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U.S. livestock: Cattle mixed, hogs higher

Strong export sales for cattle, hogs

Live and fed cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange dropped back on Thursday, despite strong export sales. The United States Department of Agriculture reported export sales of 24,907 tonnes for the week ended Jan. 30. That’s up 23.5 per cent from the previous week and the most since August. The April live cattle contract […] Read more








When a heifer calves, she’s hopefully worth at least as much as when she was a bred heifer — and probably retains that value for at least a couple of years.

Flipping cow depreciation on its head

Costs of Production: Open cows have a huge effect — especially when they are two-year-olds

I am keenly interested in cow depreciation and in fact have written about it in past Grainews columns. It is one of the largest direct expenses on a cow-calf operation — usually only behind feed — and it is worth touching on again in the wake of current record-high prices. First as a reminder, Figure […] Read more

feedlot strathmore alberta

Feeder cattle prices should remain at historical highs in 2025

The Markets: Heifer retention is expected this year in both Canada and the U.S.

At the time of writing this article in the latter half of December, U.S. and Canadian feeder cattle prices were trading at or near historical highs. I’ve received many inquiries from cattle producers regarding the price outlook for feeder cattle in 2025. The benchmark for the western Canadian feeder market is central Alberta. During December […] Read more



As cattle have gotten larger, their requirements for water grow.

Larger cattle need more water

Animal Health: Long-term trends in the beef sector continue to evolve

The only constant is change and I have seen a lot of changes in beef production; this article will outline some of them. With lots of evidence of warmer summers, water access is paramount in most of our eyes. There’s more capacity for access by all classes of cattle, including from newly designed water troughs […] Read more