Southern Alberta grazing leaseholders fear the clock is ticking on their way of life as lease rates rise due to interest from other sectors.

Grazing leases draw controversy in Taber area

High bids are pushing cattle out in favour of irrigation ventures

Reading Time: 4 minutes Cattle producers in the Municipal District of Taber are seeing lease rates skyrocket as interested parties are pricing out the region’s ranchers with large tender offers.







(Dave Bedard photo)

FCC to offer beef heifer replacement loans

Loan program for those wanting to build, maintain herds

Cattle producers wanting to expand or maintain herds — in a time of nationwide herd contraction — are the expected beneficiaries for a new loan program from Farm Credit Canada. FCC on Tuesday announced what it calls the Replacement Heifer Program, consisting of a loan with a maximum loan life of seven years and a […] Read more


CME April 2023 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Live cattle futures ease off contract highs

Chicago lean hog values retreat

Chicago | Reuters — Live cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange closed lower on Wednesday as traders booked profits, one day after the benchmark April contract set a life-of-contract high and the U.S. Agriculture Department reported a three per cent year-on-year drop in the size of the U.S. cattle herd. CME April live cattle […] Read more

There is a long list of measures you must take in order to have a truly closed herd, including no fenceline contact.

Why closed cattle herds are like unicorns

It takes extraordinary measures to truly have a closed herd, and that’s why vaccinations are needed

Reading Time: 2 minutes (Note: This article has been edited and condensed.) A surprising proportion of producers believe they run a closed herd. The 2017 Western Canadian Cow-Calf Survey found that of approximately 25 per cent of respondents who did not vaccinate their cows and heifers against reproductive diseases such as IBR and BVD, over half said their reason was because […] Read more


Feedlot operator Stuart Thiessen would like to grow his operation, but that won’t happen until the market encourages cow-calf producers to increase their herd numbers.

Why isn’t Alberta’s cattle herd in growth mode?

History says this should have been a boom year — but cattle numbers are actually falling

Reading Time: 5 minutes This should have been a golden year for cattle producers — but it wasn’t just the weather that didn’t co-operate. Viewed through a high-level, macro-economic lens, the national herd should have seen a significant jump in numbers as the cattle cycle — that big wheel that takes a decade or so to make one turn […] Read more