Farmers and the animal nutrition industry need to understand that feeding livestock today requires thinking about what comes out of an animal as much as what goes in, according to many at the Animal Nutrition Conference of Canada.
Sustainability demands pressure livestock feed industry
Pork Council joins call for delay of U.K. ascension to trade deal
Britain has shown it's not interested in free, fair trade of agricultural products, group says
The Canadian Pork Council (CPC) says it's joining a meat industry coalition that's calling for a re-think of the United Kingdom's joining of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Warning signs materialize for meat sector
Reading Time: < 1 minute There are plenty of flashing warning lights in Farm Credit Canada’s (FCC) latest outlook for the cattle and hog sectors. While prices are strong and expected to stay that way for a while, the two “could take a big step backwards, especially from the highs of 2021 – and it may be more a question […] Read more
U.S. ag secretary backs proposed meatpacking investigator
Reuters — U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Tuesday threw his support behind a proposal to establish a special investigator to address concerns about anti-competitive practices in the meat and poultry industries. Republican U.S. Senators Mike Rounds of South Dakota and Charles Grassley of Iowa and Democratic Senator Jon Tester of Montana have proposed legislation […] Read more
Is there a better way? How COVID-19 might transform packing plants
The pandemic has demonstrated the need for change, but that won’t be an easy or cheap process, say experts
Reading Time: 4 minutes It’s become a nightmare scenario. Thousands of workers at meat-packing facilities across North America, including Alberta’s three beef plants, have contracted COVID-19 — and the resulting closures and production slowdowns have created a crisis for livestock producers. But is there any way out? “This will renew calls for more packing capacity in Canada,” said Mike […] Read more
Where will all the cattle go?
Reading Time: < 1 minute The cattle sector is facing an unprecedented crisis as COVID-19 forces packing plants to temporarily close or slow down production. Alberta’s two big cattle facilities, which process nearly three-quarters of Canada’s beef, have both been hit hard by the pandemic and that’s already created a backlog. Producers who direct market beef — such as Grazed […] Read more
Beef demand soars as consumers ‘aggressively’ stock up
Surge in sales accompanied by a jump in people looking online for recipes
Canada’s beef demand has been strong during the pandemic. “Unlike previous disease outbreak issues, COVID-19 has not been about food safety or consumer confidence or issues with food products,” Canada Beef president Michael Young said during a recent online town hall. “Beef demand at retail is up 50 to 70 per cent. Consumers have aggressively […] Read more
Expect to hear a lot more about fake meat, eco-foods, and urban consumers
It’s a fast-changing world but Prairie farmers are in a good spot, says food trend guru
Reading Time: 3 minutes More focus on the environment, more plant-based meat alternatives and more scrutiny of food production. That’s what lies in the crystal ball of David Hughes, an international speaker on global food industry trends. At a recent event hosted by the Plant Protein Alliance of Alberta, Hughes laid out a number of points that could be […] Read more
Rance: Sustainability isn’t a burden, but an opportunity
Reading Time: 3 minutes It didn’t take long for a young cattle rancher from Saskatchewan to capture the audience’s attention at the recent Canada 2020 National Forum on Agri-Food in Ottawa. “For me, the word ‘sustainability’ is synonymous with McDonald’s,” said Adrienne Ivey, who is part of a family corporation managing 3,000 beef cattle on a 10,000-acre spread near […] Read more
New beef website answers consumer questions
Reading Time: < 1 minute Canada Beef has created a new website — raisingcdnbeef.ca — aimed at answering “the most common questions about Canadian beef production.” The website has five sections and each has a series of slides accompanied by a brief text. The various sections contain numerous facts (such as typical weaning weights, days in a feedlot, testing protocols […] Read more
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