Reading Time: 3 minutes Cattle herd expansion was one of the biggest ‘will they or won’t they’ stories in 2014 — and that little plot line will continue to play out in 2015. “Right now, we’re still in the consolidation phase,” said Brenna Grant, research manager at Canfax. “Inventories are going to be stable on Jan. 1, 2015, and […] Read more
Growing pains — herd rebuild a long-term proposition
Four to Watch: Cattle herd needs a ‘big move’ in heifer retention to fuel expansion
Canfax forum coming up
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Canfax Cattle Market Forum is fast approaching. The event, Nov. 18-19, at the Deerfoot Inn in Calgary, will feature Richard Vesta of Harmony Beef who will speak about the reopening of the beef-packing plant in Balzac. Other topics include building a consistent supply chain, a feed grain market update, supply chain risk management, and […] Read more
New app for price forecasts
Reading Time: < 1 minute Canfax has created a new, free app to forecast market prices. By using historical Canfax data, CFXPro helps project, from current market conditions, what calf prices might look like in the fall. Included in this guide are prices of calves, a break-even calculator, futures market information and daily updates on the new price insurance numbers […] Read more
Drilling down into the livestock price insurance program
The futures price, basis, and exchange rate are part of the equation, but a producer’s situation is also key
Reading Time: 3 minutes Editor’s note: One of the producer questions for the April 28 edition — on the Western Livestock Price Insurance Program — took some additional investigation by reporter Alexis Kienlen. Vermilion cattle producer Sean McGrath asked, “I understand the risks that WLPIP is covering — futures price, basis, and exchange rate — but what goes into […] Read more
Three questions from Alberta cattle producers: Question #1
What’s the fallout from COOL?
Reading Time: 2 minutes EDITOR’S NOTE: We asked a sampling of producers what was on their mind as they were headed into the growing season, and then reporters Alexis Kienlen and Jennifer Blair went looking for answers. COOLing prices Lethbridge-area stockman Andrew Goodrich asks, “Given the strong cattle prices and ongoing exports to the United States, is country-of-origin labelling […] Read more
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