner in the ruling coalition, overcame left-wing resistance to the deal within his party. The SPD decision paves the way for EU member states […] Read more

A view from a promotional video for Z Tags’ Z2 product line. Sources tell Reuters that Z Tags’ Swiss parent, Datamars, is being prepared for sale. (ZTags.com)

Z Tags owner Datamars reportedly up for sale

Frankfurt | Reuters — Buyout group Columna Capital is preparing its Swiss animal tagging group Datamars for a sale in a potential deal that could be worth as much as over 300 million Swiss francs (C$404 million), two people close to the deal said. The private equity investor has asked investment advisory boutique Evercore to […] Read more


Canada Beef wants to hear from cattle producers

Canada Beef wants to hear from cattle producers

Survey closes Oct. 30

Reading Time: < 1 minute Canada Beef is looking for stories from producers that it can use in marketing beef. The organization has created an online survey (via Survey Monkey) that can be found here. “This is your chance to explain how you are committed to do the best you can do to bring quality Canadian beef to the consumer’s […] Read more

(Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

PED reappears in southeastern Manitoba

Manitoba has logged its first on-farm case of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) in over three months, in a sow barn in the province’s livestock-intensive southeast. Southeastern Manitoba has been home to all of the province’s nine on-farm outbreaks of PED since the virus first appeared there in February 2014. In the latest case, the provincial […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

U.S. livestock: Strong cash prices push CME live cattle higher

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle contracts ended higher for a third day in a row on Friday, led by short-covering in response to better-than-expected prices for slaughter-ready, or cash, cattle, said traders. They said fund buying contributed to CME live cattle gains after some contracts broke through technical resistance levels. October […] Read more