Reading Time: 3 minutes Droughts always teach (or remind) us of things we need to be prepared for to maintain health and production in our herds, including ways to access feed and, if need be, marketing. The Beef Cattle Research Council recently put on a very good question-and-answer webinar relating to drought concerns and cattle health (a recording of […] Read more
Things to consider after a drought has hit
The drought and intensive heat wave have created a lot of issues that producers must deal with
U.S. livestock: CME live cattle follow boxed beef lower
Feeder cattle mostly firmer, hogs lower
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures sagged on Monday as beef prices fell and brokers worried that U.S. demand for steaks and hamburgers will decline after the upcoming Labour Day holiday weekend. Beef prices have softened after reaching their highest price since May 2020 last week as retailers stocked up for […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME lean hogs rise, narrowing discount to cash market
Technical selling drags on live cattle
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures firmed on Friday, led by the nearby October contract, in a technical and bargain-buying rally that narrowed the market’s sizeable discount to the exchange’s lean hog index, traders said. Actively traded October futures scaled to a 3-1/2 week peak and closed near its session high, […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME cattle futures fall on lower cash cattle
Hogs down on supply expectations
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures fell for a third day on Thursday, as the softer cash market in the southern U.S. Plains weighed on futures, traders said. “This cash just continues to struggle,” said Joe Kooima, commodity broker at Kooima Kooima Varilek Trading Inc. “We’ve just got that anchor in […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME cattle futures ease as beef prices cool
Lean hog index still at premium to futures
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures eased on Wednesday, as beef prices eased ahead of the Labour Day holiday, traditionally a big beef consumption holiday, traders said. “We’re getting into that lull period ahead of the Labour Day holiday, where the retailers have already got their product purchased from the packers,” […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME cattle futures post new highs, end mixed
Hogs down on supply outlook
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures rallied to contract highs on Tuesday but ended mixed, with nearby contracts pressured by ideas that beef prices are topping out after a surge to nearly 15-month highs, traders said. Deferred live cattle contracts, however, were higher on the day on concerns about tight cattle […] Read more
Alternative feeds: There’s a lot to watch out for
That includes additive effects, binding of calcium, toxic weeds, and crop residues
Reading Time: 2 minutes Editor’s note: This is part of an article recapping some of the points made during a July 29 webinar. Some of the information from the webinar was in a story in the Aug. 9 edition of this paper and the full webinar can be found on the BCRC Blog and locating the Aug. 10 entry […] Read more
StatsCan sees higher cattle, hog inventories at July 1
Full impacts of West's drought not yet counted
Nationwide head counts of livestock from the “early stages” of Western Canada’s ongoing drought won’t yet show the weather’s full impact, but showed slightly larger herds heading into this summer compared to last year. Statistics Canada on Monday reported the first year-over-year increase in the size of the country’s cattle herd as of July 1 […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME cattle rebound on improving cash markets, beef prices
CME lean hogs also up off Thursday losses
Chicago | Reuters — Live cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange rebounded from prior-session losses on Friday, supported by signs of improving cash cattle prices and firming wholesale beef values, traders said. Prices, however, continued to struggle to break out of their recent trading range as concerns about slowing global economic growth and rising […] Read more
Plans afoot to move hay from East to drought-hit West
CFA, BFO spearheading Hay West-style initiatives
Farm groups are spearheading new plans to get livestock feed from Eastern Canada to drought-damaged regions of the western provinces and northwestern Ontario. Details are still pending, but the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) announced Aug. 12 it has started work on a “Hay West” initiative to get surplus hay “to those struggling in the […] Read more