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

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle up on demand, tightening supplies

Hogs up on technical bounce

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures rose on Friday in tandem with higher equities and energy markets as a robust slaughter pace and concerns about reduced cattle supplies in the coming months fueled buying. Packers have accelerated their daily slaughter pace following plant downtime around Monday’s Labour Day holiday and they […] Read more

With hot and dry conditions it has been a challenge to keep water supplied to cattle on some of the summer ranges.

Grass tetany claims a young cow

Rancher’s Diary: Dry conditions, forest fires and a brush with a rattlesnake

July 1 Last Thursday the water tank on the hill pasture was nearly empty so Andrea, Lynn and I took the pump and hoses up there and pumped from the ditch across the road and filled it again for the six pairs grazing up there. That afternoon I helped Andrea finish putting up electric fence […] Read more


CME December 2022 lean hogs (candlesticks) with 100-day moving average (black line, right column) and CME cash lean hog index (pink line, left column). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME lean hogs mostly lower on weak cash market

Chicago live cattle mixed, feeders up

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures ended mostly lower on Thursday as eroding cash hog prices weighed on the market along with weaker wholesale pork prices and slumping pork exports. Technical buying helped to underpin the actively traded October contract, the only month that closed higher on Thursday, while back month […] Read more

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

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle down on quiet cash trade

Hog futures narrowly mixed

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures weakened on Wednesday as quiet trade on the cash market fortified concerns about light demand, traders said. Hog futures were narrowly mixed, with short-covering providing support, while worries that a firm U.S. dollar will chill export demand for pork added pressure. Benchmark CME October live cattle […] Read more


Surgery on a horse at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine’s equine veterinary medical centre in Saskatoon. (WCVM video screengrab via YouTube)

Saskatchewan’s livestock vet loan plan expanded to bigger centres

Urban vet clinics' work with rural producers noted

Saskatchewan’s program to forgive provincial student loans for veterinarians and vet techs serving livestock producers at rural clinics will now also cover those doing the same work out of bigger communities. The province’s Loan Forgiveness for Veterinarians and Veterinary Technologists program was first announced in April last year, offering forgiveness of 20 per cent of […] Read more

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

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle climb on cash market optimism

Lean hog futures also close higher

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange livestock futures rose on Tuesday on hopes that the pace of slaughter of both cattle and hogs will pick up after slowing down for the U.S. Labor Day holiday weekend. Short-covering was also noted in hog futures after the front-month contract sank to its lowest since Feb. 9 […] Read more



Dave and Lynne Longshore of Bar-E-L Angus have worked with Bullseye services for years to make sure their cattle have proper nutrition at all stages of the production cycle leading to healthy, fertile bulls, and cows that produce vigorous and robust calves.

Nutrition key to optimizing purebred performance

It’s all about fertile females and bulls with breeding soundness

Dave Longshore doesn’t take any shortcuts when it comes to proper nutrition for his purebred Black Angus operation in central Alberta. It’s important to produce healthy, sound and fertile bulls that will be offered as breeding stock, and if cows and heifers aren’t fed a well-balanced ration with proper mineral supplements, that will also mean […] Read more


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

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle climb on cash market optimism

CME lean hogs slip on cash market pessimism

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures ended higher on Friday on expectations of higher cash cattle prices next week and position-squaring ahead of a long U.S. holiday weekend, traders said. Benchmark CME October live cattle futures settled up 1.75 cents at 144.55 cents/lb., with December up 1.675 cents at 150.25 cents […] Read more

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

U.S. livestock: Cattle futures up as corn prices sag

CME lean hogs end mixed

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures settled mostly higher on Thursday as lower grain prices propped up feeder cattle futures, signaling cheaper feed costs, traders said. Benchmark CME October live cattle futures settled up 0.225 cent at 142.8 cents/lb., a day after dipping to a four-week low (all figures US$). CME […] Read more