Veterinarian Roy Lewis provides a variety of tips on herd health, animal welfare and immunization for western Canadian cow-calf operations, both commercial and purebred.
Cow-calf
A best-practices review for your beef cattle herd
Animal Health: Tips on vaccines, equipment and other matters, in either purebred or commercial cow-calf herds
Klassen: Cash feeder market divorces from futures market
For the week ending October 11, Western Canadian yearling markets traded $8/cwt higher to $5/cwt lower compared to seven days earlier. Calf prices experienced a week-over-week decline of $3-$8/cwt on average. Feather-light calves under 450 pounds were steady to $10 higher on average. The Canadian cash feeder market appeared to divorce from the feeder cattle […] Read more
Good weaning programs for valuable calves are worth it
Better Bunks and Pastures: Less shrinkage is worth much more money at today’s calf prices
Less shrinkage is worth much more money at today’s calf prices, so good weaning programs for valuable beef calves are worth it.
U.S. livestock: Feeder cattle hit contract highs on tight supply
Chicago | Reuters – All Chicago Mercantile Exchange feeder cattle futures and most live cattle futures hit contract highs on Friday on tight supplies linked to the U.S. suspension of Mexican imports due to the spread of screwworm south of the border. Live cattle followed feeders higher, posting new contract highs in deferred contract months, […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Feeder cattle rise to new highs on tight supply, strong cash prices
Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange feeder cattle futures rallied on Thursday to a record high on strong cash market prices and tight supplies linked to the U.S. suspension of Mexican imports due to the spread of screwworm south of the border. Live cattle followed feeders higher, posting new contract highs in deferred contract […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Feeder cattle hit record high on tight supply, strong cash prices
Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange feeder cattle futures scaled to a record high on Wednesday on strong cash market prices and tight supplies as the U.S. border remains closed to Mexican imports due to the northward spread of the parasitic pest screwworm. Live cattle followed feeders higher, supported by a rebound in wholesale […] Read more
Canadian cattle herd moves into expansion phase
The Markets: Heifer retention has started and is expected to grow into 2026
Beef heifer retention has started in Canada, according to Statistics Canada, and is expected to grow into 2026.
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures gain on higher beef values, tight supplies
Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures climbed for a third straight session on Tuesday, propelled by rising beef prices and strong gains in the feeder cattle market, analysts said. Feeder cattle futures reached their highest point in six weeks on tight supplies of animals and an ongoing ban on Mexican imports […] Read more
Klassen: Highs in place for the feeder market
For the week ending October 4, Western Canadian grass yearling markets traded steady to $5-$8/cwt lower on average compared to seven days earlier. Backgrounded yearlings were down $5-$12/cwt. Calf markets were down $5 to $10/cwt from a week earlier. There was an influx of calves over the past week which resulted in the softer tone […] Read more
A rancher’s ‘bitin’ list’
A Little Bit Western: Invasive weeds, gophers, grasshoppers and raccoons are all on this rancher’s naughty list
This Saskatchewan rancher comes up with her ‘bitin’ list,’ channeling her inner Tyler Childers.