Cattleman’s Corner & Production Tips

Follow these tips for safe cattle injections

Administering medications properly can improve efficacy and decrease risk

By Beef Cattle Research Council February 6, 2024

Over the last two decades, great strides have been made in standardizing beef cattle injection techniques and methods. Today, there are animal injection best practices that have become widely known in the beef industry as “just the right thing to do.” These cattle injection techniques are recommended to help farmers produce safe beef for the […] Read more

A full feed bunk not long after TMR feeding.

Cattleman’s Corner, Columns, Dairy Cattle

Keep a full feed-bunk for optimum milk production

Availability of feed is important for maintaining cow body condition score

By Peter Vitti February 4, 2024

The common feed bunk in dairy barns should be managed to get a consistent daily intake of nutritious feed into lactating cows. This practice stabilizes feed’s rate of passage and its fermentation/digestion in the cow’s rumen and lower digestive tract. In turn, it ultimately meets the essential requirements of energy, protein, effective forage fibre, minerals […] Read more

BRD is the most common reason for administering antimicrobial drugs to cattle and is probably one of the most important economic diseases of beef cattle in North America.

Beef Cattle, Cattleman’s Corner

Microbiome research could help in respiratory disease diagnosis

BRD is more complex than just a single bacterial indicator

By John Campbell February 2, 2024

The fall calf run will have finished up and calves will now be into feedlots. Many calves travel to feed yards via auction markets and one of the major disease risks associated with the stresses of weaning, mixing and transportation is the syndrome known as bovine respiratory disease (BRD). BRD is the most common reason […] Read more

Beef Cattle, Cattleman’s Corner, Markets

Beef demand outlook brightens

U.S. consumer spending — the main driver of beef demand — is improving

By Jerry Klassen February 2, 2024

U.S. and Canadian inflation reached 40-year highs in June of 2022. Interest rates reached 22-year highs in the summer of 2023. For the past two years, most financial analysts were forecasting a U.S. and Canadian recession at some point in the future. When the recessions didn’t occur, they delayed the recession forecast by three to […] Read more

Graeme Finn’s cattle on a high-legume pasture at breeding time.

Cattleman’s Corner, Cow-Calf

Six areas you should watch to maintain your cows’ fertility

High-quality forage and the right mineral package at the right time can set cows up for success

By Melissa Jeffers-Bezan January 25, 2024

As a rancher and a senior forage specialist with Union Forage, Graeme Finn has spent much of his time looking into how feeding cattle affects their fertility. He says it was something drilled into him as a child in Australia. “My grandmother always said, ‘Feed the cattle good at breeding time,’ because that’s when you […] Read more

Canada’s calf crop doesn’t move through expansion and contraction as it does in the U.S., but over the next year, we may see the Canadian herd mirror U.S. expansion.

Cattleman’s Corner, Columns, Markets

Is it time for beef cow herd expansion?

Prices for calves have been strong, but it usually takes a year of high calf prices before expansion starts

By Jerry Klassen January 22, 2024

Feeder cattle have been trading near historical highs over the past six months. I’ve received many emails and inquiries from cattle producers asking if there is still an opportunity to expand their herds. Producers also ask if they should buy now or wait until spring. Medium-quality bred cows have been trading in the range of […] Read more

Cattleman’s Corner, Columns, Rancher’s Diary

It’s been a wonderful visit

For years we've shared our lives with Grainews readers and they've done the same with us

By Heather Smith Thomas January 14, 2024

This will be my final Rancher’s Diary column. I was recently informed that with the current business changes at Grainews, my column will no longer be published, but I was graciously given the chance to say goodbye to my readers — many of whom have become personal friends over the years. I first became aware […] Read more

Here we see a cover crop grazing blend at the Ag in Motion farm show near Langham, Sask., in 2023.

Beef Cattle, Cattleman’s Corner, Forages

Grazing cover crops shows soil health dividends

Livestock producers see the benefits but say they could really use more information

By Melissa Jeffers-Bezan January 12, 2024

Glacier FarmMedia — If you’ve wondered whether livestock producers are taking a different approach to cover crops than those growing them for the grain — and are seeing distinct benefits in doing so — the surveys so far say yes. Callum Morrison, a crop production extension specialist for Manitoba Agriculture at Carman and a master’s […] Read more

Cattleman’s Corner, Columns

Vet product licensing process needs improvement

Canada can miss out on products that take too long or cost too much to register

By Roy Lewis January 4, 2024

Having been both a licensed veterinary practitioner and worked in the pharmaceutical industry for several years, I have seen a few things about how the product-licensing process affects the production animal industry in Canada. While every situation is unique, the process can indirectly affect cost of production in some cases, while in others access is […] Read more

Feed particle size does make a difference. The ration should include longer stem forages that encourage cud chewing.

Cattleman’s Corner, The Dairy Corner

There’s a reason if cows aren’t chewing their cud

It's important to look at the structure of fibre in the ration

By Peter Vitti December 19, 2023

This fall I visited three similar dairies milking between 100 and 150 cows. It was about 10 a.m. in two barns (different days) and midafternoon in the third. In each case I noticed less than 10 per cent of resting cows (three-quarters were lying down) were not chewing their cud. I reviewed the TMR in […] Read more

GFM Network News

CFIA says regulatory changes will cut agricultural red tape

U.S. livestock: Feeder cattle hit record high on tight supply, strong cash prices

ICE Canada Weekly: Canola poised to slip below C$600/tonne

Cattleman’s Corner