cow with newborn calf

Use an NSAID for the right reasons

Mitigating pain makes sense in many areas of cattle production

Pain medication may be accompanied by treatment with antibiotics, but sometimes this is unnecessary. If your veterinarian prescribes non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for pain, he or she may choose one based on label claim, experience in the field, price per treatment, duration of activity, ease of administration, advice of associates or slaughter withdrawal. There are […] Read more

black calf on pasture

Time to buy some cows?

Cattle right now are more profitable than crops, this farm management expert says

Glacier FarmMedia — When all costs are factored into the equation, raising cattle should be more profitable than growing crops in 2024 — and in some cases, much more so. “Right now, I can tell you that the returns per acre are higher than any of the crops,” said Ben Hamm, a farm management specialist […] Read more


Absent a significant rally in Chicago June and August live cattle, the market for backgrounded cattle is not sustainable moving forward.

Fed cattle market softens

The longer-term outlook remains bright, despite lots of cattle on feed

During the first week of January, Alberta packers were buying fed cattle on a dressed basis in the range of $363-$365 per hundredweight delivered. This was down marginally from the price range of $368-$370/cwt. during the week of December. In Kansas and Texas, live prices were US$171/cwt., down US$4/cwt. from 30 days earlier. U.S. packers […] Read more

Administering an injection on cattle

Follow these tips for safe cattle injections

Administering medications properly can improve efficacy and decrease risk

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


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.

Microbiome research could help in respiratory disease diagnosis

BRD is more complex than just a single bacterial indicator

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

Photo: File

U.S. livestock: CME cattle soar as cash markets firm

Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures jumped on Thursday, buoyed by rising cash cattle prices and a government inventory report confirming that the total number of U.S. cattle fell to a 73-year low. CME April live cattle futures LCJ24 settled up 2.475 cents at 183.175 cents per pound, nearing Monday’s 2-1/2-month high of […] Read more


lean beef in retail meat case

Beef demand outlook brightens

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

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.

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

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


(WPohlDesign/iStock/Getty Images)

Klassen: Feeder market holds value despite negative margins

U.S. demand limited with colder temperatures in Midwest

Calf markets appeared to trade $2 to $3 above week-ago levels on average. Feedlot margins on current pen close-outs are negative $300 to $350 per head but replacement markets haven’t missed a beat. Finishing feedlots were once again bidding aggressively on backgrounded cattle with fleshier types experiencing limited slippage. Larger pen sized groups were on the higher end of the priced spectrum with buyers avoiding smaller packages.

Cattle use round bales as a wind break. (NDSU photo)

Klassen: Yearling return to the lineup on strong demand

Frigid temperatures result in limited volumes

The market hasn’t missed a beat and started the year where it left in December. The only difference is there are larger supplies of yearlings coming on stream. The benchmark levels had backgrounded steers averaging 1,000 pounds trading from $280-$285/cwt with top bids rounding at $290/cwt. Steers averaging 850-pounds were averaging $300/cwt with top-notch larger groups peaking at $305.