New Holland will be changing the standard colour of its North American haying equipment line to yellow, a match for its equipment sold in other regions of the world.

NH round balers go yellow for golden milestone

Added technology and a new unifying colour mark the round balers' anniversary

As New Holland marks its 50th anniversary of round baler production, the brand had several announcements to make about its hay and forage line. Most notably, expect to see the end of the familiar red paint scheme on NH equipment. The brand is standardizing its global image by adopting a yellow livery for all its […] Read more

The level of worm concentration on a pasture is usually in line with the level of cow and calf grazing activity.

Solid deworming programs essential for grazing cows

Understanding the lifecycle of the major worms found in pastures helps with treatment timing

Whenever I heard of a beef cow herd infected with brown stomach roundworms (Ostertagi ostertagi), I used to envision a cow’s abomasum filled with large and living ropes. Then, I looked at some pictures in a cattle parasite book and to my surprise, this common gastrointestinal worm is no more than a quarter- to half-inch […] Read more


The shortage of veterinarians often becomes most apparent during calving season. |

How to manage in a veterinarian shortage

Hauling an animal to a clinic is one solution, as are larger clinics with satellite sites

There’s huge talk about the shortage of veterinarians — especially large-animal, but also small-animal and emergency animal care. There was a recent announcement that the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (UCVM) will raise the number of training seats to 100 from the current 50, when an expansion is completed next year. I would […] Read more

Ian gets to know his new baby sister Anna.

Eppich family welcomes a baby girl

Cold temperatures a challenge for the ranch and keeping vehicles going

January had a few surprises for us. Our newest addition was due on Jan. 4. Being that he/she was our fourth child and all but our first son came between eight and 10 days early, we were expecting a Christmas baby. On Christmas Day, Barb had a Christmas dinner for us and Gregory’s siblings. After […] Read more


The U.S. calf crop for 2023 came in at 33.593 million head, down 846,500 from the 2022 calf crop of 34.44 million.

Lower U.S. calf crop supports cattle complex

Conditions are developing that should support record calf prices next fall

The Alberta fed cattle market remains under pressure due to a buildup of market-ready cattle, larger carcass weights and seasonally low demand. During the last week of January, Alberta packers were buying fed cattle on a dressed basis in the range of $360-$365 per hundredweight delivered. Live bids f.o.b. feedlot in southern Alberta were quoted […] Read more

Drought has meant more demand for forage insurance, but accuracy of measurement based on local conditions is challenging.

Satellite-based insurance may be future of forage risk management

Analysis from above could be an accurate, timely way to measure forage growth

Glacier FarmMedia ­— Satellite-based insurance technology could be a way to protect beef producers during times of drought. There’s more interest in forage insurance during recent droughty times on the Prairies, but evaluating local forage risk is challenging. “Weather events are becoming more acute in severity and frequency, you know the drought of 2023, 2021,” […] Read more


Whether we use our equipment daily or not, we can’t ignore the overhead cost of having and maintaining it.

Rethinking yardage costs

Those costs can be higher than most think, so running your own numbers is important

For many of us, winter is a season of feeding cows. Feed is one of the key drivers of animal performance and is one of the highest direct costs for most cattle operations. Notice the use of the word feed. Feeding — that is, the act of providing feed — can also be one of […] Read more

Beef cows’ TDN energy maintenance requirements generally increase about two per cent for every degree Celsius drop in temperature below freezing.

Beef cows in good condition, feed accordingly

Optimize cows' condition with target diets based on the animals' BCS

A warm start to winter has caused many beef cows after weaning to come off pasture in decent shape. Some of these cows are not truly obese, but they retained a lot of flesh. Those beef cows in optimum body condition should be put on a nutritious feeding program that maintains them until they calve […] Read more


When commercial and managed-money positions are at an extreme low or high, that represents a turning signal for the market.

Understanding the Commitments of Traders report

The U.S. report, released every Friday, is an important indicator of cattle market movement

Who is long? Who is short? How much of each? This is the most important market information when studying the futures markets. The Commitments of Traders (CoT) report is released every Friday afternoon by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and shows the trading positions of market participants as of Tuesday’s close. Whether you […] Read more

It makes sense to place positivity and profit above production values on ranches.

Rethinking ranch priorities

Positivity and profit can be more important priorities than production

The beginning of a New Year marks a good time to work on planning for the year ahead. I believe we should be planning for “Profitivity” on our farms and ranches. Profitivity is a combination of profitability, productivity and positivity. For an operation to thrive, these three things are important to get right. Profit and […] Read more