CME April 2022 live cattle (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, brown and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Cattle down on cash weakness, technical selling

Chicago lean hogs mixed

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures fell on Thursday, with weakness in the cash markets pressuring futures, traders said. Some follow-through selling in cattle also was noted after sharp declines on Wednesday, Pork futures were mixed, with the most-active April contract falling after a government report showed a sharp drop in exports […] Read more

Pail feeding heifers gets them used to people but running them through chutes prior to breeding makes them even more calm, says Karyn Neilson.

Been there, done that: Acclimating heifers to chutes pays dividends

Practice runs through facilities lowers the fear factor and can even reduce open rates, study finds

Reading Time: 3 minutes Just having a less stressful life would have been worth it for Karyn Neilson, but acclimating heifers to handling facilities may also result in more calves. “The minimal time invested into acclimating is well worth the results,” said the Stettler-area producer. It all started when Neilson and husband Lance contacted Olds College inquiring how they […] Read more


CME May 2022 feeder cattle (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, brown and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME futures slide on U.S., global economic fears

Inflation 'starting to spook' consumers

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle and lean hog futures fell sharply on Wednesday, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continued to fuel worries about the health of global and domestic economies, traders said. The livestock market also followed a slump in grain and oilseed futures, which continued to be rattled by global […] Read more

CME April 2022 live cattle (candlesticks) with 20-, 100- and 200-day moving averages (pink, brown and dark red lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME cattle firm, hogs rebound

Hogs up off lowest since Feb. 4

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures rose on a round of technical buying on Tuesday after snapping an eight-session losing streak on Monday, traders said. Hog futures rallied on a bargain-buying bounce after sinking to their lowest in more than a month and feeder cattle futures also were firm. CME April […] Read more


CME April 2022 live cattle (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, brown and dark red lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME cattle bounce from multi-month lows

Chicago lean hogs extend declines

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures rebounded from multi-month lows on Monday, while hog futures eased on follow-through selling after notching a limit-down decline on Friday. Live cattle futures snapped an eight-session losing streak that saw the April contract shed seven per cent of its value and drove prices to their lowest […] Read more

CME April 2022 live cattle (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME cattle hit multi-month lows

Hogs drop by daily limit

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures dropped to a six-month low and feeder cattle hit a nine-month low on Friday, while lean hog futures sank by the daily exchange-imposed trading limit. Follow-through selling pushed down cattle contracts after a string of losses in the markets, brokers said. Recent weakness in wholesale […] Read more


U.S. livestock: CME live cattle, feeder cattle sag to four-month lows

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange livestock futures slumped on Thursday, with live cattle and feeder cattle setting four-month lows. The cattle markets came under continued pressure from weakness in equities, which lost ground as the Ukraine crisis kept investors on edge, traders said. In grain markets, soaring costs for corn and wheat threaten […] Read more

Getting colostrum to calves in a timely way helps ensure producers will raise healthy animals.

Videos are an easy way to add to your skill set on the farm

Having an expert show how to investigate or fix a problem is a great way to learn

Reading Time: 3 minutes We can always pick up ways to improve our cattle operations. One method is to ask lots of questions of the right people. Another is reading and investigating specific topics. And an increasingly popular way is to watch instructive videos. The issue here is making sure the source is ethical, reliable and not sensationalized. A […] Read more


Charlie Christie still remembers convincing his dad three decades ago to try something new while the pandemic prompted Terri Mappin to seed this grain land to forages. Both farmers say they are glad they listened to experts and tried something completely different.

OPEN TO CHANGE: Trying something new isn’t easy — but it can pay off

Two producers share their experience of heading in a brand new direction and how it played out

Reading Time: 4 minutes Have you ever acted on the recommendations of experts? Many will agree expert advice is great — however, to follow through with it often costs money and time. But Charlie Christie and Terri Mappin are two producers who listened, decided to give it a go and are glad they did. At wit’s end A very […] Read more

CME March 2022 feeder cattle (candlesticks, right column) with April 2022 feeder cattle (red line, right column) and April 2022 live cattle (black line, left column). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME feeder cattle firm, live cattle ease as grain markets roiled

Hog futures up on supply concerns

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange feeder cattle futures rose on Wednesday, and live cattle futures prices slipped for another session, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continued to send agricultural commodity markets into a tailspin, traders said. But a whipsaw in prices for grains used for livestock feed weighed on the day’s livestock complex, […] Read more