Livestock & Production Tips

Thompson Rivers University student Chris Solecki testing out a drone which columnist Roy Lewis says can play a practical role in livestock management.

Using new technology to monitor cattle

Animal Health: Stationary cameras and drones can be used in many ways 

By Roy Lewis March 20, 2019

Technology has advanced for monitoring the health of cattle both at calving time and on pasture. Two operations I deal with during the calving season have used advanced cameras in the last several years. I have also seen demonstrations and heard a few presentations on drones for checking and monitoring cattle. It appears to be […] Read more

Workers in protective suits disinfect a vehicle at a checkpoint on a road leading to a farm owned by Hebei Dawu Group where African swine fever was detected, in Xushui district of Baoding, Hebei province, China on Feb. 26, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Hallie Gu)

Hogs, Livestock, Reuters

Piles of pigs: Swine fever outbreaks go unreported in rural China

By GFM Network News March 20, 2019

Baoding, China | Reuters — When pigs on the Xinda Husbandry breeding farm in northern China began dying in growing numbers in early January, it looked increasingly likely that the farm had been struck by the much feared African swine fever, an incurable disease that has spread rapidly across the country since last year. But […] Read more

Livestock, Markets, Reuters

U.S. livestock: Live cattle hit contract highs on weather woes

By Julie Ingwersen, GFM Network News March 20, 2019

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures rose Tuesday, with the benchmark June contract hitting a high as poor feedlot conditions in portions of the U.S. Plains raised concerns about beef supplies, traders said. Lean hogs closed lower in a profit-taking setback from contract highs set a day earlier. Fat cattle futures […] Read more

A view of a farm partially submerged in floodwater at Scribner, Neb. on March 14, 2019, in a still image from video obtained from social media on March 19. (Video screengrab from Angie Lange via Reuters)

Livestock, Reuters, Weather

Livestock, pets among victims in U.S. Midwest flooding

By GFM Network News March 19, 2019

Reuters — The floods that have devastated large swaths of Nebraska and Iowa since late last week left house pets homeless, inflicted an unknown toll on livestock and led to several daring water rescues of animals from dogs to horses. Rescuers in the Omaha area, where the Platte, Elkhorn and Missouri rivers began spilling over […] Read more

Gregory making sure cattle have feed, good bedding and shelter during the February cold snap.

Cattleman’s Corner, Livestock

Spring pasture fenced and ready

February got cold and then got colder

By Heather Eppich March 19, 2019

January turned out to be a decent month for a variety of projects. On Jan. 14 the temperature was liveable and the wind was down so we decided it would be a good day to skin an old, crippled cow for our friends Bill and Betty. We were supposed to get to her earlier so […] Read more

Cattleman’s Corner, Cow-Calf

Improved conception rates tell the story

Good-quality mineral mix got this herd back on track

By Peter Vitti March 19, 2019

The four principal trace elements essential to successful beef cow reproduction, are copper, zinc, manganese and selenium. All too often, they are either deficient in forage or bound by compounds also found in forage, which makes them biologically unavailable to cattle. I instruct beef producers to plan the best mineral-(and vitamin-) feeding program to their […] Read more

Finishers, Livestock, Markets

Klassen: Feeder market continues consolidation pattern

By Jerry Klassen, GFM Network News March 19, 2019

Compared to last week, western Canadian feeder cattle markets traded $3-$5 on either side of unchanged. The market was quite variable across the Prairies. Demand from south of the border evaporated due to adverse weather while southern Alberta experienced favourable spring conditions. Alberta packers were buying fed cattle at $260 on a dressed basis, up […] Read more

Livestock, Markets, Reuters

U.S. livestock: Hog futures rise on pork export optimism

By Julie Ingwersen, GFM Network News March 18, 2019

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. front-month hog futures surged on Monday, extending last week’s advances on expectations of additional export sales to China, where African swine fever has decimated the world’s largest hog herd, traders said. “We had that huge sale of pork to China last week, and the market is anticipating more sales,” said […] Read more

Hogs, Livestock

Alberta confirms fourth PED outbreak

By GFM Network News March 18, 2019

Alberta took another punch last week in its fight with porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED), having confirmed the province’s fourth on-farm case of the disease. Officials with the provincial ag department and Alberta Pork haven’t said where the fourth case is located, nor how far it is from the three southern Alberta properties where outbreaks in […] Read more

Workers sort cuts of fresh pork in a processing plant of pork producer WH Group in Zhengzhou in China’s Henan province in this file photo, taken through glass, from Nov. 24, 2017. (File photo: Reuters/Dominique Patton)

Hogs, Livestock, Reuters

U.S. seizes pork from China on swine fever concerns

By Reuters, GFM Network News March 18, 2019

Washington | Reuters — U.S. border agents have seized around one million pounds of pork from China, a spokesman for the agency said on Friday, over suspicions that it might contain African swine flu disease which has hit Chinese pork output. Federal agents have seized the supplies over the past week in New York. “The […] Read more

GFM Network News

U.S. livestock: Feeder cattle hit contract highs on tight supply

U.S. grains: Soybeans tumble on doubts over U.S.-China trade progress

Alberta harvest wrapping up: report

Livestock