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Beef cattle

Cattleman’s Corner, Cow-Calf, Livestock

The economists are right

Knowing your cost of production really does make a difference

By
As I write this article we are amid coronavirus and a limit-down cattle market for several days in a row. For the record, I am not admitting the economists were right about this event. But as I am redoing our yearly plan, reassessing our risk strategies and adjusting costs on the fly, I have to […] Read more
(File photo by Dave Bedard)
Beef Cattle, Livestock

Cargill’s High River plant reopens with two slaughter shifts

Cutting line to resume Wednesday

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Cargill’s southern Alberta beef packing plant, estimated to be responsible for over a third of Canada’s beef processing capacity, restarted Monday after a two-week COVID-19-related shutdown — but at a quicker pace than previously expected. The company said in a statement Monday it is resuming operations at the High River plant “with two shifts” in […] Read more
CME August 2020 feeder cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)
Livestock, Markets, Reuters

U.S. livestock: Cattle, hog futures inch up as plants reopen

Rising wholesale prices support futures

By
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog and live cattle futures closed higher on Monday, as meat processing facilities began to open after closures of more than 20 plants due to coronavirus illnesses among workers. Rising pork and beef cutout prices have also helped give futures a boost on Monday, said Mark Schultz, chief analyst […] Read more
Blog, Lees insight

The door swings both ways at meat processing plants

I am somewhat alarmed that the mainstream media in Calgary/Alberta is relying on UFCW union local president Thomas Hesse and provincial NDP opposition leader Rachel Notely for the “facts” of what is happening at the Cargill meat packing plant at High River, AB. In my books, in this instance, these two would be the poster […] Read more
CME June 2020 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)
Livestock, Markets, Reuters

U.S. livestock: Cattle, hog futures climb with wholesale meat prices

About 20 North American meat plants offline

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Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures closed higher on Friday after touching a three-week top, buoyed by firm cash cattle values and surging wholesale beef prices as labor shortages slow the U.S. slaughter pace, traders said. New-month buying by speculators may have also lent support, they said. Chicago Mercantile Exchange June live cattle […] Read more
Blog, Lees insight

Beef and crop information updates for May 1st

By
The Beef Cattle Research Council posted a blog today, which provides beef producers links to about three dozen different websites offering relevant and useful information on everything from feeding to farm management to mental health. Check it out at: http://www.beefresearch.ca/blog/resources-for-beef-producers-during-market-disruptions/ Recognizing there is certainly nothing NORMAL with all the life changes surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, […] Read more
(Lightguard/E+/Getty Images)
General, Markets

CFA seeks $2.6 billion in support for producers

Federal officials sought specific numbers from ag industry

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Ottawa — Canada’s agriculture industry is seeking an initial $2.6 billion in COVID-19-related emergency relief funding from the federal government. Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) officials put in the ask to the federal government on Thursday. According to second vice-president Chris van den Heuvel, federal officials asked the CFA “to go and put hard numbers […] Read more
Cattleman’s Corner, Livestock

Defuse the potential for agriculture ‘Madvocacy’

Even with the facts, sometimes it is important to just listen

By
It seems that every day we are inundated with many opinions and ideas on what primary agricultural producers really need to do to improve the environment and serve our many masters. Based strictly on demographics, many of these intentions come from folks with little to no farm involvement or even those with an axe to […] Read more
The cost of pregnancy and depreciation of an animal are two costs people often don’t value enough, says one Montana cattle producer.
Cattleman’s Corner, Cow-Calf, Livestock

Breeding strategies might break the accepted mould

Think about what you're trying to achieve and the best way to get there

By
A change in direction for a cow-calf producer’s operation is sometimes required for a wide range of reasons from market shifts to personal finances. To modify breeding strategies or reproductive timelines and tactics, several decisions need to be made. Billy Whitehurst, owner and operator of Makale Livestock in Whitehall, Montana, has been in the cattle […] Read more
Workers in the JBS beef plant at Brooks, Alta. appear in a screen shot from a 2018 corporate video. (JBS Canada video screengrab via YouTube)
Livestock, Reuters

As meat plant infections rise, Canada lets packers choose when to close

Beef plants at heart of Alberta's largest COVID-19 community outbreaks

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Winnipeg | Reuters — In Cargill’s High River, Alta. plant, supplier of more than one-third of Canada’s beef, 391 workers were sick with COVID-19 when the company suspended operations, according to provincial health officials. But Maple Leaf Foods decided to idle a poultry plant for eight days, in Brampton, Ont., after just three workers were […] Read more

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